Missy Elliott Vowed To Save Her Mom From An Abusive Relationship Once When She ‘Made It’ In Music

Missy Elliott's trailblazing music career had a motivation that she recently discussed. The rapper revealed that her mother was the inspiration to push herself to succeed. She wanted to help her mom escape an abusive relationship.

Elliott's answer was prompted by a fan who wanted a documentary made on the "Lose Control" artist.

"I wanna know like what inspired her and what was her drive to remain persistent in a male-dominated industry at the time," the fan wrote.

"I seen many strong women in the industry be4 me that made it through," Elliott replied. "My mom was in [an] abusive relationship so I told her I would make it so I could get her out of that situation & I would make sure she’d never have to work again that’s what really kept me going."

The hip-hop legend has been open about the abuse she's witnessed growing up. In a 2003 interview with The Guardian, she said that her father pulled a gun on both her and her mother. She also brought up that he would beat her mother almost daily.

"My father was very abusive, and it was hard for my mother at first to leave because we had depended on him for so long," she told the outlet. "Sometimes you kind of get adjusted to getting that beating."

When Elliott was 14, she and her mother left her father after family members convinced her mother to leave him.

"When we left, my mother realized how strong she was on her own, and it made me strong," she said. "It took her leaving to realize."

If you or anyone you know is experiencing domestic violence, please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233.

In March, a lot of hip-hop and R&B artists came out with hits that we've had on repeat ever since it dropped. Nicki Minaj dropped her first solo single of the year as well as Janelle Monáe on the R&B side. Several projects such as Tyler, The Creator's Call Me If You Get Lost: Estate Sale and Chlöe Bailey's solo debut were highlights of rap and R&B last month. Take a look at 10 of the best songs below:

Nicki Minaj dropped "Red Ruby Da Sleeze" last month which interpolates the 2003 hit "Never Leave You" by Lumidee. Nicki seemingly called out Megan Thee Stallion with the lines "700 on them horses when we fixin’ to leave/ But I don’t fuck with horses since Christopher Reeve" and "That .40 cal a make ’em dance like a go-go," which could be in reference to Tory Lanez allegedly shooting Megan in the foot while shouting, "Dance, bitch, dance!" "Red Ruby Da Sleeze" debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's Hot Rap Songs chart.

Tyler, The Creator dropped his deluxe version of Call Me If You Get Lost titled the Estate Sale last month. Prior to the release of the album, he dropped "Dogtooth." Tyler wrote on Twitter that "Dogtooth" was one of the songs that "didn't make the cut" when finalizing his Grammy-winning LP. Tyler has three guest features on the deluxe LP with a Vince Staples-assisted "Stuntman," "Boyfriend, Girlfriend" with YG, while A$AP Rocky joins the Odd Future rapper "Wharf Talk."

Kali dropped "Area Codes" last month and had the song trending all over TikTok. In the record she raps about having a different guy providing for her in various places around the world. "Area Codes" follows the Georgia rapper's "Dangerous" freestyle she dropped in January.

Following Janelle Monáe's stunning performance in Glass Onion, the Kansas City native has gone back to music with her release of "Float." She teased the song in a video using photos from her island vacation. The song catches Monáe being open about a transitional period where a newfound confidence has emerged.

NLE Choppa and Lil Wayne linked up for "Ain't Gonna Answer" last month. The song will be featured on Choppa's next project titled Cottonwood II. This was the first time the two rappers collaborated. Cottonwood II is set to be dropped on April 14.

Doechii enlisted Kodak Black for "What It Is (Block Boy)." The song samples the 2004 "Some Cut" by Trillville feat. Cutty and interlopes TLC's 1999 classic "No Scrubs." This is Doechii's first single of 2023. Kodak has been featured in quite a few songs in 2023 including "I Remember" with Roddy Ricch, "Colors" with Trippie Redd, "King Snipe" with Gucci Mane, and "Can’t Stop Won’t Stop Remix" with King Combs.

Mello Buckzz enlisted Latto for "Boom Pt. 2." The original song titled "Boom" featured Amari Blaze, Moni Da G, and Kashh Mir. For the music video, Latto used her feature to clap back at haters while she twerked in her cheetah print thong that made headlines back in January. After a fan called her out for seemingly wearing the same pair, the Atlanta native claried that she has a drawer full of them on Instagram Live.

Metro Boomin brought out Diddy to help out with the remix to "Creepin'" which also features The Weeknd and 21 Savage. The original song is found on Metro's 2022 project titled Heroes & Villains. "Creepin'" however has remained a standalone hit from the album spent over 10 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100. A remix with Diddy makes sense since Metro sampled the Bad Boy Records founder's 2004 hit "I Don't Wanna Know" with Mario Winans featuring Enya and himself.

Lola Brooke took her 2021 hit and got Latto and City Girls' Yung Miami to hop on for a verse. The original "Dont Play With It" features Billy B. This is Lola's second single of 2023 as she also dropped "So Disrespectful."

Chlöe Bailey put Future on "Cheatback" which is off her debut solo album In Pieces. The song details Chlöe being fed up about having to deal with her boyfriend cheating so she decides to do the same thing. In Pieces also features contributions from Chris Brown and Missy Elliott.