“Have you ever had a dream, Neo, that you were so sure was true?” It's Act 1 of The Matrixand Morpheus sets the rules of reality for Keanu Reeves' phlegmatic protagonist by offering him a choice. Neo slowly touches a mirror, liquid silver creeping into his hand, engulfing him, snapping him out of the simulated life he experienced as reality and into the “real” world – an AI-controlled, post-apocalyptic Earth. The Wachowskis' universe of teleportation and tech booths warped everyone's perceptions of reality in 1999. Now, imagine Missy Elliott watching it for the first time. It was a no brainer, even for an artist with a similarly twisted, futuristic approach to her art. Somehow, she had found a framework for her second album.
By that point, Missy had proven herself to be a hip-hop anomaly in a rapidly digitizing world. Early Y2K radio largely echoed the envelope-pushing sound she and Timbaland created on her 1997 debut. Supa Dupa Fly. This album, along with Aaliyah's staccato beat-box rhythms One in a millionmade the Virginia duo stand out in a sea of samplers, establishing them as the industry's sci-fi oddballs creating out-of-this-world, pop-savvy tracks. Pop music suddenly sounded like a dial-up internet connection on the fritz, with R&B like Ginuwine, Total, SWV and 702 serving as smooth ciphers for Missy and Timbaland's craziest ideas. In the wake of other producers losing their style, heya Real world it was a chance for Missy to stop the assembly line and build her mythos, drawing directly from The Matrix. “I am Morpheus,” a screwed-up voice (obviously Timbaland) slams into the album's intro to remind people (as if they needed it) that he and Missy could constantly alter reality.
Although darker in tone and less whimsical than Supa Dupa Flyher second album is driven by the same fluid melodies and myriad flows, with many of the beats coming from Timbaland sounds collected after a trip to Japan. THE Matrix The framing is mostly smoke and mirrors here, peppered lightly in interludes throughout. But the film's basic premise—the idea of transcending binaries—probably resonated with Missy and aligns with this play's theme of women breaking free from reductive labels. In interviews for Da Real WorldMissy often highlighted a double standard that seems like a cliché today: aggressive men are seen as bosses, while women of the same type are dismissed as bitches or divas. The self-proclaimed shy girl also opened up about using “bitch” to get things done. Da Real World it's her personal rebellion, her equal playground, where she can flex alongside her male peers (Big Boi, Eminem, Redman, Juvenile, BG), claiming fairness in the game while making room for the women in her orbit (Lil Mo , Aaliyah, Lil Kim, Da Brat, Lady Saw, Nicole Wray) to express their frustration over a Timbaland beat.
