Missy Elliott BEEN a Video Vanguard

I just felt like talking more about Dr. Melissa Elliott, her Video Vanguard award, how she's that bitch and MTV still ain't shit.

Missy getting a Video Vanguard award was overdue as fuck. Missy showed she was that music video bitch from day one. Missy has consistently given us great music videos. So for MTV to only honour her over a decade after she'd made her mark in the world of music videos was a mess. But, at least Missy finally got what she deserved.

The Video Vanguard award has somewhat lost its prestigious lustre after it was awarded to Justin Timberfake and J.No for their bog standard videographies. But I won't shit on it completely, because receiving it clearly meant something to Missy, who took the opportunity to thank every single person and then some, like she was about to peace out from the world.

Missy Elliott's speech was typical of her character, which is to always acknowledge and uplift others. Missy has never been the type to take credit for everything, and always diverts the spotlight to everybody around her. It was a real display of humility. Missy is not ashamed, afraid, nor threatened to admit that it takes a village to create what we see of her.

It was kinda strange to me that Cardi B was the one to present Missy with her award to her and not Timbaland, Hype Williams or Dave Meyers. MTV don't seem to always pick the most obvious people to present these awards. Jimmy Fallon presenting Justin Timberlake with his award, made sense. Jay-Z presenting Beyoncé with her award, made sense. Shawn Mendes presenting Jennifer Lopez with her award made no sense, but made sense in the sense that she didn't deserve the award in the first place. Cardi B presenting Missy with her award, made some sense in the 'I'm a fan and I'm acknowledging Missy has been an inspiration to me, even though it may not seem obvious to y'all' kinda sense and showing one generation of Rap presenting an award to another. And Cardi did take to Instagram live afterwards to sing Missy's praises and that Missy supported her though a trying time in her life. But even with that, I still feel that Timbaland, Hype Williams or Dave Meyers would have been better picks because of their personal connection to Missy and the part that they've each played in her legacy.

Anyway. Dr. Melissa is a Video Vanguard. Officially. Now the world has caught up to what many of us already knew.

🎧 Random J Pop playlist: Written by Missy Elliott