The former group's commercially unsuccessful debut album, 4 All the Sistas Around da World (1994), was released by Elektra Records and met with positive critical reception.

She collaborated with album's producer and Swing Mob cohort Timbaland to work in songwriting and production for other acts, yielding commercially successful releases for 702, Aaliyah, SWV, and Total.

Elliott re-emerged as a solo act with numerous collaborations and guest appearances by 1996, and in July of the following year, she released her debut studio album, Supa Dupa Fly (1997).

(2003) was followed by The Cookbook (2005), her sixth album which matched Under Construction as her highest charting release while spawning the Hot 100 top three single, "Lose Control" (featuring Ciara and Fatman Scoop).

[23][25] In 1988, Elliott formed an all-women R&B group called Fayze (later renamed Sista)[27] with friends La'Shawn Shellman, Chonita Coleman, and Radiah Scott.

In short order, Fayze moved to New York City and signed to Elektra Records through DeVante's Swing Mob imprint and also renaming the group Sista.

All 20-plus members of the Swing Mob—among them future stars such as Ginuwine, Playa, and Tweet[31]—lived in a single two-story house in New York and were often at work on material both for Jodeci and their own projects.

[24] While Elliott wrote and rapped on Raven-Symoné's 1993 debut single, "That's What Little Girls Are Made Of" which was her first big musical breakthrough, peaking at #68 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart,[4] she also contributed, credited and uncredited, to the Jodeci albums Diary of a Mad Band (1993) and The Show, the After Party, the Hotel (1995).

[29] One of the group's tracks, "It's Alright" featuring Craig Mack did however make the cut on the soundtrack of the 1995 motion picture Dangerous Minds but by the end of 1995, Swing Mob had folded and many of its members dispersed.

Elliott also wrote the bulk of Total's second and final album Kima, Keisha, and Pam and Nicole Wray's debut Make It Hot (both released in 1998).

Elliott began her career as a featured vocalist rapping on Sean "Puffy" Combs's Bad Boy remixes to Gina Thompson's "The Things That You Do", (which had a video featuring cameo appearances by Notorious B.I.G and Puff Daddy), MC Lyte's 1996 hit single "Cold Rock a Party" (backup vocals by Gina Thompson), and New Edition's 1996 single "You Don't Have to Worry".

[30] Elliott wore an oversized trash-bag looking jumpsuit in the music video, and at Lilith Fair, an outfit media articles have considered one of her most recognizable "fashion moments".

The year also saw Elliott perform live at the MTV Video Music Awards show on a remix to Lil' Kim's "Ladies Night" with fellow rappers Da Brat, Angie Martinez and TLC-rapper Left Eye.

"[39] Da Real World (1999) included the singles "All n My Grill", a collaboration with Nicole Wray and Big Boi (from OutKast), a remix to "Hot Boyz" and "She's a Bitch".

[43] The double music video for "Take Away/4 My People" was released in the fall of 2001, shortly after the sudden death of Elliott's close friend Aaliyah on August 25 and the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Though "Take Away" was not a success on radio, "4 My People" went on to become an American and European club hit due to a popular remix by house music duo Basement Jaxx in 2002.

Elliott was also featured on Wyclef Jean's "Party to Damascus" and Ghostface Killah's "Tush" singles, the latter of which became a minor 2004 dance hit, and had a pivotal role in the film Honey.

[52] Her sixth solo album, The Cookbook was released on July 4, 2005, debuted at number two on the U.S. charts and was later certified platinum in 2022 by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for selling over 1,000,000 copies in the United States.

Respect M.E., Elliott's first greatest hits album, was released outside the United States and Canada on September 4, 2006, only in South Africa, Australia, Europe, Japan, and Brazil.

Since 2008, songs written and/or produced by Elliott for Fantasia ("Free Yourself"), Jennifer Hudson ("I'm His Only Woman"), Monica ("Everything to Me"), Keyshia Cole ("Let It Go"), and Jazmine Sullivan ("Need U Bad" and "Holding You Down (Goin' in Circles)") have all received Grammy nominations.

Throughout 2013, Missy Elliott was featured on Eve's album cut "Wanna Be",[63] as well as international artists singles, Little Mix's "How Ya Doin'?"

[66] In August 2013, R&B singer Faith Evans revealed that Missy Elliott would be featured on her sixth studio album, tentatively titled Incomparable.

[82] Following a surprise appearance with TLC on the 2016 televised special Taraji's White Hot Holidays,[83] Elliott announced plans to release a documentary chronicling her impact on the production scene in both audio and video.

[23] Destiny's Child, Eve and Macy Gray have credited her for "clearing a path" in the American music industry towards "their own pop pre-eminence" as Black female R&B/hip-hop performers.

[123][124] Jem Aswad of Variety commented that Elliott and longtime collaborator Timbaland "reshaped the sound of hip-hop", as they made songs "out of pings and bips and bloops (both vocal and electronic) that quickly became part of the foundation of virtually all that followed.

"[125] Similarly, Doreen St. Félix of The New Yorker wrote that her debut album "expanded the definition of rap" and "defined a new hip-hop aesthetic", with Elliott and Timbaland developing a grammar by "collecting extra-musical noises", "crafting" a new R&B sound, and incorporating a "singsong technique" in her flow.

[53] Missy Elliott in addition to Timbaland, Pharrell Williams and The Clipse are considered to have an intricate part of establishing Virginia as one of the East Coast's strongholds in hip hop.

[130] ABC website editor Gab Burke expressed that Elliott "railed against the male-dominated mainstream rap scene throughout her career, constantly pushed the boundaries, and cemented a place for women in hip hop.

[132] Her work has been cited as an inspiration by acts such as Cardi B,[133] Lil Wayne,[134] Lizzo,[135] Tyler, the Creator,[136] Solange Knowles,[137] Chloe Bailey,[138] M.I.A.,[139][140] Janelle Monáe,[141] Anderson .Paak,[142] Rapsody,[143] Ciara,[144] Bree Runway,[145] Doja Cat,[146] Ivy Queen,[147] Ari Lennox,[148] Tayla Parx,[149] Sean Bankhead,[150] ASAP Ferg,[151] Leikeli47,[152] Tierra Whack,[153][154] Noname,[155][156] Okenyo,[131] Little Simz,[157] Coda Conduct,[131] Dawn Richard,[158] Banks,[158] Rich the Kid,[159] Crystal Caines,[160] Coi Leray,[161] Lady Leshurr,[162] Stefflon Don,[163] Flo Milli,[164] Krept and Konan,[165] Rye Rye,[166] Le1f,[167] Qveen Herby[168] and Erica Banks.

"[179] In June 2011, Elliott told People magazine that her absence from the music industry was due to having Graves' disease, with which she was diagnosed after she nearly crashed her car from having severe leg spasms while driving.