Missy Elliott drops music collection Iconography, plus video for song 'Throw It Back'

Rachel Yang

Missy Elliott is throwin’ it back for her comeback.

The rapper dropped her new 5-track project Iconology Thursday night, along with a music video for the song, “Throw It Back,” which appears on the tracklist.

Iconology is the artist’s first album in 14 years, after the release of The Cookbook in 2005. Elliott surprised fans with the news earlier in the day on Twitter, writing “let’s #ThrowItBack to a time when music just felt good and made us want to dance!”

The project features “Throw It Back,” “Cool Off,” “DripDemeanor (feat. Sum1),” “Why I Still Love You,” and an a cappella version of the latter. The pink-tinged music video begins with singer and actress Teyana Taylor giving a young girl a tour in “Hall of Missy,” and showing her the various eras of Elliott’s iconic career.

And more good news for Elliott fans ⁠— it was previously announced that the “Work It” and “Get Ur Freak On” rapper will be honored with the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award at the MTV Music Video Awards on Monday. She is also set to perform at the awards show for the first time in 16 years.

Elliott, who is also a producer and dancer, has largely stayed out of the spotlight, except for a number of singles like 2015’s “WTF (Where They From)” featuring Pharrell. Most recently, she made guest appearances on songs from Ariana Grande and Lizzo.

One of the reasons for Elliott’s absence from the music industry is that she’s been dealing with Graves’ disease, an autoimmune disorder. However, fans’ enthusiasm for new Elliott music has not waned, and Iconography’s release, coupled with her upcoming performance, could signal Elliott’s welcome comeback into the mainstream.

Listen to Iconography below.

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