Missy Elliot has been given a Hollywood Walk of Fame star

Missy Elliott has been honoured with her own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

The star was unveiled yesterday (9th November), with the iconic rapper attending to give a speech accepting the honour. During the speech, she paid tribute to her “sisters in hip hop”, including “the ones that’s popping now, the ones that’s about to be popping”, and her “godmothers”, such as Queen Latifah, Salt-N-Pepa, Roxanne Shanté, Angie Stone and MC Lyte.

“Y’all are the backs that we stand on,” she said of those that came before her. “Y’all are the foundation.”

Lizzo, Ciara and Elliott’s manager Mona Scott-Young also attended the unveiling ceremony, giving their own speeches about Missy Elliott’s influence on their work and careers. 

“I’ve come here 20-something years ago and just used to walk past all these stars and just imagine,” Elliott also said during her speech. “It’s just a blessing to dream big and it truly happened. I’m truly standing here.”

In her speech, Ciara said Elliott “paved the way for me and so many others who followed”, adding that “there is no one like Missy. She oozes with boundless creativity, a visionary, the epitome of true artistry. Strength, integrity and grit. She created genre-blurring sounds of a modern hitmaker that continues to define space and time.”

You can watch part of Elliott’s speech below.

Earlier this year, Missy Elliott was featured among a number of pioneering women in hip hop in the book ‘The Motherlode’.