Illustration by Darius Harris.
This year has been incredibly kind to Missy Elliott, and it is abundantly clear that celebrating her legacy at every football game is the only way to encourage attendance.
Instead of the boring old hits of today and 80s dad rock typically played at sporting events, why not just play the entirety of Missy Elliott’s 2002 album “Under Construction”?
Recipient of the MTV Video Vanguard Award and inductee in the Songwriters Hall of Fame, Missy Elliott is a visionary whose legacy deserves to live on in sports arenas. Bands like Queen are still being played in sports settings purely to please the old men who crave the taste of an era before the internet. The lack of Missy Elliott in 2019 is appalling, and it is likely the main source for why there are not too many attendees at Southern Miss games.
Having just released a new collection of songs with “Iconology,” Missy Elliott is more relevant than ever. Bops like “Throw it Back” bring the classic Missy sound to 2019 and are bound to get the crowd hyped. There is absolutely not a single person in the entire universe that would leave a football game where “Throw it Back” was played.
Furthermore, older songs like “Lose Control” and “Work It” were meant to be transferred to the football field via the marching band. There is no reason why boring old dudes like Queen regularly receive a marching band treatment while funky, fresh, dressed-to-impress Missy Elliott is left to exclusively be played in 2000’s movie montages.
The standard instrumentation of Missy’s hits with record scratches, bombastic bass and vibrant horns make it hard not to blast her songs on full volume. Instead of explicit top 40 songs that leave the non-millennials nervous, why not play hits everyone loves like the clever and quirky classic “Work It”? It is disrespectful toward both Missy Elliott and Timbaland not to play “Work It” at least once per sports scenario.
Besides constantly delivering with the earworms, Missy deserves attention from sports fans because these past few years have been all praise and celebration for the hip hop legend. After entering the Songwriters Hall of Fame and receiving the MTV Video Vanguard, the universe is telling us that this is Missy’s time. Her legacy is on the rise and she should be lifted to the highest of recognition, which is by playing her music for the Hattiesburgers and all those who attend Southern Miss football games.
So, football fans and gatekeepers of stadium tunes, the universe has already started paying Missy her dues, and it is time for you to hop on the train.
Football and sporting events as a whole are boring, and the hot dogs are currently the only thing to keep one’s interest. It might be hard for some to admit, but Missy Elliott might be the saving grace of not just Southern Miss football, but all football everywhere. With all that Missy Elliott has given to society, we as a people deserve to give back and celebrate her greatness in all areas of life, including sporting events.
