Missy Elliott talks hitting the road for her Out of This World Tour, and why she wouldn't do it without Ciara.
Missy Elliott wants to make sure her fans experience her music like never before when they come to the Out of This World Tour!
"What my fans can expect to experience is to be immersed in whatever that is like," Elliott told ET at the Missy Elliott Presents Party on the Plaza: An Out of This World Experience, hosted in partnership with The Music Center and Gloria Molina Grand Park on Wednesday.
"I wanted to make sure I didn't just do a concert. They've heard these records for years, I wanted to give them the visual and make them feel like they were a part of those videos. That's the biggest thing, to feel like you're immersed, you're right there. Really out of this world. That's what I want them to feel."
Elliott's headlining tour features three of her best friends and longtime support systems in the industry -- Ciara, Busta Rhymes and Timbaland. The "Supa Dupa Fly" rapper admitted that it was Ciara's push that got her to finally hit the road.
"I wouldn't want to experience this experience with anyone else," she said about the "1, 2 Step" singer. "Ciara has been asking me to go on the road for years and I've been saying, 'OK, we gonna go.' Then we don't ever go. And then it's, like, OK, years later we gonna go and then we don't go and then I just was like, 'You know what? We gonna go for real this time.'"
Having Busta and Timbaland on the tour was also a no-brainer, as Elliott wanted to make sure their music was celebrated and she was with family.
"Busta, who is like, I call him my twin because he's like the boy version of me and I'm the girl version of him, he was on my first album, so he's been there from day one," she said. "I'm just like, if I'm gonna go out with anybody, it would be Timbaland, who's been my brother since we were in high school, like, we're up there performing, 'Up Jumps the Boogie,' which we haven't performed in probably 26 years. These are family to me. They're not just, like, artists that's, you know, out there, they're family."
It's been full steam ahead for the show, which kicked off on July 4, and things are just getting started according to the "Get Ur Freak On" rapper.
"The first night was unbelievable," Elliott said. "Even with the kinks. I always tell people, 'Hey, you see the finished product, but it's a lot of kinks that be going on behind the scenes.' But just being on that stage, seeing it packed from top to bottom, just make you feel like, wow, like, all of these years, so many people that you have reached that will come out and support is a blessing."
Fans get a full show, with Elliott undergoing four wardrobe changes, background dancers that do everything ranging from tap to ballet to hip-hop, and all of the hits.
Speaking of hits, Elliott is playing coy when it comes to new music.
"I think y'all are going to get something new," she teased to ET. "But I just realized that I can't say anything because people don't forget and they will hound my page, and be like, 'Yeah you said that last year. You said that in 2015, you said that in 2016.' So, I'm just going to wait. It will be a surprise but soon. Soon for sure."
Missy's Out of This World Tour will hit the Cyrpto.com Arena on July 11 & 12.
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