She's a Bitch

1999 single by Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott
"She's a Bitch"
Single by Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott
from the album Da Real World
ReleasedApril 20, 1999 (1999-04-20)
Recorded1998
StudioMaster Sound Studios
(Virginia Beach, Virginia)
GenreHip hop
Length3:59
Label
  • Goldmind
  • Elektra
Songwriter(s)
  • Melissa Elliott
  • Timothy Mosley
Producer(s)Timbaland
Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott singles chronology
"I Like Control"
(1999) 		"She's a Bitch"
(1999) 		"All n My Grill"
(1999)
Music video
"She's a Bitch" on YouTube

"She's a Bitch" is a song recorded by American rapper Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott for her second album, Da Real World (1999). Produced by Timbaland, it was released as the album's debut single, and despite an expensive music video directed by video director Hype Williams, the song peaked only at number 90 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, with Da Real World's other singles "All n My Grill" and "Hot Boyz" going on to greater chart success. Elliott performed the song live on a number of occasions, including the 2017 VH1 Hip Hop Honors: The '90s Game Changers.

Lyrics and production

Speaking to Interview in 1999, Missy Elliott explained how she wished to highlight the double standard of using "bitch" to pejoratively denigrate certain behaviors in women, but not in men, arguing that "you don’t hear people call males bitches":

Music is a male-dominated field. Women are not always taken as seriously as we should be, so sometimes we have to put our foot down. To other people that may come across as being a bitch, but it's just knowing what we want and being confident. If I'm paying people and they're not handling my business right, I have to check them. 'Cause sometimes you're nice and people don't jump on what they're supposed to do, but if you go in there screaming at everybody—"Look, why aren't my posters up?" or "Why wasn't my single out on this day?"—then they jump right on it.

— Missy Elliott, describing the message behind "She's a Bitch" to Interview in 1999[1]

Keith Farley of AllMusic wrote that Missy Elliott "reappropriates the insult to refer to strong females", considering it "the best example" of her "satirical nods to other clichéd notions of hip-hop" present throughout Da Real World.[2] Timbaland's production contains influences of electro, with Charles Aaron of Spin characterising it as "firing short bursts of sound around Missy's short bursts of bitchery" as an "808 drum machine implodes in your face" during the breakdown.[3]

Music video

The "She's a Bitch" video was directed by Hype Williams on May 1, 1999; similar to his other clips for Elliott, Williams makes extensive use of unique effects, costuming, and sets. Highlights of the video include Elliott and her dancers being raised from underwater on a giant hydraulic "M", and also a complete set made from electroluminescent lighting.

Critical reception

Writing for Rolling Stone, music journalist Touré praised "She's a Bitch" as "a furiously celebratory, slyly feminist anthem that reclaims an oppressive word, shattering its power to offend while burning down the clubs with a blazing beat and her roaring flow".[4] By contrast, in an otherwise positive review of Da Real World, David Browne of Entertainment Weekly dismissed "She's a Bitch" as "one of the album’s most unremarkable and most cluttered tracks", criticising its selection as the lead single.[5]

Stereogum and Paste ranked the song number ten and number nine, respectively, on their lists of the 10 greatest Missy Elliott Songs.[6][7]

Sampling

  • In 2017, Ski Mask the Slump God released a remix of the song titled "Catch Me Outside".
  • In 2023, Bia released a single titled "I'm That Bitch" which heavily samples the original song, but this time in a fast paced drill beat, with Timbaland being credited as a lead artist among her.
  • In 2024, Cardi B released a freestyle of the song titled "Like What (Freestyle)".

Track listings

UK single

12-inch promo[8]

Side A

  1. "She's a Bitch" (Radio Edit) – 3:27
  2. "She's a Bitch" (Clean Version) – 3:27

Side B

  1. "She's a Bitch" (Instrumental) – 4:00
  2. "She's a Bitch" (Acapella) – 3:48

US single

12-inch promo[9][10]

Side A

  1. "She's a Bitch" (Radio Edit) – 3:27
  2. "She's a Bitch" (Clean Version) – 3:27

Side B

  1. "She's a Bitch" (Instrumental) – 4:00
  2. "She's a Bitch" (Acapella) – 3:48

CD promo[11]

  1. "She's a Bitch" (Radio Edit) – 3:27
  2. "She's a Bitch" (Clean Version) – 3:27
  3. "Audio Bio" – 1:25

Europe single

CD promo[12]

  1. "She's a Bitch" (Radio Edit) – 3:27
  2. "She's a Bitch" (Clean Version) – 3:27

Personnel

  • All vocals by Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott and Timbaland
  • Produced by Timbaland
  • Co-produced by Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott
  • Engineer: Senator Jimmy D (Jimmy Douglass)
  • Assistant engineer: Drew Coleman
  • Mixed by Timbaland and Jimmy Douglass at Manhattan Center Studios, New York, New York.
  • Assistant mixing engineer: Darren S. Moore

Charts

Chart (1999) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[13] 70
Germany (Official German Charts)[14] 84
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40 Tipparade)[15] 6
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[16] 53
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[17] 26
US Billboard Hot 100[18] 90
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[19] 30

References

  1. ^ Musto, Michael (July 30, 2014). "New Again: Missy Elliott". Interview. Archived from the original on August 1, 2014. Retrieved September 2, 2024.
  2. ^ Farley, Keith. "Da Real World – Missy Elliott". AllMusic. Retrieved September 2, 2024.
  3. ^ Aaron, Charles (August 1999). "Singles". Spin. Vol. 15, no. 8. pp. 155–158. Retrieved September 3, 2024.
  4. ^ Touré (July 8, 1999). "Missy Elliott: Da Real World". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on March 16, 2009. Retrieved September 2, 2024.
  5. ^ Browne, David (June 25, 1999). "Da Real World". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on April 3, 2015. Retrieved September 2, 2024.
  6. ^ Patrin, Nate (March 3, 2015). "The 10 Best Missy Elliott Songs". Stereogum. Retrieved May 26, 2023.
  7. ^ O'Brien, Jon (July 18, 2017). "The 10 Best Missy Elliott Songs". Paste. Retrieved May 26, 2023.
  8. ^ Missy Elliott – She's A Bitch
  9. ^ Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott* – She's A Bitch
  10. ^ Missy Elliott – She's A Bitch
  11. ^ Missy Misdemeanor Elliott* – She's A Bitch
  12. ^ Missy Misdemeanor Elliott* – She's A Bitch
  13. ^ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010. Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing.
  14. ^ "Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott – She's a Bitch" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved July 23, 2016.
  15. ^ "Tipparade-lijst van week 27, 1999". Dutch Top 40. Retrieved February 23, 2023.
  16. ^ ""Misdemeanor"+Elliott&titel=She's+a+Bitch&cat=s Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott – She's a Bitch" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved July 23, 2016.
  17. ^ ""Misdemeanor"+Elliott&titel=She's+a+Bitch&cat=s Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott – She's a Bitch". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved July 23, 2016.
  18. ^ "Missy Elliott Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved May 30, 2019.
  19. ^ "Missy Elliott Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved May 30, 2019.
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