MUSIC

Missy Speaks

Four platinum albums. Two Grammys. Her own record label. Hit songwriter. Master collaborator. Hip-hop artist. R&B diva. Aspiring movie star. Old school meets new school. Suddenly svelte. Missy Elliott has rewritten the rules in male-dominated hip-hop to transform herself into arguably the most important female pop-culture icon of her generation. How? By setting her own course. The fiercely independent Elliott, 32, has written and produced not only her own CDs, but hits for artists from Whitney Houston to Destiny's Child. Her pairing with Madonna in Gap ads last summer further cemented her image in mainstream America. And she appears as herself in the just-out movie "Honey." With a fifth album, "This Is Not a Test!," in stores, the multimedia powerhouse tells USA WEEKEND readers how she keeps it real:

The secret of hip-hop longevity. "A lot of times, people come out with a style, and when they realize there's a new style that hits, instead of staying in that same lane that made people love them, they change to fit what's going on now. You've got to be original. ... I want to go where nobody's gone in music. If I do something that sounds like something else I've heard before, I won't do it."

The Material Girl. "Most definitely, I'm no Madonna, but I always thought if I had to be compared to somebody, I would want it to be her. There's never been a wall to stop her. She's been very edgy, even when people may have said she wasn't talented or whatever. She's been around for a long time, so she's proved people were wrong."

Mainstream music. "There's a bunch of forces that would like to stomp out rap music. Back in the day, [rap artists] would never have been in the Grammys. Now you have your white, Chinese, Japanese -- all these different kids listening to rap music when, once upon a time, rap was only for the black environment. Now that it's expanded, it's like, 'Oh, my God! They're talking about shooting this and shooting that!' "

Is rap dangerous? "Hell, no! I've heard rap music all my life, and I can distinguish between good and bad. If somebody said they shot somebody, that's not gonna make me want to go shoot somebody, because of the way I was brought up. A lot of times, we allow music and radio to baby-sit our children, then blame it as being dangerous. You have to teach your children what to do and what not to do."

Hip-hop artists are role models, whether they like it or not. "When you're an entertainer, you become a role model. I don't think any entertainer likes it, because it doesn't leave room for any mistakes. But I think that in the same sentence you say you've seen shootin' in your 'hood, you've seen people die, you can also let [listeners] know the outcome of situations like that. Because if you thought it was really cool, you'd still be doing what you did. You wouldn't be rhymin'."

When the cameras are off ... "I like to go to the movies. I'll put on a ball cap or some glasses and go. I love scary movies. I liked Freddy vs. Jason, but that wasn't scary to me, because when I was younger, I watched the original ones, and when Jason was about to kill somebody, you'd hear [she makes a scary sound]. They don't have that distinguished scary sound anymore. If you remember "Psycho," in the shower -- [staccato shrieks]. They don't have distinctive stuff like that anymore."

Missy loves her mom. "Besides God, my mother is all I've got. As an entertainer, you're gonna have everybody wanna hang and be around you -- everybody loves you. But I know that the day I might not be as hot as I was two years ago, my mother's gonna always love me. I bought her a house in Virginia Beach, Va. It's 15,000 square feet. It's kind of built like a music box. There's a large pool inside that I always dreamed of. So, really, I gave her the house I dreamed of."

The weight issue. "I lost 71 pounds. I decided to lose it because I have high blood pressure. [My doctor] took my blood pressure. Actually, he took it three times -- he couldn't believe how high it was. He was like: 'We have to get you with a nutritionist, because we would hate for you to have a stroke.' Basically, I was eating a lot of fast food, especially McDonald's. I always ordered the No. 1 -- the Big Mac meal, with a hot fudge sundae! I cut that out and started going to the gym a lot. I did a lot of Stairmaster, Stepmaster, spin classes, dance, weights -- everything."

Keeping her new look. "On my new album, people will be shocked. There's a photo of me wearing white leather shorts! Being slim, you become more confident, and you put on those jeans you didn't look right in. At a restaurant, I'll eat, and when I feel like I'm full, I'll pour my drink and salt and pepper and hot sauces on my food and smash it all together so I won't want to eat anymore. I still have my treats. I have to have peanut M&Ms. From time to time, I'll sneak a fry or two ... or three."