At the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards, the legendary Missy Elliott made her return to the music scene while receiving the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award. Elliott returned with fiery power as she performed a set full of nostalgic songs to remind her fans that she is here to stay. 

   Elliott began her performance with a rendition of her new single “Throw It Back,” in a silvery outfit matching her dancers in energy and enthusiasm. Elliott then followed the new performance with some 90’s nostalgia as she performed her most iconic songs like, “The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly),” “Get Ur Freak On” and “Work it.” 

   Along with these pieces of musical genius, Elliott mimicked the music videos for each song by wearing the blow-up trash bag outfit from “The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)” music video and by having Alyson Stoner repeat her performance for “Work It” from when she was only nine years old. 

   While Elliott’s medley of songs energized the audience, the main event of the MTV video music awards was the presentation of the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award. Missy Elliott is truly deserving of this award because she broke boundaries with her music, and was not afraid to be different from the main-stream pop music of the 90’s. 

   In an interview with MTV, Pharrell Williams  said, “She never knew any boundaries.”  

   Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliott continues to break down walls within the music industry, just as she did in 1997. Her chart topping records are household names, whether you know of her or not. 

   In an interview with MTV, Justin Timberlake said, “The first time I heard ‘The Rain’, I ran around for 2-3 weeks telling all of my friends, ‘This is the future of music’.” 

   Missy Elliott has pioneered the “quirky” RnB/Rap genre, and has never let popular music trends influence her style. 

    In an interview with MTV prior to the presentation of the vanguard award Elliot said, “I tried to stay away from Radio and TV a lot, cause I feel like if you wanna be creative you can’t be out in it because then you’re gonna be afraid to try anything new because you’re so used to hearing a certain sound so it’s gonna sound wrong to you to hear anything different.” 

   This ground-breaking artist inspires many upcoming members of the music industry, and continues to do so as she creates more music and collaborates with more and more upcoming artists.