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Missy Elliott is opening up as she prepares to make history as the first female rapper to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
The four-time Grammy Award winner sat down with Robin Roberts in an interview that aired Thursday on Good Morning America, reflecting on her life journey as she gears up for the huge milestone of her career.
Also known as Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliott, the hip-hop star explained the origin of the moniker which she said was given by Magoo of Timbaland & Magoo. “He named me that,” she shared. “He said, ‘It was a crime to have as many talents as I had.'”
Growing up, the “Work It” songstress said she always dreamed of being a “superstar,” adding, “I never wavered. I never changed. I said it every time.”
Looking back through her decades of experience working in the industry, Elliott, 52, said “words cannot describe” how honored she feels to have been selected an inductee of the most prestigious hall in music. She told Roberts, as an artist from the “hip-hop world,” such a goal “seemed so far out of reach.”
During the upcoming ceremony, which streams on Disney+ Friday, November 3, the hip-hop superstar will be introduced by Queen Latifah — a pioneering female rapper Elliott is thankful for.
“I owe so many flowers, bouquets. It’s not enough bouquets for those women that came before me. And she’s one of those women,” she said.
Also in attendance for the special event will be Elliott’s mother whom she claims never witnessed her perform live.
Elsewhere in her chat with Roberts, Elliott said she’d offer this advice to her younger self: “‘There is a bright future for you, and keep goin.'”
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