It’s not that we have anything against proper rest. It is healing, it keeps us healthy and it’s an essential tool for dealing with the corroding world around us. However, when Melissa “Missy” Elliott tells us that it’s time to party, then that qualifies as the final word. And according to the hip hop legend herself, the time is now… or midnight tonight, rather. After years of hinting and teasing around social media, Elliott has just confirmed via Twitter that she will be releasing a surprise collection of new music called Iconology. Using the tag #ThrowItBack, the artist and producer hints that the new songs may usher in some nostalgia, citing “a time when music just felt good and made us want to dance.” Well damn, Missy, if you insist!
Though she’s released a handful of singles and collaborations in recent years, including the bass-thumping Lizzo team-up “Tempo,” Elliott has not released a full album since 2005's The Cookbook. Iconology comes just ahead of the MTV VMAs airing on August 26, where the icon will finally receive the Video Vanguard Award for her extensive contribution to music. She will also be performing at the ceremony for the first time in 16 years. There’s a chance that some of this new music will end up in the performance, so fans have a couple days to get acquainted with the new sound before she takes the stage.
Midnight is still a while a way, so for now, let’s just revisit 2015's “WTF (Where They From)” and admire both Elliott’s time-tested musicianship and these rhythmically advanced puppets.