(t5!) Heroes Of The Zeroes Singles: #03: Missy Elliott – Get Ur Freak On (2001)

 

“Kore kara minna de mechakucha odotte…sawagou, sawagou”

Or to those who need to brush up on their Japanese: “From this point, everyone’s going to be dancing recklessly…let’s make some noise, let’s make some noise.” With that gospel recitation, “Get Ur Freak On” starts, blessed by an Eastern god, sanctified by the divine being of rhythm and dance. And once it started, it felt like it’ll never stop. For a vast percentage of 2001, it was unavoidable. Still, in spite of the incalculable playing time it received on the airwaves, nobody was ever weary of it. Which was baffling if you think about it; even some people got sick of other inescapable hits like “Hey Ya!” and “Umbrella” eventually. Not “Get Ur Freak On”, however, which still bewildered dance floors months after its release. As its parent album proclaims, it was definitely “so addictive.”

The vehicle for this manifesto? Timbaland and Missy “The Misdemeanor” Elliott. When it comes to pop innovation, they’re the tag team champs. Here’s a producer who continually spits on the rulebook to own the game. Timbo, who seem to constantly find pools of influences that no one has tampered with yet, summons ektara notes, tribal bongo drums, and bhangra-isms to create a track that is both minimal and muscular for Missy to pilot to the edges of the universe. “Give me some new shit,” demands Missy during the intro and Timbaland continually does.

Certainly, we can’t go through this track review without devoting a word or two to Missy’s word or two. It’s not breaking grounds for its storytelling or its clever wordplay; it’s pretty much a battle rap attepting to slay the rest. However, it’s without question one of the rap lyrics in recent memory that is extremely fun to spoof on your own (wonderfully demonstrated by the "driving miss daquiri" scene in the movie 40-Year Old Virgin). The reason is particularly due to the brisk interjections here and there: the Japanese phrases, the high-pitched “nigga!”, the prolonged “holllllllaaaaaaaaa”. And then there’s the infamous loogie hock, even the backing track is caught off-guard, pausing for a second to gather itself.

Not that Missy wasn’t a force before “Get Ur Freak On” was released—looking back, “The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)” may also be the prior decade’s better singles—however, it is the single that cemented her as the preeminent queen of hip-hop. Can you tell me another lady rapper that has made a similar influence in the world of hip-hop in the 00’s? Lil’ Kim? Da Brat? Lady Sovereign? Lil’ Mama? Fergie? Not even close. Without a formidable challenger to her crown, it would’ve been comprehensible to rest on the laurels of “Get Ur Freak On” for the rest of the decade. Not Missy, though. She follows it up with triumphs like with “One Minute Man”, “Work It”, “Gossip Folks”, “Pass That Dutch” and “Lose Control”, irradiating the club speakers throughout the decade. A fighting champ, for sure.