Fans are only just realising that the gibberish-sounding chorus in Missy Elliott's 2002 hit 'Work It' is actually her singing the previous line in reverse. The revelation has left many listeners mind-blown, decades after the song's release.
Missy Elliott is known for her long list of accolades and successes. The hip hop and R&B singer from the USA has sold 40 million records worldwide and owns four Grammy Awards from her stellar career. She is widely known as the best-selling female rapper in Nielsen Music history and was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2023. More recently, she became the first female rapper to be nominated and inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
What does Missy Elliott say in 'Work It' chorus?
Luke Anthony, host of the Low Culture Podcast, explained the lyric, which appears in the chorus of the song, where it sounds like she is speaking gibberish. Luke said to his co-host: "You remember the song from Missy Elliott? 'Is it worth it? Let me work it... I picked up that the next line is everything reversed that she just said.'"
The co-host replied: "Yeah. Oh, that's not just gibberish?" Luke said: "No! That's her going 'I put my thang down, flip it and reverse it.'" To which the co-host couldn't believe. Luke then asked the podcast producer to record him saying the line and reverse it to prove his point, and his reaction was one of complete shock. He shouted: "THAT WAS CRAZY! See that sh**?! Oh my God!"
Fans react to the revelation
It wasn't just the co-host that had no idea about the lyric, with dozens of other people saying they also just realised. One person said: "Here's something I didn't know until I was in my 30's." A second said: "I learnt this whole thing off by heart and never knew until now."
Others, however, said the lyric was obvious and they couldn't believe more people didn't know about it. One person said: "She literally tells you in the line before." A second added: "We been knowing this since it came out, she literally says it in the song."
Where did the Missy Elliott 'Work It' lyric come from?
The lyric was added into the song after the producer, Timbaland, accidentally pressed a reverse toggle while playing back the vocal track. Instead of fixing the mistake, Missy and Timbaland loved the sound of her voice played in reverse and decided to keep it right after the forward line, which became the song's signature hook.
