Supa Dupa Fly | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | July 15, 1997 | |||
Recorded | 1996–1997 | |||
Studio | Master Sound Studios (Virginia Beach, Virginia) | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 60:06 | |||
Label | ||||
Producer | ||||
Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott chronology | ||||
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Singles from Supa Dupa Fly | ||||
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Supa Dupa Fly is the debut studio album by American rapper Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott, released July 15, 1997, on The Goldmind, East West, and Elektra Entertainment Group. The album was recorded and produced solely by Timbaland in October 1996, and features the singles, "The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)", "Sock It 2 Me", "Hit Em wit da Hee" and "Beep Me 911". Guest appearances on the album include Busta Rhymes, Ginuwine, 702, Magoo, Da Brat, Lil' Kim, and Aaliyah. The album was recorded in just two weeks. [3]
The album received acclaim from critics, who praised Timbaland's futuristic production style and Elliott's performances and persona. It debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200 and topped the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. The album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and has sold 1.2 million copies in the United States.
In 2020, the album was ranked 93 on Rolling Stone 's "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" [4] and, in 2022, 53 on their "100 Best Debut Albums of All Time". [5]
While in high school, Elliott formed a group called Fayze—later to be renamed Sista—with three of her friends. [6] [7] The group attracted the attention of record producer DeVante Swing, who was part of the R&B group Jodeci. After being signed to the Swing Mob record label, Sista recorded an album in New York, but the album was never released. This led to subsequent termination of Sista's recording contract. Elliott returned to Portsmouth, Virginia, where she and record producer Timbaland began writing songs and contributed to singer Aaliyah's album One in a Million . In 1996, Elliott was signed to East West Records, which at that time was a division of Elektra Entertainment Group, and was given her own record label, The Goldmind Inc. Sylvia Rhone, then the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Elektra, encouraged Elliott to embark upon a solo career. [6] [8] Recording sessions of Supa Dupa Fly took place at the Master Sound Studios in Virginia Beach, Virginia; [9] the recording process took place over slightly more than a week. [10] The album was produced solely by Timbaland. [6]
The first single released from the album was "The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)". [11] As part of the promotional drive for her album, Elliott took part of the 1998 Lilith Fair tour; she became the first female rapper to perform at the event. [12] She also joined rapper Jay-Z's Rock the Mic tour. [12]
Supa Dupa Fly brings together elements of hip hop, dance, R&B, electronic music, and soul. [13] [14] Music critic Garry Mulholland described Timbaland's production as "eschewing samples for a bump 'n' grind electronica, strongly influenced by the digital rhythms of dancehall reggae, but rounder, fuller, fatter". [15] AllMusic described it as consisting of "lean, digital grooves [...] packed with unpredictable arrangements and stuttering rhythms that often resemble slowed-down drum'n'bass breakbeats." [13] A retrospective review from The New Yorker emphasizes the usage of "extra-musical noises" as "instruments in and of themselves" on the album, and describes the result as "a futuristic sound in which the organic and the synthetic were complementary". [10]
Elliott's raps were described as "full of hilariously surreal free associations that fit the off-kilter sensibility of the music to a tee". [13] According to author Mickey Hess, the album's lyrical content "reveals Elliott's complex, creative, and challenging discussion about womanhood; her demand for respect, respect for her personal voice and her desire for fulfilling intimacy with lovers and friends". [16] Elliott has also been recognized for her diverse cadences and deliveries on the album, a versatility that has been described as her "oily ability to slip from singing to rapping to elliptical riffing". [10] The album's opening track, "Busta's Intro", features rapper Busta Rhymes as a town crier warning of a "historical event about to unfold". [16] "The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)" contains a sample of Ann Peebles' 1973 song "I Can't Stand the Rain". [17] "Pass da Blunt" is partly based on the song "Pass the Dutchie" by Musical Youth. The track "Bite Our Style (Interlude)" samples the song "Morning Glory" by Jamiroquai. [18]
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [13] |
Chicago Tribune | [19] |
Entertainment Weekly | A− [20] |
The Guardian | [21] |
Los Angeles Times | [22] |
Pitchfork | 9.0/10 [23] |
Rolling Stone | [24] |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [25] |
Spin | 8/10 [26] |
The Village Voice | A− [27] |
Upon its release, Supa Dupa Fly received acclaim among music critics. Writers lauded record producer Timbaland's production as unique and revolutionary. AllMusic called the album a "boundary-shattering postmodern masterpiece" whose "futuristic, nearly experimental style became the de facto sound of urban radio at the close of the millennium". [13] Elliott's rapping, singing and songwriting also received much acclaim. The 2004 edition of The Rolling Stone Album Guide rated the album five out of five stars, noting that the avant-garde sound of the album "made Elliott and Timbaland the hottest writer/producer team around". [25] Mulholland called the album a "key prophecy of the dominant 21st century black pop", noting Elliott's ability to "avoid the whole east vs. west, playas vs. gangstas mess." He described Elliott's style as "everything the hip hop doctor ordered; a woman who could flip between aggression and romance, sex and nonsense, materialism and imagination, without batting one outrageously spidery eyelash". [15]
Spin magazine ranked the album at number nine on its Top 20 Albums of the Year. [16] In 1998, four out of five music critics from The New York Times ranked the album as one of their top ten favorite albums of 1997. [28] The album earned Elliott two Grammy Award nominations: Best Rap Album and Best Rap Solo Performance for "The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)". [16]
With the release of Supa Dupa Fly, Elliott became one of the most prominent female rappers. [29] Her persona on the album established a niche separate from the archetypes of "hypersexualized vixens or rugged hip hop purists", leading it to be argued that Supa Dupa Fly "caused a shift in how women in rap were perceived". [30] The album is credited for redefining hip hop and R&B; [13] in particular, Elliott's combination of rapped and sung vocals has been described as "pioneering". [10] Its production has been described as "visionary" for its usage of sampling, in which samples are not used straightforwardly and instead undergo "bending... to fit the album's unconventional tempos". [10] Its sound is frequently described as "futuristic" and "ahead of its time", with retrospective reviews often stating that the album retains that feel even decades after its release. [8] [10] Steve Huey of AllMusic felt that the album was "arguably the most influential album ever released by a female hip-hop artist". [13]
The music videos from Supa Dupa Fly have been recognized as influential for their Afrofuturist style, with Elliott's leather "trash bag suit" in the "I Can't Stand the Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)" video being hailed as especially iconic. [10] [30]
Supa Dupa Fly debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200 with 129,000 copies sold in the first week released, [31] becoming the highest debut for a female rapper at the time. [12] [32] The album remained on the chart for 37 weeks. [33] On September 19, 1997, the album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales of over a million copies. [34] As of June 2008, it has sold 1.2 million copies in the United States. [33]
All tracks produced by Timbaland.
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Busta's Intro" (performed by Busta Rhymes) | Trevor Smith | 1:53 |
2. | "Hit Em wit da Hee" (featuring Lil' Kim) |
| 4:19 |
3. | "Sock It 2 Me" (featuring Da Brat) |
| 4:17 |
4. | "The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)" |
| 4:11 |
5. | "Beep Me 911" (featuring 702 & Magoo) |
| 4:57 |
6. | "They Don't Wanna Fuck wit Me" (featuring Timbaland) |
| 3:18 |
7. | "Pass da Blunt" (featuring Timbaland) |
| 3:17 |
8. | "Bite Our Style (Interlude)" |
| 0:43 |
9. | "Friendly Skies" (featuring Ginuwine) |
| 4:59 |
10. | "Best Friends" (featuring Aaliyah) |
| 4:07 |
11. | "Don't Be Commin' (In My Face)" |
| 4:11 |
12. | "Izzy Izzy Ahh" |
| 3:54 |
13. | "Why You Hurt Me" |
| 4:31 |
14. | "I'm Talkin'" |
| 5:02 |
15. | "Gettaway" (featuring Space and Nicole [a] ) |
| 4:25 |
16. | "Busta's Outro" (performed by Busta Rhymes) |
| 1:38 |
17. | "Missy's Finale" | Elliott | 0:24 |
Credits for Supa Dupa Fly adapted from AllMusic. [35]
|
|
Chart (1997) | Peak position |
---|---|
Canada Top Albums/CDs ( RPM ) [36] | 43 |
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [37] | 69 |
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [38] | 49 |
UK Albums (OCC) [39] | 124 |
UK R&B Albums (OCC) [40] | 16 |
US Billboard 200 [41] | 3 |
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard) [42] | 1 |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
United Kingdom (BPI) [43] | Silver | 60,000^ |
United States (RIAA) [44] | Platinum | 1,200,000 [33] |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
{{cite web}}
: External link in |title=
(help)Melissa Arnette Elliott, also known as Misdemeanor, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. She began on her musical career as a member of the R&B girl group Sista during the 1990s, who were part of the larger musical collective Swing Mob—led by DeVante Swing of Jodeci. The former group's debut album, 4 All the Sistas Around da World (1994) was released by Elektra Records and met with positive critical reception despite commercial failure. She collaborated with album's producer and Swing Mob cohort Timbaland to work in songwriting and production for other acts, yielding commercially successful releases for 702, Aaliyah, SWV, and Total. She then re-emerged as a solo act with numerous collaborations and guest appearances by 1996, and in July of the following year, she released her debut studio album, Supa Dupa Fly (1997).
Charlene Keys, better known by the stage name Tweet, is an American singer-songwriter.
Swing Mob was a loosely knit musical collective consisting of artists and record labels first discovered by Jodeci member DeVante Swing in 1991. The artists on Swing Mob included Missy Elliott with the group Sista, Timbaland, Magoo, Ginuwine, Static Major and the rest of Playa, Darryl Pearson, Mike "Funky Mike" Jackson, Tweet with the group Sugah, Majik, Jimmy Douglass, Stevie J, Maija Max, Renee Anderson, Bazaar Royale and Chad "Dr. Ceuss" Elliott among others, although the group's full membership has never been documented comprehensively. A list of some known artists in Swing Mob at the time of the group's activity can be found in the liner notes of Jodeci's third studio album, The Show, The After-Party, The Hotel (1995).
Da Real World is the second studio album by American rapper Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott, released on June 22, 1999, by East West, Elektra, and The Goldmind. The album is noted for adding a raunchier and darker style to Elliott's music, as well as including the overt political use of the term "bitch". The album features guest appearances from B.G., Juvenile, Lil' Mo, Nicole, Beyoncé, Eve, Eminem, Lady Saw, Da Brat, Aaliyah, Big Boi of Outkast, Lil' Kim, MC Solaar, and Redman.
Miss E... So Addictive is the third studio album by American rapper Missy Elliott. It was released by The Goldmind Inc. and Elektra Records on May 15, 2001, in the United States. The album spawned the club and R&B/hip-hop hits "One Minute Man", featuring Ludacris and Trina, and "Get Ur Freak On", as well as the international club hit "4 My People" and the less commercially successful single "Take Away".
The Goldmind, Inc. is an American record label founded in 1997 by rapper Missy Elliott. Elliott and Goldmind were once distributed through East West Records & Elektra Entertainment Group, Until 2004 when Time Warner sold WMG to a private investment group. The new owners then merged the Elektra with sister label Atlantic Records, transferring Elliott and Goldmind. Goldmind is home to Missy Elliott, specializing in R&B/hip-hop/soul music.
The discography of American rapper Missy Elliott consists of six studio albums, three compilation albums, one extended play, seventy-four singles and twenty solo music videos.
"She's a Bitch" is a song recorded by American rapper Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott for her second album, Da Real World (1999). Produced by Timbaland, it was released as the album's debut single, and despite an expensive music video directed by video director Hype Williams, the song peaked only at number 90 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, with Da Real World's other singles "All n My Grill" and "Hot Boyz" going on to greater chart success. Elliott performed the song live on a number of occasions, including the 2017 VH1 Hip Hop Honors: The '90s Game Changers.
"Hot Boyz" is a song by American hip hop recording artist Missy Elliott featuring American rapper and singer-songwriter Lil' Mo. The remix version of the song was an urban hit featuring Nas, Eve and Q-Tip. The remix broke the record for most weeks at number-one on the US R&B chart on the issue dated January 15, 2000; as well as spending 18 weeks at number one on the Hot Rap Singles from December 4, 1999, to March 25, 2000, a record not broken until "Old Town Road" by Lil Nas X in 2019. The song also reached number 5 on the US Hot 100 on January 15, 2000. In the UK, the song became the biggest hit from the Da Real World album; it peaked at #18, being Missy's sixth top 40 and fourth top 20 solo success. On February 4, 2000 the song was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.
Welcome to Our World is the debut studio album by American hip hop duo Timbaland & Magoo. It was released on November 11, 1997, through Blackground Entertainment and Atlantic Records. The production was handled by Timbaland, except for the song "Joy", which was produced with Smoke E. Digglera. It features guest appearances from Playa, Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott, Aaliyah, Ginuwine, Shaunta Montgomery, & Mad Skillz.
"Make It Hot" is the first single from Nicole's debut album of the same name. The single was released on June 2, 1998. The single was written by Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott, Tim Mosley, and A. Richards, and was produced by Timbaland. The song features Mocha and Missy Elliott and uncredited lead and background vocals from Keli Nicole Price.
"The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)" is the debut solo single by American rapper Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott. It was written and composed by Don Bryant, Bernard "Bernie" Miller, Elliott, and producer Timbaland for her debut album Supa Dupa Fly (1997) and contains a sample of Ann Peebles' 1973 single "I Can't Stand the Rain", whose lyrics serve as the chorus.
"Sock It 2 Me" is a song recorded by American rapper Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott featuring American rapper Da Brat. It was written by Shawntae Harris, William Hart, Thom Bell and producer Timothy "Timbaland" Mosley for her debut album Supa Dupa Fly (1997) and released as the album's second single in a slightly re-recorded form. The song is based on a sample from the 1968 single "Ready or Not Here I Come " by the Delfonics.
"Beep Me 911" is a song recorded by American rapper and singer Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott, featuring vocals by R&B trio 702 and rapper Magoo. It was written and composed by Elliott, Melvin Barcliff and Tim "Timbaland" Mosley for her debut album Supa Dupa Fly (1997) and released as the album's third single in 1998.
"Hit 'Em wit da Hee" is a single by singer/rapper Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott. The track is found on her debut album, 1997's Supa Dupa Fly. The single was not eligible to chart in the U.S., and it was a success overseas, reaching No. 25 in the UK, her fourth consecutive top 40 hit. The music video edit of the song contains sampled strings from the Björk song "Jóga". In The U.S. the album version was released to radio and it received minor mainstream urban radio airplay and peaked at No. 61 on the U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart. Released from Supa Dupa Fly, it was the final single from the album during summer 1998.
"Up Jumps da Boogie" is the debut single by hip-hop duo Timbaland & Magoo, released on July 11, 1997, as the first single from their debut studio album, Welcome to Our World. Featuring rapper Missy Elliott and R&B singer Aaliyah, the song peaked at No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart, No. 1 on the Hot Rap Singles chart, and No. 4 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart. The song's chorus interpolates funk-disco group Heatwave's 1977 single "Boogie Nights".
"That's What Little Girls Are Made Of" is the debut mainstream single by American singer-actress Raven-Symoné featuring American rapper Missy Elliott, taken from her debut studio album, Here's to New Dreams (1992). The single was released in April 1993 by MCA Records and is Raven-Symoné's highest chart appearance to date, peaking at numbers 68 and 73 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and Cash Box Top 100.
"Take Away" is a song by American rapper Missy Elliott. It was written by Elliott and Timbaland for her third studio album, Miss E... So Addictive (2001), while production was helmed by the latter, with Elliott and Craig Brockman served as co-producers. The downtempo track features guest vocals from R&B singer Ginuwine. While the album version of "Take Away" credits background vocals by 702 member, Kameelah Williams, the single version replaces Williams's vocals with then-newcomer, Elliott's former protégée Tweet.
"Lick Shots" is a buzz single by American recording artist Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott from her third album, Miss E... So Addictive (2001). The song was written and produced by both Elliott and frequent collaborator Timbaland.