Missy Elliott Reflects On Taking A Chance And Telling Her Label She Couldn’t Do Her Album Without Timbaland And Magoo

In fact, Elliot’s rise to fame started thanks to another Virginia native… Jodeci’s DeVante Swing. In 1991, Swing signed Elliott’s Sista group to his Swing Mob Records label. Ultimately, due to financial reasons, the group was dropped from the label and later broke up. In a previous interview with Variety, she admitted to never wanting to be a solo artist.

“I was afraid,” she shared with the outlet. “I love being in a group because the pressure isn’t on one person – it probably don’t seem like it, but I’m super, super shy. Once I was no longer in the group, instead of being an artist I wanted a record label.”