Released On: Goldmind / Elektra Records, 2002
Missy Elliot kicked the door open for strange sounds in hip-hop. There was always a certain eccentricity in sample choices but Under Construction ran that idea through a blender; in essence it's a statement of Missy as an artist coming into her own. She's on top of her game throughout, working the floor with a wild abandon rarely seen since the genresplosion of the early 90s. She cuts like a razor switchblade on "Gossip Folks" and has an old-school blast on "Back In The Day". On "Work It" she gets absolutely filthy, inviting a lover to perform very specific sexual acts on her, backed by an epic club jam complete with a backmasking hook. The guest list is a who's-who of hip hop in the early Oughts, right down to the representative Ludacris verse on "Gossip Folks". The mix of expert beatcraft from space-age tag team Missy and Timbaland proved to be a big commercial success, moving over two million sales to date, and listening to the highly creative field of hip-hop today it's hard to imagine a world without it. It's the sort of album that still gets played when you're out drinking.
Where'd You'd Know It From: The club and the radio; so, everywhere.
Track Listing:
1. Intro/Go To The Floor (5:06)
2. Bring The Pain (ft. Method Man) (2:59)
3. Gossip Folks (ft. Ludacris) (3:54)
4. Work It (4:58)
5. Back In The Day (ft. Jay-Z) (4:55)
6. Funky Fresh Dressed (ft. Ms. Jade) (3:56)
7. Pussycat (4:32)
8. Nothing Out There For Me (ft. Beyonce Knowles) (3:05)
9. Slide (3:43)
10. Play That Beat (3:02)
11. Ain't That Funny (2:48)
12. Hot (4:09)
13. Can You Hear Me (ft. TLC) (4:29)
("Work It")
("Gossip Folks")
("Bring The Pain")
