Music is a universal language, but while some songs are left for the listeners’ interpretation, others were created with a message in mind. Recently, after years of allowing fans to run with the narrative that Tweet’s hit single, “Oops (Oh My)” was about masturbation, Missy Elliott decided it was finally time to debunk that particular breakdown.
On Monday (Jan. 4), a fan posted a clip of the Hummingbird singer’s 2002 video on Twitter alongside the caption, “Tweet said masturbation but make it a bop,” eliciting a response from the Virginia producer.
“#Funfact this song was never bout masturbation,” Elliott revealed. “It was always about her appreciating her dark skin (self-love) when she looked in the mirror. It was the listeners that thought it was about sex & just ran with it… & we just let the consumers mind create what they wanted.”
“Oops (Oh My)” — which featured vocals from Elliott — was the lead single off Tweet’s 2002 debut album Hummingbird. It peaked at number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs.
During an interview with ESSENCE in September, Tweet explained that she was inspired to write the song after watching a talk show. “I remember watching a show — I think it was Oprah, Donahue or Sally Jesse whoever… And the doctor on there talked about everyone in life needs to get in front of the camera or the mirror and love everything about themselves without wanting to change anything. That’s where that song comes from,” she said.
The “Call Me” songstress understood that people thought her hit single “was about something else,” but admitted she was initially dismayed by fan’s misconceptions. “I give people freedom to think and create whatever definition they want,” she continued. “But for me, the song meant self-love and appreciation.”