Artists are known to be picky and their biggest critics, so I’m sure it comes as no surprise that somebody of Missy Elliot’s prowess would take that to another level.

In a recent sit down with Shannon Sharpe on his Club Shay Shay Podcast, Timbaland revealed that the process of working on the legend’s 2nd album proved to be a challenging task. In describing Missy’s studio tendencies to be that of a drill sergeant, Timbaland recalls her desire to one-up her debut album as the driving force. “Missy was like ‘this my sophomore album, we gotta beat what we did,’” Timbo tells a bewildered Shannon Sharpe. “She’d be like ‘that might be dope for JAY-Z or Ludacris, but I gotta dance to it. I gotta see the video. I gotta see how my girls gonna look.’”

Timbaland claims this experience made him better because, “she made me not settle,” he recalls. Safe to say, it all paid off, as Da Real World is a certified platinum album. Her response to the clip on Twitter shows that she has a lot of gratitude for Timbaland and his willingness to put up with her striving for greatness.

Awww @Timbaland I love you bro this interview made me tear up because of how far we come & BLESSED I knew from the day I came to your house after school that you would change the sound & cadence of music as we knew it multiple times! #genius I Thank you https://t.co/VhdZJ9Pq2S

— Missy Elliott (@MissyElliott) May 16, 2023