Missy Elliott still sounds futuristic.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee and hip-hop visionary proved as much Thursday night at Little Caesars Arena during her "Out of This World" tour stop, which saw her performing for more than 12,000 fans and toasting her 25-plus year career while still sounding refreshingly ahead of the curve.
Elliott rifled through hit after hit during her wildly energetic 70-minute performance, and the 53-year-old MC was a commanding presence on stage, at times moving so fast you couldn't keep up with her. You wouldn't know it's the Virginia native's very first headlining tour, and it comes after she entered the Rock Hall in 2023, the first female rapper to be inducted into the institution.
Thursday's show was a non-stop mixtape run through her catalog as she tore through more than two dozen songs, many of which helped shape the sound of hip-hop in the late '90s and early '00s. The visuals touched on everything from "The Wizard of Oz" to New York subway graffiti to her own music videos, unfolding through an outer space aesthetic that matches Elliott's boundless worldview. The fashions were sci-fi hip-hop runway glam, straight out of a B-boy battle on Planet Missy.
Elliott took the stage looking like a crossing guard from the year 3300, with a shimmering yellow and black ensemble, a helmet featuring built-in sunglasses and a glowing, light-up M on her belt. She was surrounded by up to 20 dancers, opening her set with "Throw It Back" and charging to the front of the stage, dancing lithely while smiling ear to ear and looking fully illuminated by her inner glow.
"If you don't wanna party then you should go home!" Elliott shouted, setting the tone for an evening of wall-to-wall fun from a host who appeared just as happy to be there as those watching from the crowd.
The audience was lit up by the Coldplay-style wristbands fans were given at the door, which made certain sections glow in unison and blink in waves. Elliott's stage included a huge video screen backdrop and several rounded video screens in the rafters, as well as lasers, pyro and a floating stage which she boarded and flew out over the crowd inside during "Gossip Folks."
If anything, Elliott shuffled too quickly through her hits, like she was performing a medley at an awards show and squeezing in as much as possible before a commercial break. "The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)," her 1997 breakthrough single, was given a "Singin' in the Rain" intro and her dancers came out clad in all black rain gear, but Elliott sped through a verse and a chorus before moving onto the next song.
That was the case for most of the material ("Sock It 2 Me," "One Minute Man," and "Get Ur Freak On" most egregiously), beloved songs that deserved full renderings rather than being kissed and then discarded and moved on from.
And while she was at times either completely or at least heavily assisted by backing tracks, there was no doubting her enthusiasm for performance. There were never any dull moments on stage — Elliott and her dancers bounced on yoga balls during "I'm Better," and she was positioned on a couch that glided across the stage during "Beep Me 911" — and the energy levels only dipped slightly when a DJ briefly took over while Elliott was offstage swapping costumes.
"The first time I came to Detroit, Aaliyah brought me here," Elliott told fans late in the show, one of several mentions of the late Detroit R&B star over the course of the evening.
Opener Timbaland also led the crowd in a tribute to the singer, while Busta Rhymes shouted out late Detroit hip-hop producer J Dilla, one of his frequent collaborators, during his opening set. There was an additional tribute to Detroit, albeit an unspoken one, during closer "Lose Control," which unfolds over a sample of "Clear," from Detroit techno pioneer Juan Atkins' outfit Cybotron. (Atlanta songstress Ciara joined Elliott during that final song, which followed her own opening set earlier in the night.)
Elliott made her way into the crowd during "Work It," walking the perimeter of the floor and slapping hands with fans, and even making her way up a few rows in one of the aisles.
Elliott is undoubtedly hip-hop royalty, and Thursday's performance — her first area show since she played the Palace of Auburn Hills with Beyoncé and Alicia Keys in April 2004 — was long overdue. But like Busta Rhymes said earlier in the night, "we gonna be one family in this room tonight," and this family reunion was well worth the wait.
agraham@detroitnews.com
