Missy Elliott Backs Bri Steves For ‘Who’s Making Black History?’

Missy Elliott has nominated fellow labelmate Bri Steves for Good Morning America and ABC News’ ‘Who’s Making Black History?’ list.

In honour of Black History Month, Good Morning America and ABC News asked influential black leaders, celebrities, intellectuals, entrepreneurs, athletes and more to nominate fellow black Americans for the list.

Most of these nominations are rising stars on the cusp of becoming household names.

“I love the boldness Bri Steves brings as a rising star,” says Missy. “She’s an outside-the-box-type of artist. Her message reminds me of myself at the early stages of my career, where people tried to box me into one category over another.

“Is she a rapper, a singer, a producer, a songwriter or a dancer? What is she? Well, I was all of them because I’m an artist. And now we see Bri Steves perfectly blending her different styles in her own dope way.

“That’s exciting to see in music, especially for a female artist,” she continued. “Her new track and video, Anti Queen, has a great message that really touched my heart: ‘They say I’m not a queen / Because I walk like that / And I talk like this / And I don’t hold back’.”

Missy added that she was humbled when she watched Steves pay homage to her and other black female artists including Aaliyah, Left Eye, Lauryn Hill and Erykah Badu – all of whom Missy is proud to call fellow ‘culture disruptors’.

“There have always been double standards for women in music when it comes to how we’re supposed to look, dress, sound, walk, talk, etc. I’ve dealt with not fitting the so-called ‘mould’ my entire career and that’s what’s made me, me.

“And now I see an artist like Bri Steves being true to herself as well. As Bri says in the song, ‘It’s all bull****!’ Bet on yourself, Bri. No matter what they say, Bri Steves is a queen and ‘there’s more than one way to wear a crown’.”