Missy Elliott has been nominated for the 2019 Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Elliott is the first female rapper to be nominated for the honor, according to The Associated Press, which received a list of the nominees prior to the hall’s official announcement.
The rapper, songwriter and producer, born Melissa Elliott, said via Twitter on Wednesday that she was “humbly grateful to be nominated.”
Elliott has a long history of breaking barriers in the music industry, and is known for celebrating body and sex positivity and female empowerment in her lyrics and videos. She has won multiple Grammys and written or produced songs for an impressive list of artists, including Whitney Houston, Aayliah, Beyoncé, Ciara, SWV and Mary J. Blige.
In an interview with the AP in 2016, Elliott noted that the public is largely unaware of her writing and producing work.
