Missy Elliott Becomes The First Rapper Ever Played In Outer Space

Missy Elliott has broken boundaries her whole career. Her style, her songwriting approach, and her outsized personality made her unmistakable in the 1990s and 2000s. The rapper has been given her flowers repeatedly over the last few years, and rightfully so. That being said, no award or tour turnout can compete with the vacuum of space. Missy Elliott made history on July 12 when she helped beam lyrics from her song “The Rain” into the cosmos. She’s the first, and currently the only, rapper to ever perform this unique feat.

Missy Elliott worked with NASA employees at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California to make this feat a reality. Brittany Brown, the NASA director who came up with the idea, issued a statement as to why the “Get Ur Freak On” rapper was the perfect partner. “Missy [Elliott] has a track record of infusing space-centric storytelling and futuristic visuals in her music videos,” the statement read. “So the opportunity to collaborate on something out of this world is truly fitting.” To further sweeten the pot, “The Rain” was beamed to Venus, which is the rapper’s favorite planet. It’s also, incredibly, 158 million miles away.

Missy Elliott expanded upon her reasoning for the NASA partnership in her own statement. She also gave context as to why Venus is her favorite planet. “I still can’t believe I’m going out of this world with NASA,” she explained. “I chose Venus because it symbolizes strength, beauty, and empowerment and I am so humbled to have the opportunity to share my art and my message with the universe.” The rapper also stated that she was immensely humbled to be able to share her art with the rest of the solar system.

Missy Elliott is in good company. “The Rain” is only the second song in human history to be beamed out into outer space. The other is “Across the Universe” by The Beatles. The lyrical connection of the Beatles song is obvious, but Elliott’s song has a connection of its own. According to CBS News, there is actually rain on Venus. The rain is made out of sulfuric acid, which evaporates “into a never ending toxic cloud.” With this context in mind, it makes perfect sense that NASA would want to call upon Elliott’s breakout 1997 single about wanting to avoid the rain.