Preview Missy Elliott’s Tribute To Queen Latifah At 2023 Kennedy Center Honors
The airing of the 2023 Kennedy Center Honors is near, and we have an exclusive peek into the celebration.
Missy Elliott paid tribute to Queen Latifah, ahead of the latter’s acceptance and in honor of Hip-Hop’s 50th anniversary. The anecdote was as heartwarming and humorous as you’d imagine.
“I happen to see this young woman rapping, but what caught my attention were her clothes because she had on the African print. The African medallion, and I kept hearing her say ‘Oooh, ladies first,’ over and over and over again,” Elliott, 52, recalled.
The “Supa Dupa Fly” rapper continued, “And I sat there and I was like, ‘Wow, she’s saying that during a time that we kept hearing, ‘It’s a man’s world.’ She was saying this unapologetically, changing the narrative right there. Something that I was so accustomed to hearing, but now I’m hearing ‘Ladies first.’ And then, I sat there and said, ‘Who is this girl?’ And I looked at the bottom of the screen and it said, ‘Queen Latifah.’ Not Latifah, but Queen Latifah.”
This is only a preview into Elliott’s full remarks about the pioneering femcee, who helped lay the foundation for rap as we know it and paved the way for the Virginia-bred artist and fellow female rappers.
The 46th annual Kennedy Center Honors airs on Wednesday, Dec. 27 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CBS and will stream live on Paramount+ for those subscribers who jointly have SHOWTIME. For all others, it will air the following day on the platform.
This year’s list of honorees also include Billy Crystal, Renée Fleming, Barry Gibb, and Dionne Warwick.
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