Missy Elliot

I want to make something commercial that people can pick up on.

It's just that back then we didn't know that was considered being a coproducer. I would sit on the side and say what I wanted musically, but at the time we thought if you aren't the one playing it, you don't get the credit. Now you'll start seeing my name listed as producer.

I'm not a person that's walkin' down the street looking mean all day.

Hip-hop is definitely not what it used to be, which was creative, original music.

I love my mother. She's my first love. She has been through a lot and is a sole survivor.

I've always had a lot of creative impact on the music with Timbaland.

My Struggles is a record close to me. It's about what I went through at home living with an abusive father.

I want kids of this generation to see that everything is cool, that there's some kind of unity in hip-hop. We all found something that's really important to us, and music is all we've really got.

When you turn on your radio, you don't always want to hear about someone shootin' some person. Even if that's the lifestyle they live, people don't always want to hear it.

I wasn't born a superstar.

What my home life is like now is great.

I mean, when it's time to rhyme rhyme, I can get down for mine.

When it comes to size, most people don't want to see themselves looking bigger than what they are.

I want people to feel the heat while they walk down the street and they're just kickin' it.

Now everybody's sampling.

Music should be your escape.

I'm not tryin' to come off as the best lyricist.

You have to be ready to sing and perform at any time.

No, because I don't want to hear what's hot and feel I have to copy it. I'll just make up my own thing.

I got a mother who's very strong after taking the whippings that she took from my father.

And basically I always said when I was little that if I ever became successful or a celebrity, I would buy her this huge house and she would never have to work anymore. And I've done that. So I feel happy about doing that.

Everybody is doing the same old thing.

I want to be cutting-edge.