Today (Nov. 2), “Good Morning America” aired an intimate sit-down with Missy Elliott, who is making history as the first female rapper to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. During the interview, anchor Robin Roberts asked the Virginia legend how it feels to be receiving the amazing honor.
“Words cannot describe. It just hasn’t clicked,” she said. “When you’re in the hip hop world, it seems so far out of reach… And it being the 50th year of hip hop, it’s layers. No matter what people tell you, the hip hop world is something special and unique.”
Elliott told a humorous story about how she once thought that she was related to another soon-to-be member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s 2023 class. “One of my cousins, they had the picture in a frame of Chaka Khan and the Jacksons. So for years, I thought they were my cousins,” she explained. “You know, I love Chaka, Sheryl Crow, Willie Nelson. To be even at a table with them is a blessing, past a blessing. It’s gotta be a bigger word for that.”
Back in 2008, Elliott was diagnosed with Graves’ disease, an autoimmune disorder that is caused by an overactive thyroid. “That broke down my whole nervous system ’cause I’m hyperactive,” she told Roberts. “I remember Monica coming to the house one day and I couldn’t even hold a pencil. She wrote the lyrics out for me. I felt helpless… It starts messing with you mentally. My eyes, you know, you have all of those different side effects that you have to deal with. Life is never gonna be just full of roses. Those tests become your testimony.”
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will be livestreamed via Disney+ on Nov. 3. As REVOLT previously reported, an edited broadcast of the event — which takes place in Brooklyn’s Barclays Center — comes to ABC on New Year’s Day 2024.