Missy Elliott on "Get Ur Freak On" — Rolling Stone's Best Song of the 21st Century So Far

October 8, 2025·25 min·2 clips

Missy Elliott describes how Get Your Freak On was born from Timbaland randomly hitting the keyboard out of exhaustion, insisting her album was already finished.

Brian Hyatt opens by noting Rolling Stone has published a list of the 250 greatest songs of the 21st century so far, with Get Your Freak On by Missy Elliott at number one. When asked her own pick for the best song of the century, Elliott declines to name one, saying she would upset too many artists' fanbases. She describes the circumstances of creating Get Your Freak On: she had completed her third album but felt it needed one more song, while Timbaland was tired and convinced the album was done. Hitting random keys in exhaustion, he struck the distinctive sound that would form the basis of the beat. Elliott immediately identified it, went into the booth, and recorded a rough version on the spot with engineer Jimmy Douglas. Timbaland added the full production elements after the vocal was recorded. The song, created last, became the album's first single. Elliott traces the chant-based hook to DC go-go music, which she experienced attending shows with a friend, watching bands including Rare Essence and Junkyard. Go-go's repetitive crowd chants, she says, showed her that simplicity creates participation, contrasting with the dense four-minute rap lyrics of her youth. She reflects on the difference between her first three albums: the debut was easy because nothing existed to compare it to; the sophomore album was stressful because she was chasing the success of the first; by the third album she felt free to experiment. She notes she now appreciates the second album more than she did at the time. Asked about her visual approach, Elliott explains that she cannot finish a record unless she can already see its video — if she cannot visualise it, it does not get released. She describes Get Your Freak On as sounding to her like a hip-hop thriller, which led to the underworld visual concept for the video. She worked with director Dave Meyers for the first time on this video, requesting an oversized chandelier at the last minute that her label initially resisted. Including dancer cameos was a deliberate strategy to show audiences how to move to a rhythmic style they had not encountered before. On the phrase copyright do not copy me she explains it was simply a direct statement that the style was already taken. Elliott says she knew in the studio that the song was something special but did not foresee it being known independently of her name across generations. She confirms she has new music in progress and describes it as experimental, consistent with her approach on the third album, but declines to name collaborators or set a release date.

As heard by us

Missy Elliott talks about pressure, freedom, and the visual instinct behind "Get Your Freak On."

Brian Hyatt opens a special mini-episode with Missy Elliott centered on Rolling Stone's new list of the 250 greatest songs of the 21st century so far, with "Get Your Freak On" at number one.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

If you want Missy Elliott explaining how she sees a video before a record comes out.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from Rolling Stone Music Now