I'm fearful of a lot of things: heights, clowns, insects, being basic. But living in a world without Missy Elliott's ingenuity and talent has to be one of my top five greatest fears. In the first few seconds of Missy Eillott's new music video for "Throw It Back," a young girl unfortunately wakes up in an alternative universe where nobody knows who Missy Eilliott is. But no worries, Teyana Taylor appears out of nowhere to remind her.

"You don't know who Missy is," Teyana says to the girl with a gasp, as they stand in a museum filled with portraits of the artist. She continues, "Missy Misdemeanor? Missy Elliott, the innovator of all innovators? The Avant-garde? The game-changing sensation?" before directing the tween to a foggy room to begin her crash course in the legacy of Missy Elliott. Next thing you know, we're taken into Missy's vibrant world where bald dancers dressed in colorful pink and green suits are dancing in the street, Missy's super long braids are used as ropes in a game of double-dutch, cheerleaders dance with colored afros as pom-poms and she even references her early classic "Work It" rapping, "Watch me flip, reverse it/Flip it and reverse it, stupid with the verses."

The humble singer doles out some more reminders to the tweens:

"So many VMA's that I could live on the moon"

Missy Elliott has been nominated for 41 MTV VMAs and has seven awards in her collection.

"I did records for Tweet before y'all could even tweet"

Missy Elliott wrote and produced music for a lot of folks in her time and in 2002, the multi-hyphenate teamed up with Tweet for the classic R&B song "Oops (Oh My)." Elliott also produced a lot of the songs on Tweet's first two albums Southern Hummingbird and It's Me Again.

"Missy still got 'em losing control"

Here, Missy gives a subtle nod to her own song "Lose Control" which featured Ciara, Fat Man Scoop.

"And every night is still ladies night"

In 1997, Lil' Kim did the unexpected and recruited Missy Elliott, Da Brat, Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, and Hot 97's Angie Martinez for a verse on her song "Not Tonight (Ladies Night)," an anthem that proved rap music's hottest rappers can unite in an industry that typically pits women against each other.

Missy's new song "Throw It Back" is just one of the five songs released on her new EP, Iconology—her first album in 14 (!) years—which hit stores on Friday, August 23.

ICONOLOGY [Explicit]

ICONOLOGY [Explicit]

ICONOLOGY [Explicit]

$5 at Amazon

The new EP arrives just days before she'll be honored with the MTV Michael Jackson Vanguard Award at the 2019 MTV VMAs taking place on Monday, August 23.