Missy Elliott’s “The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)” Becomes First Hip-Hop Song Beamed Into Space

“Both space exploration and Missy Elliott’s art have been about pushing boundaries,” said Brittany Brown from NASA’s Office of Communications in Washington. “Missy has a track record of infusing space-centric storytelling and futuristic visuals in her music videos so the opportunity to collaborate on something out of this world is truly fitting.”

Brown was responsible for pitching ideas to Elliott’s team to collaborate with NASA.

The transmission coincides with NASA’s ongoing and upcoming missions to Venus, DAVINCI and VERITAS, which are set to launch no earlier than 2029 and 2031 respectively. 

Both missions will explore the planet and send data back to Earth using the DSN, which has been operational since 1963 and supports these missions from ground stations in Goldstone, California, Madrid, Spain, and Canberra, Australia.

However, you don’t have to launch yourself into space to catch Elliott. The rapper’s Out of This World Tour, with guests Ciara, Busta Rhymes, and Timbaland began on July 4 in Vancouver. The 24-city trek will visit Houston, Atlanta, Baltimore, New York, Philadelphia, and more before wrapping up in Chicago on Aug. 23.