Stripe’s Song of the Day: Missy Elliott – Get Ur Freak On

The braggadocious banger sounded like nothing else at the time and still hits today

Stripe's Song of the Day is a regular feature showcasing the music currently stuck in our heads. Every week, contributors will string together their daily picks, and a playlist of the week's tracks will be available on Friday.

When I was 10, I convinced my parents to get cable TV so I could watch Cartoon Network. But, along with the animation came channels about animal documentaries and news arguments and music videos and other things I didn’t care about.

Still, they were something to flip through while bored. And one day I came across ‘Get Ur Freak On’.

It was a complete shock. What in the world was this thing?

A guy speaks Japanese before a bhangra beat with a tabla percussion line kicks in, a deep 90s hip-hop bass hits and Missy Elliott bursts through it with her goofy, robust bars. It was a mishmash, a hodgepodge, a Frankenstein’s monster of patchwork musical ideas.

I hated it. But it stuck in my head and I’ve never managed to get it out.

With time, I’ve grown to love it. Timbaland’s production pulls together ideas and influences from vastly different sounds, histories and backgrounds. They don’t fit seamlessly. How could they? But they come together into something fresh and new and exciting. And Missy imposes her will on the track, seemingly forcing it to cohere through sheer force of personality.

It’s just a good time. And 22 years later, still remains a headbanger.

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This article is part of Stripe, bdnews24.com's special publication focusing on culture and society from a youth perspective.