Tag Archives: Timbaland

missy elliott mtv vmas 2019

Missy Elliott Will Receive the Vanguard Award at the MTV VMAs

The MTV Video Music Awards, formerly a pinnacle for American pop culture, has been on a steady decline for the last decade. Once a catalyst for early viral moments like Madonna kissing Britney Spears and Kanye West interrupting Taylor Swift, the once definitive ceremony has lost its luster. Since the ways we consume media have evolved tremendously since the first broadcast in 1984, thanks to streaming and social media and whatnot, the very significance of the awards has shifted. Or perhaps the VMAs are just another thing millennials helped kill.

 

However, there’s hope for this year’s ceremony on August 26: Missy Elliott, the highest-selling female rapper of all time, will be presented with the Vanguard Award for her contributions to music and pop culture at large. Previous recipients of this title include Madonna, Spears, Kanye West, Rihanna, Beyonce, and Justin Timberlake. Elliott remains one of the most groundbreaking and innovative artists of her generation since she emerged in the late ’90s with her futuristic and high-concept music videos that continue to inform the girls today. And while this award seems way past due, there’s relief that she is finally being formally recognized for her cultural impact.

 

superpower2

BEYONCÉ

1468790_10153655880960601_105574910_n

Burn your Christmas wish list.

1468790_10153655880960601_105574910_n

Erase any “Best of” round-ups from your recent memory.

1468790_10153655880960601_105574910_n

Q-tip’s out. Get those ear drums pristine.

1468790_10153655880960601_105574910_n

bey copy

By now, we’re in the aftermath.

It’s been a little over ten hours and although the something-more-royal-than dust has settled, Queen B is still sitting atop her thrown in full freeze; the stare: icy. So, yes, Beyoncé went and pulled the stuntiest of stunt moves, dropping an entire “visual album” out of thin air after a year of will she/won’t she.

The not-at-all-highly-anticipated-out-of-lack-of-knowing-it-existed album is out today, exclusively on iTunes, and is comprised of 14 songs and 17 videos. Collabs with Jay-Z, Drake, Frank Ocean, and Blue Ivy are spread across the album with a slew of somebody producers including Justin Timberlake, Timbaland, Sia, Pharrell, Miguel, Ryan Tedder, The-Dream, Hit-Boy, etc (and we mean etcetera).

In a statement: “Now people only listen to a few seconds of  song on the iPods and they don’t really invest in the whole experience. It’s all about the single, and the hype. It’s so much that gets between the music and the art and the fans. I felt like, I don’t want anybody to get the message, when my record is coming out. I just want this to come out when it’s ready and from me to my fans.”

On track to decimate, 80,000 copies of the album were sold in the first 3 hours of sale ALONE.

It’s a good day to be alive!

ghost2

Images courtesy of  Columbia Records.