She's big, she's brash and she's coming here, so fasten your jeans, put on your bling and get your freak on for Missy Elliott.
The top-selling female rapper of all time has been lured to Taiwan by the crew from club Room 18, who admitted they were surprised when Elliott agreed to do a one-off concert.
The Taipei World Trade Center gig next Saturday will be the US superstar's only singing engagement in Asia, after she checks out an Adidas promotional event in South Korea this week.
PHOTO COURTESY OF ROOM 18
Room 18 organizers said Elliott would return to Los Angeles before jetting back to Asia and Taiwan for the concert, with her 25-man crew, DJ Dana Stinson, at least 12 dancers and support staff.
“Yeah, we didn't really think it would happen to begin with, but we have been working for some time with an agent in Europe, Heavy Rotation. With Missy we got a request from our sponsor to get a big artist, so we talked to the agent, got a list and picked her,” Room 18 promoter Alex Liu said.
“It's gonna look a bit like her videos. If you come to the concert you will see a group show, with colorful sets, her MC [Corey Evans] to heat things up and her own breakdancers.”
Liu said Room 18 was spending NT$12 million to bring Elliott over and there would also be performances from Machi, Jamaica Sound Crew, up-and-coming hip-hop group TTM, Trouble Maker, other Warner Music artists, plus resident Room 18 DJs and dancers.
“She [Elliott] asked to bring her dogs over but the customs regulations wouldn't allow it, so that didn't happen,” Liu said, adding her rider for the event included “just normal stuff like drinks, food, nothing incredible.”
This may come as a surprise to concert organizers in England who were recently hit with a demand for US$133,000 of backstage perks, according to Canadian Web site 24 hours. This included over 30 first-class tickets and five-star rooms, two five-star suites, US$5,500 of dinners and unlimited Cristal champagne.
Fellow Room 18 promoter and man-about-town Turtle (烏龜) said, “Basically we do the club thing and we know what people like. We saw the video of her show and we know what she can do. She produces the goods.
“Missy Elliott has her own style, which is a big deal these days and people will pay to see her because she is wicked. That's it, she's a great artist and she's what people want.”
The word on the street is Elliott is a must-see show. Hall 2 of the Taipei World Trade Center has proved itself as a venue after successfully hosting Deep Dish, Tiesto and Paul van Dyk.
Posters on Wuchang Street in Ximending, near the alleys that cater to the city's hip-hop heads, announced the “supernaturally powered” rapper was coming to town. Ah-han (阿漢), who works at a Karl Kani store, was sure Elliott's concert would sell out.
“No doubt people will want to see her, she's so hot. We've kinda grown up watching her videos on MTV and you know that her story is her brand. It's a powerful one. Her rapping isn't like a man, where it's powerful, her delivery is more musical, it's got a dancing feeling, so there's gonna be plenty of girls going.”
As for foreigners here, they should also be queuing up for some gilt-edged entertainment. There was, however, one dissenting voice (he did not want to be named), who said Elliott was fat and past it.
The overweight comment has been a constant refrain throughout her career, but she has overcome the doubters time and again since she formed Sista in the late 1980s.
Her success owes nothing to the usual requirement for a female performer to merely fit in a standard-sized dress and warble without embarrassment.
Rather, she has earned genuine respect for her musical ability, production work and artistic expression in her videos. It's been a triumph of style and substance over prejudice.
As she tells it in Joy, on last year's The Cookbook album: “Since ‘92 I came to win and never lose/They try to stop a chubby chick from comin' through/My belly out and sellin' out these venues.”
In the 1990s she co-wrote the songs with childhood friend and legendary beat master Timbaland that became hits for SWV, Destiny's Child and most notably Aaliya. She has also worked with Lil' Kim, Big Boi, Sean “Puffy” Combs, Nelly Furtado, Alicia Keys, and many others.
With her long-term collaborators -- including Magoo, Ginuwine and Playa -- she broke the mold of rhythm and blues to forge a glistening new-school style layered with innovative sounds, rap and soulful vocals.
The album Supa Dupa Fly in 1997 launched her solo career but she became a megastar with Miss E ... So Addictive in 2001. This album's clean production and impeccable beats have defined the genre.
Last year Elliott was nominated for five Grammy Awards and won Best Short Form Video for Lose Control. She was also nominated Best International Female Artist at the Brit Awards. Universal Pictures is making a movie about her life and a greatest hits album is coming out this month. The single We Run This was released earlier this year.
This doesn't sound like an artist on her way out. In fact, Elliott is on top of her game and her concert will be the hottest ticket in town next week.
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