Supa Dupa Fly: Where Are They Now?

The game-changing debut celebrates its 16th anniversary.

Missy Elliott, Supa Dupa Fly, produced by Timbaland - Missy Elliott's singsong non-sequiturs and Timbaland's helter-skelter rhythms were a blast from the future, changing the sound of hip hop, dance and pop and helping this 1997 album go platinum-plus.(Photo: Elektra Records)

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Supa Dupa Fly: Where Are They Now? - Sixteen years ago, Missy Elliott not only made her hip hop debut with her first LP Supa Dupa Fly, but further opened the landscape for where a female MC can travel stylistically and with imagery. Accompanied by Timbaland's stuttering, unpredictable electronic beats, Missy's masterpiece playfully ventured between hip hop, R&B and soul. And videos for singles like "The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)" keenly introduced surrealism to hip hop's urban realism. On the LP's 16th anniversary, we look at what the artists who helped to make Supa Dupa so fly are up to these days.(Photo: Elektra)

Aaliyah in Honey - The role of aspiring choreographer Honey Daniels was meant to be played by Aaliyah before the singer's tragic death had producers scrambling to recast the part. It eventually became the role that put Jessica Alba on the map. (Photo: Art Walters/Globe Photos Inc)

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Aaliyah - R&B prodigy Aaliyah, who'd hit stardom three years earlier with her multi-platinum debut Age Ain't Nothing But a Number, lent her vocals to the cut "Best Friends" on Missy Elliott's debut. The Brookyn-born songstress scored another huge seller, One in a Million, in 1996 and embarked on a successful film acting career before dying tragically in a plane crash in 2001. (Photo: Art Walters/Globe Photos Inc)

Timbaland, @Timbaland - Tweet: "listening 2 my new album. mann i can't wait to y'all hear this"Timbo produced some of the hottest albums last year, from Jay Z's Magna Carter Holy Grail to Justin Timberlake's The 20/20 Experience and Beyoncé's self-titled surprise LP. But it sounds like Mr. Mosley saved just enough heat to light up his own musical inferno. #cantwait(Photo: Larry Busacca/Getty Images for Samsung)

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Timbaland - Timbaland proved he was a new musical force when he produced the entirety of Supa Dupa Fly, unleashing his signature booming electronic, rhythmically-complex beats. Virginia Beach's native son continues to be a much sought after beatsmith, helming a hefty portion of Justin Timberlake's The 20/20 Experience. Earlier this year, Tim signed to Jay-Z's Roc Nation.(Photo: Larry Busacca/Getty Images for Samsung)

Busta Rhymes - With his overwhelming stage presence and energetic rhyme delivery, Busta Rhymes was built for acting. Following his hyped performance as Dreads in John Singleton’s 1995 film Higher Learning, Busta went on to put his skills up against such respected actors like Samuel L. Jackson (2000’s Shaft) and Ray Liotta (2002’s Narc). Coming up is his starring role as Lick Wilson in The Unforgiven. (Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images)

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Busta Rhymes - Busta Rhymes, who throughout the '90s was a much in-demand collabo MC, laced Missy's inaugural project with an intro ("Busta's Intro") and an outro ("Busta's Outro"). After all, stylistically, the two were virtually siblings. Last year, Busta released his ninth album Year of the Dragon. It was put out as free download on Google Play.  (Photo: Jeff Bottari/Getty Images)

Magoo - Rapper Magoo was featured on the track "Beep Me 911." After Supa Dupa Fly, the Q-Tip sound-alike rhymer teamed with Timbaland to form hip hop duo Timbaland & Magoo. This year, he guested on Missy Elliot's single "Warped."(Photo: Atlantic Records)

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Magoo - Rapper Magoo was featured on the track "Beep Me 911." After Supa Dupa Fly, the Q-Tip sound-alike rhymer teamed with Timbaland to form hip hop duo Timbaland & Magoo. This year, he guested on Missy Elliot's single "Warped."(Photo: Atlantic Records)

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Video Director of the Year: Hype Williams - With some two decades down at running the game, we're ready to see what else Video Director of the Year Hype Williams has left to contribute to the art of music video directing. He is truly a master. (Photo: Michael Buckner/Getty Images for Bing)

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Hype Williams - Video director Hype Williams applied his famed fish-eyed lens magic to Missy in videos for "The Rain (Supa Dupa Dupa Fly)" and "Sock It 2 Me," helping turn those clips into classics. Hype, while remaining a top vid director, moved into film in '98 when he helmed the classic gangster film Belly, starring Nas and DMX. In 2012, he wrote the screenplay for Kanye West's short film Runaway.(Photo: Michael Buckner/Getty Images for Bing)

Ginuwine: October 15 - The "Pony" singer, born Elgin Baylor Lumpkin, turns 43. (photo: John Ricard / BET)

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Ginuwine - Missy featured the silky vocals of Ginuwine on the cut "Friendly Skies." The Washington, D.C.-born crooner went on to achieve R&B stardom with hit LPs like 100% Ginuwine and The Life. He'd also stretch out into film acting, starring in comedies like Juwanna Mann and Honey. In '07, he teamed with Tyrese and Tank to form the super R&B vocal trio TGT. He also recently released his latest LP, A Man's Thoughts.(Photo: John Ricard / BET)

Da Brat - Da Brat was also blessed by Jermaine Dupri’s platinum touch, but she left her own mark on the history books as the first solo female rapper to go platinum with 1994’s Funkdafied. (Photo: Rick Diamond/Getty Imagesfor Universal)

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Da Brat - Da Brat appeared on the single "Sock It 2 Me," giving the track her hard-hitting, multi-syllabic touch. While the formerly imprisoned rapper hasn't put out any new material, she still performs. In honor of her mentor and former label head Jermaine Dupri, she graced the stage for the So So Def 20th Anniversary concert.(Photo: Rick Diamond/Getty Imagesfor Universal)

702 press

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702 - The female vocal trio 702 sang on the cut "Beep Me 911." After their budding music careers took off with LP's like No Doubt (1996) and their self-titled sophomore album (1999), the group, following several failed attempts at getting another hit, would eventually break up by 2010. (Photo: Motown)

Nicole Wray - Nicole Wray grew up in Portsmouth, Virginia, and was a former protégé of Missy Elliott. Wray's biggest hit was "Make It Hot" and she also lent her harmonies to Elliott’s "All 'n My Grill" as well as projects from the Black Keys, Cam’ron and Kid Cudi.(Photo: Donald Bowers/Getty Images)

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 Nicole Wray  - Singer Nicole Wray landed on the track "Gettaway." After becoming the inaugural artist on Missy Elliott's label, The Goldmind, Wray scored a hit in 1998 with the single "Make It Hot" from her album of the same name. The Virginia-native disappeared from the music scene soon after only to reappear as a Roc-A-Fella Records signee in 2004. Earlier this year, she resurfaced as one half of the R&B female duo Lady, who is currently promoting their self-titled debut LP.  (Photo: Donald Bowers/Getty Images)

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Lil Kim vs. Andrew Ro - Lil Kim's former business manager, Andrew Ro, sued the rapper for $15 million worth of damages. He claims she was an uncooperative client. Prior to that, the Notorious K-I-M sent him a cease-and-decist letter, claiming he was looping her into bad licensing deals.(Photo: Ivan Nikolov/WENN.com)

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Lil' Kim - Already a hip hop star for flexing female sexuality, Lil' Kim helped light up the song "Hit Em Wit da Hee." Since her appearance on the LP, Kim released three more of her own hit albums, including The Notorious K.I.M. and La Bella Mafia. She served a year in prison for lying to a jury (the days leading up to her prison stint became a BET reality TV series). And she was a contestant on season eight of Dancing With the Stars. She is currently trying to put out another LP.(Photo: Ivan Nikolov/WENN.com)

Missy Elliott - With the fame and stardom Missy Elliott garnered from the release of Supa Dupa Fly, she went on to release six more hit albums, including Da Real World and Miss E..... So Addictive. After dissappearing for a while, Missy resurfaced for an interview with People magazine where she explained that her absence was due to a hyperthyroid disorder known as Graves' disease, from which she suffered severe symptoms — at one point she couln't even hold a pen to write songs. After treatment, she said she felt good enough to return to music. In 2012, fans were delighted to she her perform during BET's Black Girls Rock! special. She is looking to release her latest LP, Block Party, sometime this year. (Photo: DJDM/WENN.com)

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Missy Elliott - With the fame and stardom Missy Elliott garnered from the release of Supa Dupa Fly, she went on to release six more hit albums, including Da Real World and Miss E..... So Addictive. After dissappearing for a while, Missy resurfaced for an interview with People magazine where she explained that her absence was due to a hyperthyroid disorder known as Graves' disease, from which she suffered severe symptoms — at one point she couln't even hold a pen to write songs. After treatment, she said she felt good enough to return to music. In 2012, fans were delighted to she her perform during BET's Black Girls Rock! special. She is looking to release her latest LP, Block Party, sometime this year. (Photo: DJDM/WENN.com)