The tour includes multiple openers, including Timbaland, Busta Rhymes and Ciara — like Elliott, all game-changers from the ‘90s and 2000s. On Sunday night, this lineup made a tour stop at Fort Worth's Dickies Arena.
Timbaland’s set had him mostly rapping along to songs he’s produced. The crowd still knew all of these iconic tracks — even those younger members who weren’t born at the time of their release. The compositional risks in his beats (the crickets in Aaliyah’s “One in a Million,” the frog in Ginuwine’s “Pony”) still hold up as timeless earworms.
Busta later arrived on the stage dressed in a flashy, flowing white coat. Showing off the intricate rhymes and rapid flows for which he's known, he never missed a beat as he rapped to his classics, including “ What’s It Gonna Be?!,” “Touch It,” and his high-speed verse in Chris Brown’s “Look At Me Now.” Ciara is as much of a pioneer as Timbaland and Busta, having dominated the charts in the mid-aughts with her Crunk & B sound — R&B tracks with rolling percussion and low bass, with dirty south production by Lil Jon and Jazze Pha. Of course, fans anticipated she’d perform tracks like “Goodies” and “1, 2 Step,” but the singer delivered killer choreography that kept the audience's interest and energy up as she performed newer hits such as “How We Roll” and “Level Up.”
The Out Of This World tour marks Missy’s first-ever tour as a headlining act, and given her many accolades — which include four Grammys and a Rock And Roll Hall of Fame induction — expectations were high. Somehow, she managed to exceed them.
The show is formatted like an hour-and-15-minute-long ride through space, as fans are taken through different “planets” symbolizing various stages of Elliott’s career. She arrived on the stage performing “Throw it Back” from her 2019 EP Iconology. Throughout the show, she walked us through all her eras, with many theatrics, as she and her dancers set various scenes with stunning visuals.
Her performance of “The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)” was preceded by a Singing in the Rain-inspired dance set, as she arrived in a large cape and sunglasses, recreating the song's video. She removed the cape and stepped onto a floating disk, making her way through the air in the venue as she performed “Gossip Folks.”
When she returned to the stage, Missy recreated the videos for “Get Ur Freak On” and “Lick Shots,” as her dancers climbed fences and moved flawlessly to the beat. One would’ve never guessed that this was some of these dancers’ first-ever tour, as Missy revealed to the audience.
The rapper turned up the heat as she performed some of her sexier songs, such as the futuristic “DripDemeanor” and the soulful “Pussycat,” going from pure hip-hop to sensual R&B, complete with harmonic background singers, allowing Elliott to put the range of her musical prowess on display.
The crowd comprised people of all ages, and Missy thanked the older fans for showing their children and grandchildren her catalog —- even if, she joked, they weren’t supposed to be listening to her music.
Let Her Work It
Not only has Missy Elliott had an incredible career as a rapper, singer and visual artist, she's also a prolific songwriter and producer. During an interlude, her tour DJ played several songs she co-wrote and produced, including Aaliyah’s “If Your Girl Only Knew,” 702’s “Where My Girls At” and Monica’s “So Gone.”As Elliott returned to the stage nearing the show's conclusion, she performed “Work It,” walking through the audience, taking videos and selfies with fans. She then transformed the stage into a cornfield, and performed the choreography for “Pass That Dutch.”
Though much of the tour earned Missy her long-deserved flowers, she closed her set honoring her peers and mentors. Day-one fans were pumped as she performed “Up Jumps the Boogie,” featuring Timbaland and the late Magoo. She then brought out Busta to perform a portion of the “Touch It” remix, before concluding with “Lose Control” with Ciara.
Missy has paved the way for the likes of Ciara. She also came up alongside Busta, Timbaland and the late icons Magoo and Aaliyah. With the Out of This World tour, we see Elliott at the height of her power, still leaving the audience wanting more.
As evidenced by an audience that sang along to every word of every song, Missy Elliott’s catalog has stood the test of time. Though she hasn’t released a full-length album since 2005’s The Cookbook, she’s given us the gift of timeless sounds and cinematic visuals, setting the standard for the generations ahead.
At 53, Missy Elliott has earned the right to rest. But at this point, she only seems to be going harder.
