Missy Elliott: Miss E...So Addictive : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Missy Elliott's "Get Ur Freak On" is the weirdest, loudest, funkiest and just plain best single of the summer so far, a sonic orgasmatron of Indian tablas and Dirty South future-shock funk. When Missy joy rides her big mouth all over Timbaland's crunkadelic beats, the word freak barely hints at the trouble these two get into: The music is all alien percussion, working into every crevice of your body that knows how to wiggle. Missy even wears a Motorhead T-shirt in the video, and not even Lemmy could explain that one. "Get Ur Freak On" is a triumphant comeback for the dynamic duo from Virginia, especially since Missy and Timbaland have both looked like they were slipping lately; Tim produced Aaliyah's excellent single "Try Again" last year, but it sounded like it could have been anybody. On the other hand, "Get Ur Freak On" doesn't sound like anybody, including him. And Miss E proclaims unto all the world that Missy (the singer-rapper-songwriter), along with Tim (the producer), is back on top, making the most sonically inventive, rhythmically explosive pop music around. La freak, c'est chic.

Miss E is a mess, of course, and not all the experiments work as brilliantly as the single. But if you prefer risky messes to tidy formula, tracks like "Scream a.k.a. Itchin' " and "Step Off" will freak you up something fierce. Missy and Tim have obviously been listening to lots of headphone techno, two-step, New Orleans hip-hop, Indian movie music, early Depeche Mode and who knows what else. She bangs out "One Minute Man" twice - once with Ludacris, once with Jay-Z - and schmoozes with all-star guests like Redman, Method Man, Eve and Da Brat. Missy also speaks out in favor of drugs ("X-tasy"), sex ("Dog in Heat"), violence ("Slap! Slap! Slap!") and her lord and savior Jesus Christ (on the hidden track "Higher Ground"), although she's definitely opposed to you smoking "that stank shit" in her car ("get your feet off my dashboard!"). Busta Rhymes reminds the party people to take along a designated driver - and when Busta can pass for the voice of reason, you know we're talking about one seriously twisted album here. Thank God for Missy Elliott: She proves that girl power is all well and good, but it can't compare to woman power. I freak, you freak, we all freak for Miss E.