Missy Elliott donates $50,000 to Portsmouth Housing Authority, on first anniversary of her dedicated day

Last year, hip-hop star and Portsmouth native Missy Elliott returned home for a dedication ceremony of a portion of McLean Street as Missy Elliott Boulevard and the proclamation of “Missy Elliott Day” in Virginia.

Elliott celebrated the anniversary Tuesday by coming home to donate $50,000 to the Portsmouth Redevelopment and Housing Authority.

Alisa Winston, the executive director of PRHA, said after a short ceremony that the money will pay the past-due rents of 26 families. Winston received a giant cardboard check at the Dr. O. Marriner Family Life Center at Grove Church, the oldest African American Baptist church in Portsmouth.

Elliott said during a short speech that she’d been planning how to celebrate “Missy Elliott Day ” since this time last year.

“Instead of it being a celebration of Missy Elliott, you know about me, I wanted to give back and let that be the celebration of Missy Elliott, just to show that I love everybody out here.”

Elliott, who was born Melissa Elliott in July 1971, burst onto the music scene with her debut 1997 album “Supa Dupa Fly.” She went platinum in 2001 with her third album, “Miss E… So Addictive,” propelled by the hit “Get Ur Freak On.” The next year, she followed with an even bigger one, “Work It,” which peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2002. Elliott has won five Grammy Awards and is the first female rapper in the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Elliott will also perform and be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on Nov. 3 and the show will be streamed on Disney+.

Last year, artist Timbaland – who produced “Work It” – attended the street naming ceremony with Petersburg native and R&B star Trey Songz and Hampton Roads rapper Pusha T. The three had front-row seats at the packed affair in which Elliott, in dramatic style, slowly rolled onto the Manor High School football field in a Bentley. Elliott graduated from Manor, formerly known as Woodrow Wilson High, in 1990.

Tuesday’s event was far less star-studded but still just as meaningful to Elliott’s mother who was there to support her daughter and watch her make the donation.

“So when you give, you give because you remember those days when you didn’t have,” Patricia Elliott said after the ceremony. “If each person would give when they get to the top, then, what a real beautiful world we would be in.”

In her speech, Elliott commented that her mother had instilled in her a “giving heart” and love for Portsmouth.

“Just know that P-town is with me no matter where I go.”

“I love my city. I love my state. I love everything about it,” she said. “Everything about Missy comes from here – the hospitality, the humility, the confidence – if you mess with me, it’s a problem. We sweet, but don’t try us.”

Colin Warren-Hicks, 919-818-8138, colin.warrenhicks@virginiamedia.com