Missy Elliott

Melissa Arnette "Missy" Elliott (born July 1, 1971) is a five-time Grammy Award-winning American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. With record sales of over seven million in the United States she is the only female rapper to have six albums certified platinum by the RIAA including one double platinum (Under Construction).Elliott is known for a series of hits and diverse music videos including "The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)", "Hot Boyz", "Get Ur Freak On", "One Minute Man", "Work It", "Gossip Folks", "Pass That Dutch", "Lose Control" and "Ching-a-Ling". In addition, Elliott has worked extensively as a songwriter and producer for other artists, both alone and with her producer and childhood friend Timbaland. Elliott's songwriting and production credits include work for a number of other top female artists, among them Aaliyah, Tweet, Janet Jackson, Keshia Chante, Monica, Keyshia Cole, Mary J. Blige, Mýa, Danity Kane, Trina, Nicole Wray, Fantasia, Christina Aguilera, Lil' Mo, and Jazmine Sullivan.

In 2002, rumors of Elliott's sexual orientation began circulating after working with Tweet in her single "Oops (Oh My)", claiming that she liked girls, and Tweet was one of them. Elliott responded by saying, "When people see how strong I am, and there's not a man around, it's like, 'What is she doin'?' But I don't need a man to make me happy. I need to make myself happy first."Elliott has also said that she wants to start a family, but is afraid of labor. She states, "I don't know if I can take that kind of pain [of labor]. Maybe in the year 2020 you could just pop a baby out and it'd be fine. But right now I'd rather just adopt."