Missy Elliott was inspired to make new music by P. Diddy.
The ‘Get Ur Freak On’ hitmaker – whose last studio album was 2005’s ‘The Cookbook’ – wouldn’t be working on a fresh album if it wasn’t for the ‘I’ll Be Missing You’ hitmaker asking her to work with him.
Asked if P. Diddy – real name Sean Combs – encouraged her back into music, she said: "Yes. I wanted to have a label and just have artists and do writing and producing.
I happened to be in the studio one day with Faith Evans and I was working with her and he came over and said, ‘Yo money, you still rap? I got this record I want you to hop on. I was so nervous."
Elliott, 44, was being interviewed by Pharrell Williams for Apple’s Beats 1 Radio and during the Q&A she praised him for his in-depth musical knowledge.
The rapper – who worked with Pharrell on her 2015 singe ‘WTF (Where They From)’ – said: "He’s a studier of music. I believe that if you want to be great, you have to be a student of music and he is that. He’s a teacher now but he’s always studied and has a sincere love for hip-hop culture."
Missy Elliot: P. Diddy inspired me to make new music
