MISSY ELLIOTT - Under Construction 2xLP

Label: Elektra

Originally released in 2002, the Grammy nominated hip hop album features the hits Work It and Gossip Folks. The album went double platinum and was nominated for two Grammys – “Best Rap Album” and “Album of the Year”. Released in 2002 and once again produced by the dream combo of Timbaland and Missy herself, it contained the hit singles ‘Work It’ and ‘Gossip Folks’ and was hailed as one of her finest records.

On Under Construction, Missy attempted a kind of cultural reset. Rather than pushing rap and R&B into bold new futures, as she’d done on her previous three albums, she tried to bring everything back to the feeling of the old-school rap that she’s always loved. But Missy wasn’t capable of pure nostalgic pastiche; she wasn’t trying to go Jurassic 5 on everyone. Instead, Missy, Timbaland, and their all-star cast of collaborators invested their ’80s and ’90s reference points with the berserk, idiosyncratic spirit that already animated so much of their work. The result was the biggest and, for my money, the best album that Missy Elliott has ever made.