Missy Elliott’s Use of her Platform for Resistance
Many artists create a platform through their craft. The platform grows through accumulation of fans or supporters who appreciate their craft. Many artists use their platform for different reasons and in different ways.There are many ways that an artist can use their platform, whether it be good or bad. The African American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, dancer, and philanthropist, Melissa “Missy Misdemeanor” Elliott, uses her platform to perform strategies of resistance through her musical and lyrical artistry. It took her some time to get the fan base that she now has because it was hard for a female rapper in the rap industry but in an interview, Elliott says, “It was never difficult as far as gaining that respect as a female in a male-dominated world. I think it was probably more resistance of being the typical artistry look”. She had to really gain respect through her actions to get attention on her platform for her to fulfill her wishes of educating and informing her listeners. Elliott shows resistance throughout her song “Wake Up” with the use of rhymes, allusions, references, metaphors, similes, and manipulation of musical sound.
Missy Elliott uses all of these musical and lyrical concepts to create a way to strongly illustrate the true meaning of the song Wake Up. They also help her promote resistance throughout all of her music. Resistance displays a hidden meaning where not much is explicitly said in the the text but is known and understood in the text and musical sounds. Elliott is using her music as a form of political communication to get information that she believes is necessary to be known out to her fan base so that her listeners are aware of whatever she is protesting about. In this case, in the song Wake Up, Elliott is protesting on where black people are from and where they are going. Elliott wants to use her platform to spread awareness to her listeners and to educate them. Also, being a philanthropist, she seeks to promote the welfare of others which she is doing for African Americans in her song Wake Up.
Missy Elliott uses musical artistry as a way to serve as a strategy of resistance. A way that she used musical artistry to serve as a strategy of resistance is sampling from a different song to add more meaning to her song Wake Up. These samples helped illustrate and express the songs meaning on a deeper level. The song that she sampled from and added into her song Wake Up was from Land of Hope and Glory by Hughie Green. She used this musical sample because the meaning in her song connects to the meaning of Hughie Green’s song. In Land of Hope and Glory, Green says, “For God’s sake Britain, wake up”. He is trying to catch people’s attention and to be aware of what’s going on in Britain. This is the same for Elliott. Wake Up is about getting people to wake up and become fully aware of what’s going on in the black community.
Missy Elliott uses textual or lyrical artistry as a way to serve as a strategy of resistance. A way that she used textual artistry to serve as a strategy of resistance is sampling from a television sitcom to connect it with the meaning of her song Wake Up. The television sitcom that Elliott contributed to her song Wake Up is Different Strokes. She used the line “I’m creative to the fullest / What you talkin’ bout Willis”. “What you talkin’ bout Willis” is a famous line said by the protagonist played by Gary Coleman. Coleman says this in every episode which turns it into his catchphrase and became well known and famous to the viewers of Different Strokes. The phrase also was used to get clarification on a situation that we think we understand but don’t comprehend fully. Elliott basically is saying that she is creative and uses this sample from an African American sitcom to clarify her point and to also use something with an African American background to really capture the attention of the black community.
Missy Elliott wanted and did use her platform to spread awareness to her listeners and to educate them on what is happening around them that they could be unaware of. Through her work she has shown where black people are from and the future they are heading towards. Elliott does this through the use of musical and lyrical artistry but also outside of her songs. Elliott used her platform to be beneficial towards a non-profit organization, “Break the Cycle”, by including information about the organization and displaying it on her jacket in the the cover of her album “This is Not a Test!” which is where the song Wake Up was featured. The majority of things that she used for Wake Up were metaphors, allusions, and sampling from both songs and television sitcoms. Elliott successfully shows forms of resistance in her song “Wake Up” and through the use of her platform.
(November 3, 2003 Monday). Missy Elliott Launches Unprecedented $5 Million National Domestic Violence Fundraising and Awareness Campaign; Hip-Hop Superstar Is Joined by Creative Artists Agency, Violator Management, Elektra Records to Help Raise Funds for ‘Break the Cycle’. PR Newswire. Retrieved from https://advance.lexis.com/api/document?collection=news&id=urn:contentltem:49XN-6YP0-010D-R1BP-00000-00&context=1516831.
(November 20,2003 Thursday). Missy Elliott discusses her career. NBC News Transcripts. Retrieved from https://advance.lexis.com/api/document?collection=news&id=urn:contentltem:4B25-5460-000S-72FY-00000-00&context=1516831.
