Missy Elliott And Rapsody Headline Queen Latifah Tribute At Kennedy Center Honors

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2023 Essence Festival Of Culture
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA - JULY 01: Missy Elliott performs onstage during The 2023 Essence Festival Of Culture on July 01, 2023 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Johnny Nunez/WireImage)
A legendary ensemble of female MCs paid tribute to Queen Latifah.

Earlier this week, the Kennedy Center Honors took place. The event seeks to highlight and pay tribute to some of the most significant contributors to pop culture around. This time, one of the honorees was Queen Latifah and the legendary female MC had a talented roster of artists contributing to her tribute. Generations of talented rappers came together to speak to the significance of her influence.

It began with Missy Elliott, who has some recent history with Latifah. Earlier this year Elliott was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, becoming the first-ever female rapper to join the ranks. During her induction ceremony, she received a poetic tribute from Latifah as a part of her introduction. Missy spoke to hearing some of Queen Latifah's earliest hits and the influence they had on the music she would go on to make. MC Lyte and Monie Love took the stage next to perform one of those classic songs, "Ladies First." Then finally Rapsody brought the house down with her rendition of Latifah's song "Just Another Day" as a finale. Check out the full ceremony honoring the legendary rapper below.

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Missy Elliott Pays Tribute To Queen Latifah

It's fitting that Missy Elliott would end off her 2023 honoring a legend. She spent most of the year being honored herself. The biggest moment came during her Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction. Not only did numerous celebs show up to induct her in person but dozens more online expressed their admiration for her work and revealed how she influenced so many.

The praise hasn't slowed down either. Just earlier this week Trina heralded Missy as one of the "Greats" alongside Lil Wayne. Her influence on hip-hop itself is also still pretty visible. A few months ago Lil Durk shared a teaser with fans which made prominent use of a Missy sample. What do you think of the speech Missy Elliott gave and the performance Rapsody contributed to Queen Latifah's Kennedy Center Honors ceremony? Let us know which performance was your favorite in the comment section below.

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About The Author
Lavender Alexandria
Lavender Alexandria is a music and culture journalist based in Los Angeles, California. She’s covered dozens of musical genres and styles from the most mainstream to the most experimental and underground on her blog and accompanying YouTube channel that looks at music, pop culture, and Billboard charts since 2017: Lav’s Music Corner. Lavender has produced editorial and listicle content both in written and video form over the past far years and has also interviewed up-and-coming artists like Censored Dialogue. Her experiences covering culture have taken her from Hyperpop parties in LA to underground rap shows in Atlanta, to DIY punk shows in Charlotte. Lavender has also written for iHeartRadio, covering some of the biggest artists in Hip Hop such as Ice Spice, Drake, Doja Cat and Cardi B. She also has bylines with ScreenRant and continues to write for Ringtone magazine. Lavender is a lifelong Charlotte Hornets fan and her favorite rap artists include Clipping, Little Simz, Earl Sweatshirt, and Kendrick Lamar.
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