The June VIBE has a special "Revolutions" section called SUMMER BANGER on the 10 hottest summer anthems of the past decade. Missy's "Get Ur Freak On" was chosen for 2000/2001. Here is the text (interview by Shanel Odum):
"There is no weirder banger than Missy Elliott's 'Get Ur Freak On,' a frantic joint that dabbles in Bhangra, Japanese textures, and Virginia space funk. A top 10 chart hit from her third album, the song remains so beguiling that VIBE had to ask Missy about its origins--and the dazzling video."
Q: How'd you feel when you first heard Timbaland's beat for "Get Ur Freak On"?
A: I knew the beat was crazy, but sometimes there are records that you don't even know what to put on it because they're so ill. I was like "Tim, you sure this isn't too far left that people won't get it? It sounds like some Japanese stuff mixed with a hip hop beat." When it blew up like that, I realized there was a whole other part of the world that people were ready for. It was a good thing.
Q: The Bhangra beat fused with an Asian flair really worked.
A: I knew I needed something to get the club jumping. There happened to be a Japanese janitor at the studio, so I had him come--with his mop and stuff--and record that part in Japanese (which translates to "From this point, everyone's going to be dancing recklessly. Let's make some noise, let's make some noise...") It was crazy.
Q: Was the video your concept?
A: I used to watch [director] Dave Meyer's movies. He has a lot of things that attract my attention--like the colors he uses. Also, I watched "The Cell" (New Line, 2000) with Jennifer Lopez and played the record up against it and thought maybe we could do something like that--have the girls in white and give it a scary movie vibe. I told him I felt like hanging from a chandelier. We just started feeding off each other.
Q: And the remix with Nelly Furtado? Your pick?
A: People in hip hop didn't know who she was. I saw her on MTV and was like "Who is this girl? Her voice is dope." I didn't even know she rapped. I thought she was just going to sing on it, but when she got in the studio, she started flowing on some different kind of style and flow. I was like "This is going to change hip hop."