"The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)" is the debut solo single by American rapper

Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott Melissa Arnette Elliott (born July 1, 1971), better known as Missy Elliott or Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliot, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. She embarked on her music career with R&B girl group Sista in the earl ...

. It was written and composed by Don Bryant, Bernard "Bernie" Miller, Elliott, and producer Timbaland for her debut album '' Supa Dupa Fly'' (1997) and contains a sample of

Ann Peebles Ann Lee Peebles (born April 27, 1947) is an American singer and songwriter who gained celebrity for her Memphis soul albums of the 1970s for Hi Records. Two of her most popular songs are " I Can't Stand the Rain", which she wrote with her husband ...

' 1973 single " I Can't Stand the Rain", whose lyrics serve as the

chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song) or refrain, line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in which all verse ...

. The song was released to US radio stations on May 20, 1997, and the

Hype Williams Harold Williams (born August 1, 1970) is an American music video director, film director, film producer, and screenwriter. Early life Williams was born in Queens, New York. He is of mixed African-American and Honduran descent. He attended Adel ...

-directed video was released to video shows starting June 3, 1997. The song entered the

Hot R&B Airplay R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay (previously known as Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay) is a chart published by ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the top R&B and hip hop songs in the United States, based on audience impressions from a panel of radio stations monitored ...

chart in mid-June, and peaked at number 6 the week of August 9, 1997. It peaked at number 51 on the Hot 100 Airplay chart the following week. It was released as the album's lead single on July 2, 1997, and reached the top twenty in the United Kingdom and New Zealand. The song's moans are used as a sample in Method Man & Redman's "The ?"

Critical reception

Larry Flick Larry Flick is an American journalist, former dance music columnist, single reviewer, and Senior Talent Editor for ''Billboard'' magazine, where he worked for 14 years. Now he produces and hosts Sirius XM radio shows. Flick started in the music ...

from ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' wrote, "Elliott commits more than a misdemeanor with her first solo single, "The Rain". Having scored a handful of hits writing and producing for such acts as

Aaliyah Aaliyah Dana Haughton (; January 16, 1979 – August 25, 2001) was an American singer and actress. She has been credited for helping to redefine contemporary R&B, pop and hip hop, earning her the nicknames the "Princess of R&B" and " ...

, 702,

SWV SWV (Sisters with Voices) is an American R&B vocal trio from New York City whose members are Cheryl (Coko) Gamble, Tamara (Taj) Johnson, and Leanne (Lelee) Lyons. Formed in 1988 as a gospel group, SWV became one of the most successful R&B g ...

and Ginuwine, Elliott attempts to hide the fact that she was lazy with her own lyrics and depended on a Timbaland beat to save her. The result is a little of her infamous wordplay atop an ineffectual bass, snare, and drum beat. One can only hope that she puts more time and effort into her upcoming album, ''"Hit 'Em With The Heat"'', as we don't want to see such a rising star burn out so fast."

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism of Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network based in New York City and owned by Paramount Global. It was created by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Commun ...

ranked the song 99th on ''VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the '90s''. In 2010

Pitchfork Media ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music publication (currently owned by Condé Nast) that was launched in 1995 by writer Ryan Schreiber as an independent music blog. Schreiber started Pitchfork while working ...

included the song at number 33 on their ''Top 200 Tracks of the 90s''. In 2000, "The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)" was named the fourth-best single of 1997 by ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the crea ...

''s annual-year end

Pazz & Jop Pazz & Jop was an annual poll of top musical releases, compiled by American newspaper ''The Village Voice'' and created by music critic Robert Christgau. It published lists of the year's top releases for 1971 and, after Christgau's two-year abse ...

critics' poll. In 2021, it was listed at No. 453 on

Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" is a recurring survey compiled by the American magazine ''Rolling Stone''. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and industry figures. The first list was published in December 2004 in ...

Music video

The breakout

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

for the song was the first of Missy's career directed by

. The video was designed by

Ron Norsworthy Ron Norsworthy is an American visual artist and designer. His work employs notions of spaces and decoration of space as narratives about his lived experience as a queer person of color as well as that of his community/communities. His interdiscip ...

. The most notable aspect of the video is the patent leather blow up suit, which resembles an inflated

trash bag A bin bag, rubbish bag (British English), garbage bag, bin liner, trash bag (American English) or refuse sack is a disposable bag used to contain solid waste. Such bags are useful to line the insides of waste containers to prevent the insides o ...

that Missy wears during a

fisheye lens A fisheye lens is an ultra wide-angle lens that produces strong visual distortion intended to create a wide panoramic or hemispherical image. Fisheye lenses achieve extremely wide angles of view, well beyond any rectilinear lens. Instead of pr ...

shot. Timbaland, Tamara Johnson-George of

, Yo-Yo,

Lil' Kim Kimberly Denise Jones (born July 11, 1974), Those giving 1974 include: * * * * * better known by her stage name Lil' Kim, is an American rapper and reality television personality. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York City, she lived much of he ...

Total Total may refer to: Mathematics * Total, the summation of a set of numbers * Total order, a partial order without incomparable pairs * Total relation, which may also mean ** connected relation (a binary relation in which any two elements are comp ...

, 702, Da Brat, Lil' Cease, and Sean Combs all make cameos. The video was nominated for Best Rap Video at the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards but lost to

The Notorious B.I.G. Christopher George Latore Wallace (May 21, 1972 – March 9, 1997), better known by his stage names the Notorious B.I.G., Biggie Smalls, or simply Biggie, was an American rapper. Rooted in East Coast hip hop and particularly gangsta ...

's " Hypnotize".

Legacy

The song was used in a 2016

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta ...

commercial featuring professional golfer Jordan Spieth. At the 2019

MTV Video Music Awards The MTV Video Music Awards (commonly abbreviated as the VMAs) is an award show presented by the cable channel MTV to honour the best in the music video medium. Originally conceived as an alternative to the Grammy Awards (in the video category) ...

, Elliot performed a medley of her songs, including "The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)".

Formats and track listings

#"The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)" (Radio Edit) - 4:05 #"The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)" (Desert Eagles Discs Remix - Radio Edit Master) - 3:57 #"The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)" (Instrumental) - 4:09 ;German 12" Remixes ''Side A'' #"The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)" (Club 100 Version) - 5:10 #"The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)" (Radio Edit) - 3:46 ''Side B'' #"The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)" (House Version) - 7:25 ;German CD Maxi-Single #"The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)" (Radio Edit) - 3:59 #"The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)" (Desert Eagle Discs Remix - Radio Edit Master) - 3:53 #"The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)" (Desert Eagle Discs Remix - Master) - 4:32 #"The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)" (Desert Eagle Discs Remix - Beat & All Vocals) - 4:20 #"The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)" (Desert Eagle Discs Remix - A cappella) - 4:04 #"The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)" (Instrumental Version) - 4:11 #"The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)" (A cappella version) - 4:08 ;U.S. 12-inch Promo ''Side A'' #"Supa Dupa Fly (The Rain)" (Album Version) - 4:11 #"Supa Dupa Fly (The Rain)" (Instrumental) - 4:11 ''Side B'' #"Supa Dupa Fly (The Rain)" (Radio Edit) - 3:59 #"Supa Dupa Fly (The Rain)" (A cappella) - 4:11 ;U.S. 12-inch Single ''Side A'' #"The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)" (Radio Edit) - 3:59 #"The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)" (Instrumental Version) - 4:11 #"The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)" (A cappella version) - 4:08 ''Side B'' #"The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)" (Desert Eagles Discs Remix - Master) - 4:32 #"The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)" (Desert Eagles Discs Remix - A cappella) - 4:04 #"The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)" (Desert Eagles Discs Remix - Beat & All Vocals) - 4:20 ;U.S. CD Maxi-Single #"The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)" (Radio Edit) - 4:05 #"The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)" (Desert Eagles Discs Remix - Radio Edit Master) - 3:57 #"The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)" (Instrumental) - 4:09

Charts

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rain (Supa Dupa Fly), The 1997 debut singles Missy Elliott songs Music videos directed by Hype Williams Song recordings produced by Timbaland Songs written by Missy Elliott Songs written by Timbaland Elektra Records singles 1997 songs Alternative hip hop songs Downtempo songs