Hold up Beyonce. Missy Elliott had something to show us this weekend too.
Elliott’s new song Pep Rally was featured in a Super Bowl advertisement for Amazon’s Echo, a new device that answers questions and, apparently, plays music. The ad stars Elliott alongside Alec Baldwin, Jason Schwartzman and Dan Marino. The song comes in this the final few seconds, closing the ad with the new banger pounding through the device while Elliott uses a dance party to break up an argument.
The Fader reports that the song was also leaked, “seemingly unauthorized,” on YouTube across the weekend. By the afternoon, it was available to stream via Spotify and buy on iTunes.
The song basically has built-in choreography, so it’s impossible to not dance. The stop-start intro gets your attention like a race car revving up before winning a race, while the thumping beat keeps your heart pumping as the Elliott’s strong voice commands you to follow her instructions.
The lyrics echo a cheerleading coach with their encouraging, yet hard tone, as she tells you to keep moving your body. They describe the high energy crowd that will soon be watching Elliott perform this song (we hope soon?). “Screaming and shaking, man, we at the pep rally// Aw, aw, aw, go ‘head and dip at it// The go-go playing my jam, now let me shake my jelly// Jumping and thumping, man, I got the crowd yelling”.
This track follows Elliott’s first single after her long break WTF. It seems that Missy Elliott is well and truly back in action after a rough few years. Surely winning the Innovator of the Year Award at Women In Music was a great confidence boost; a trait that we can definitely hear throughout this track.
How many schools and wannabe POTUS will use this song at their rallies during the next few months?
We shall wait and see. Listen to the track here and watch the ad below.
Image: Billboard