Missy Elliott has unveiled the colorful new surprise video for “I’m Better.” It’s her first new solo material since last year’s “Pep Rally” and first official video since 2015’s “WTF (Where They From)” with Pharrell Williams.
Directed by Elliott and Dave Meyers, the clip, produced and featuring a verse by Lamb, builds on Elliott’s future-forward off-kilter aesthetic. Swimming pools, exercise balls and rope are all cleverly repurposed for a video that nods as much to sci-fi as classic, Hype Williams-era hip-hop videos. The track eschews high-energy, club-friendly beats in favor of a slow-burning, faucet drop production that always threatens to explode but maintains its even keel.
The rapper also released a new video teasing an upcoming documentary showing a slew of her admirers describing the musician. “She came out and just completely blew people away,” Pharrell said. The doc is set for release later this year.
Though Elliott’s most recent album was 2005’s The Cookbook, the rapper has appeared on a number of projects over the past year. In December, she and TLC remixed “Sleigh Ride” for Taraji P. Henson’s holiday variety show, Taraji’s White Hot Holidays, and Elliott was a surprise guest during Michelle Obama’s appearance on James Corden’s Carpool Karaoke.
As for recent collaborations, Elliott teamed with Fall Out Boy for a new rendition of the Ghostbusters theme and joined a host of female artists for the female empowerment benefit track “This is for My Girls,” which she discussed alongside the former First Lady at last year’s South by Southwest.
While the schedule for Elliott’s long-anticipated new album has yet to be revealed, she does have an upcoming TV appearance confirmed. As Deadline reports, she has been tapped to guest star in an upcoming episode of Fox’s Star, helmed by Lee Daniels and Tom Donaghy. Elliott will portray a producer/recording artist in the Queen Latifah-co-starring show.
via RollingStone.com
