To all the groups that have allowed me to post my reviews over the past year
THANKS! It started simply as something to do to "keep it moving" and it has
taken a life of its own. Every gift comes from God and I thank him for the
talent and I thank all of the Faith Groups for a forum to use my talent. MUCH
LOVE!!

Nfa


Nfared
Reviews: Missy Elliot
The Cookbook



She’s a songwriter. She’s a producer. She’s a singer. She’s a rapper. She’s R&B.
She’s Hip-Hop. She yells and growls. She recognizes talent. She can’t stand the
rain. She lost weight. She compared herself to Halle Berry when she lost weight.
She’s kept the weight off. She’s comical. She worked with Aaliyah. She loved
Aaliyah. She’s done the reality T.V. show thing. She’s been Punked. She grins in
the majority of her pictures. She has one name: Missy. She has two names in one:
Miss E. She has two names: Missy Elliot. She has a new album: The Cookbook.



Being the artist she is, Missy has a few things going for her. Her excitement
and energy around what she does is contagious. Listening to her is therefore
effortless because she creates the desire. This is evident in “Mommy”. Though
the word is repeated several times throughout the song, Missy, in her own way
makes the song fun. The production is simple, a strong beat with simulated hand
claps on the two and the four count, much like an old school hip-hop beat. The
content though, shows Missy taking little risk with lines like “Mommy with the
cute face/can I get a date/Mommy gotta a cute shape/Mommy make em wait”. The
lyrics throughout “Mommy” seem as if they could belong on any of Missy’s past
albums. This works against the desire she creates to listen to her. She pumps
you up, then smacks you with what she gave you before. It works initially, but
the lyrical stagnancy reveals itself shortly thereafter.



Joy presents a better shot at solid writing as she describes her beginnings in
the industry, “They tried to stop a chubby chick from coming through/My belly
out and selling out these venues.” While this should be one of the stronger
songs on the album, there are two things that make Joy weird. There is the
intro, which is over a minute long and seemingly pointless as it relates to the
song itself. Then there is the appearance of Mike Jones. While one can
appreciate the collaboration of an industry veteran with an industry new comer
(particularly a talented new comer), the beat/tone change at Mike’s verse throws
off the flow of the track, making it seem as if the effort would have been
better had they done separate songs, or at least stuck to the original beat.


Final Grade
Nothing can be taken away from what Missy has contributed to the music industry.
She has stuck to her guns and remains as one of the most innovative artist of
our time. She has created hits for a slew of artists including Gina Thompson,
Nicole Wray, Aaliyah, and Tweet. Oddly enough though, with all the excitement
she creates, her own material never seems to possess the power of the work she
has done for other people. With a producer roster including Timberland, Rich
Harrison, and the Neptunes, The Cookbook will not be a disappointing listen by
any means. The invigorating “We Run This” is a particular album highlight, using
the beat from “Jump On It”, by Sir Mix A Lot. The hope though is that Missy will
strive to use better ingredients. Final Grade C+















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