Supa Dupa Fly: Missy Elliott & Afro-Futurism
Sun Ra opened the lane for many Black artists to embrace Afrofuturism as a part of the context of their creative work. Among those artists is Missy Elliott, one of the world’s most notable rappers. Her fame is often associated with mega-producer Timbaland. Together, they have used Afrofuturism as a recurring theme in their projects.
In the music video for ‘Sock It 2 Me’ featuring Da Brat, Missy ascends on a mission through space to defeat the enemies that attack her and her counterparts. All while doing so, she breaks it down in funky dance numbers. Throughout the video, she takes the form of two characters. The primary role she assumes is a superhero. Her secondary role is in a dance crew that seems to cheer Missy on as she defeats the bad forces that seek to destroy what Missy knows as home.
The music video’s narrative depicts what a future designed by Black folk could look like. The entire music video cast appears to be of African descent. The society we have come to know in America will never be a landscape that respectfully considers Blackness the same way whiteness is considered. The blueprint for success and equality in America is rooted in systematic oppression. America’s backbone is ingrained with discrimination, injustice and the distribution of privileges to maintain hegemonic structures. With that being said, many Afro-Futurists have concluded that space is the place where we can truly be free. However, the inhabitants of the planet where Missy takes stage, are impacted by negative forces that seek to destroy them. The characters that follow Missy and attack her counterparts represent the oppressive forces people of Afrikan descent are presented with today. In the end of the video, Missy Elliott flees the planet and into space. Her next destination is unknown. But, I interpret her overall message to encourage Black people to explore their own methods of escape in order to survive.
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