Missy Elliott has made history as the first female rapper to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, but she made sure to pay tribute to those who came before her in her induction speech.
The “Get Ur Freak On” rapper was inducted by Queen Latifah on Friday (November 3). In her speech, Elliott paid tribute to other female rappers, including Pepa of Salt-N-Pepa, MC Lyte, Roxanne Shante, Monie Love, and of course Queen Latifah herself.
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“We all love music in some form, and all of those people who have already been up on the stage,” she said. “I was just listening to other people’s stories and being like, wow, they’ve been around all of these years… And that’s why I’m still in shock, because they have so many years on me.”
She continued: “I have to say Pepa who is here from Salt-N-Pepa. Her and Queen Latifah, [MC] Lyte, Roxanne Shante, so many. Monie [Love], all those ones before me gave me their shoulders to stand on. So I just wanna take the time.
“My people say, ‘Hey, go up there, and people wanna hear from you, how you feel.’ But these are the people who inspired me. And if it wasn’t for them and their music, I probably wouldn’t be standing here.”
Check out Missy’s full speech below, starting at the three-minute mark.
Prior to her induction, Missy Elliott sat down with Robin Roberts on Good Morning America on Thursday (November 2) to discuss the honor.
“Words cannot describe [how it feels to be inducted],” the multi-hyphenate said. “It just hasn’t clicked. When you in the Hip Hop world, it seems so far out of reach. And it being the 50th year of Hip Hop, just the whole…it’s layers. No matter what people say, the Hip Hop world is something special and unique.”
The 2023 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ceremony streamed on Disney+ on Friday (November 3), live from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Along with Missy Elliott, other 2023 inductees include DJ Kool Herc, Chaka Khan, TV host Don Cornelius, and more – all of whom she thanked for their “hard work and impact on music” when reacting to the announcement earlier this year.
“I want to say this is HUGE not for just me but all my Sisters in HIPHOP this door is now OPEN to showcase the hard work that many of us WOMEN contribute to MUSIC,” she wrote in the post. “I have cried all day because I am GRATEFUL thank you @rockhall & all on the committee & Supafriends.”
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She continued: “It’s times I have gotten on line & seen your irrelevant your a flop your washed up & it would crush me at times. BUT God you made me STRONG I kept going & you allowed my decades of WORK to SPEAK 4 itself. I am HUMBLED thank you all my Supporters. I LOVE YOU.”
