F Yeah! Missy Elliott Gets Her Freak On at First U.S. Show in Nearly a Decade

The last time we saw reclusive rapper Missy Elliott onstage, she was totally outshining Katy Perry (and Left Shark) with a dynamite surprise performance at Perry’s 2015 Super Bowl halftime show. Last Friday, Elliott triumphantly returned to the stage, headlining night one of Los Angeles’s FYF Fest (formerly the F*** Yeah Festival) with her first full U.S. concert in nearly a decade. And Perry was there to show her support — and show off some Left Shark-worthy dance moves.

Also spotted in the stage wings were Knowles soul sisters Beyoncé and Solange (the latter would play FYF on Sunday), Janet Jackson, and fellow Friday FYF main stage performer Björk. Meanwhile, Tyler, the Creator opted to stand in the crowd, right up front. But none of these stars hopped onstage with Elliott. Instead, they were losing control, working it, and getting their freak on like everyone else (aka her “fans from day one”) at L.A.’s Exposition Park. Tonight was all about Missy and her so addictive back catalog — and her groundbreaking music and dazzling visuals were as fresh, funky, and futuristic as ever, even though she has not released a full-length album in 12 years.

Elliott made a Super Bowl-style grand entrance Friday, emerging like a Vegas magician from a smoked-and-mirrored neon illusion box. And from that moment on, the magic started. Rocking a trademark bedazzled tracksuit jacket, waist-length ombre extensions, a trucker hat fittingly emblazoned with the declaration “Queen,” and a massive smile, Elliott brought the energy — despite her past battles with illness (in 2011, she revealed that her absence from the music scene was due to the hyperthyroidism disorder Graves’ disease) and the fact that she was actually under the weather on Friday. “I want y’all to know I was sick, and I said, ‘I’m not going to miss this show for nothing!’” she confessed. “We still come out here and rock this s***!”

Elliott was self-deprecating throughout her hour-long set, admitting, “I lost my mic pack, so I can’t hear s***, but I’m doing this s***. … That’s a real artist; I still keep it going. … Real stars just keep it moving!” (She added shout-outs to fellow “real stars” like Beyoncé and Michael and Janet Jackson.) At one point, she stopped to fix her shoelace, and she even chucklingly complained about her weave, saying, “My hair is messed up too! It’s frizzing up. It’s still good hair, though!” However, Elliott’s vulnerability and approachability only made the crowd adore her more. FYF spectators probably would have paid good money just to watch the legend tie her shoelace for an hour — and, to be honest, that still would have been utterly entertaining.

During the rare show (Elliott’s only scheduled concert of 2017), fans of course recorded every one of Missy’s moves — but Elliott demanded that the audience be 100 percent present, announcing, “Put your phone down! That’s one of the problems. You got to put your phone down for one record! We make everybody in this joint, from front to back, jump as high as you can. And I’m going to keep stopping this joint until I see [you put away your phones and jump]!”

However, for her final number, Elliott asked everyone to hold their illuminated cell phones high, in a tribute to “everyone who has lost someone” (“mother, father, uncle, friend, pets too — it don’t have to be a celebrity”), then she vanished back into her magic mirror box, as images of Biggie Smalls and Tupac Shakur screened behind her and her late collaborator Aaliyah’s “Rock the Boat” served as her unexpectedly touching exit music. When the box reopened, standing in the real-life Elliott’s place was her marionette likeness from her “WTF (Where They From)” music video, wearing a baseball cap that read “Legend.” And even Missy in puppet form had incredible stage presence.

Suffice to say, this show was well worth the wait, and hopefully another decade won’t pass before Missy Elliott takes the stage again. Her full FYF Fest setlist is below. The festival continued Saturday with Frank Ocean, A Tribe Called Quest, Erykah Badu, and MGMT, and Sunday with Nine Inch Nails, Solange, Iggy Pop, and Run the Jewels.

SETLIST:

“She’s a Bitch”
“One Minute Man”
“I’m Really Hot”
“We Run This”
“Gossip Folks”
“The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)”
“Hot Boyz”
“All n My Grill”
“Sock It 2 Me”
“Get Ur Freak On”
“Lick Shots”
“Work It”
“Pass That Dutch”
“Ching-a-Ling”
“Shake Your Pom Pom”
“The Things You Do”
“Let It Go”
“I’m Better”
“WTF (Where They From)”
“Lose Control”