Praise Him, Sis: Missy Elliott shifts the focus to God during MTV Awards acceptance speech
Article By Fantasia Dobbins // EEW Magazine // Entertainment
Whether she meant to or not, Missy Elliott, the rapper-singer-songwriter-producer-dancer, put a new spin on a timeless scripture while being honored at the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards.
Psalm 124:1 reads, “If it had not been the LORD who was on our side,” but the revered artist says it like this: “Without Him, I would not be standing before y’all.”
Can the church say amen?
The God-glorifying words of the 48-year-old artist, whose career spans two decades, were uttered at the beginning of her heartfelt speech full of thanksgiving and humility for having earned the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award, which shifted the focus to God.
Missy Elliott performs onstage during the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards at Prudential Center on August 26, 2019 in Newark, New Jersey. (Credit: Getty Images)
“I always gotta start out by thanking God,” said Elliott, adding, “I ain’t here to change nobody, but I know the God that I serve has gotten me this far.”
The MTV stage at the Prudential Center in Newark is not the first platform the “Work It” performer ever used to testify of God’s greatness and goodness in her life.
While being honored at Essence Magazine's 9th annual Black Women in Music event at New York City's Highline Ballroom, the innovative and game-changing celebrity called herself “a walking testimony.”
“I might offend some people, but the God I serve is powerful,” she said. “And if He wasn't, I wouldn't be standing here today!”
Missy Elliott onstage during the 2018 Essence Festival in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Credit: Getty Images)
She continued, “I was sick, and I couldn't even lift a pen. My nervous system had broke all the way down. I didn't come up in here in a wheelchair. Nobody helped me get up here. I walked up here, but it’s through the grace of God.”
You better testify, sis.
In 2011, Elliott publicly revealed her health challenges stemming from a diagnosis of Graves' disease, which is an autoimmune disease that affects the thyroid. Through prayer, faith, diet and exercise, she is a strong picture of health, and is using every opportunity to give God credit for her good fortune.
The Bible says in Psalm 150:6, “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord” — and we love that she is doing just that.
