--- title: Missy Elliott and Her Viral Superfan Met and It Was Glorious description: A woman who gained internet fame with her viral cover of Missy Elliott's "Work It" got to meet the rapper herself on The Ellen Show. canonical: https://time.com/5395306/missy-elliott-work-it-cover/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-09-13T16:49:49.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:54:50.541Z og:title: Missy Elliott and Her Viral Superfan Met and It Was Glorious og:description: The "Work It" rapper and a fan with an impressive cover rendition sang together og:url: https://time.com/5395306/missy-elliott-work-it-cover/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Missy Elliott and Her Viral Superfan Met and It Was Glorious twitter:description: The "Work It" rapper and a fan with an impressive cover rendition sang together twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Missy Elliott Joined Her Viral Superfan Onstage and It Was Glorious > Sponsored content. 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Brief (Washington politics, three times a week), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement.  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Sep 13, 2018 4:49 PM UTC  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Sep 13, 2018 4:49 PM UTC Missy Elliott’s “Work It” is not a song for the faint of heart: the early-2000s classic rap track has some seriously tongue-twisting lines. So when Rhode Island resident Mary Halsey [flawlessly performed](http://time.com/5361784/missy-elliot-cover/) it in a video that went viral over the summer — and [Missy Elliott](http://time.com/5064051/missy-elliot-essence-black-women-in-music-honoree/) herself saw the impressive cover rendition — Elliott was quick to laud her “funky white sister,” sharing the video on Twitter along with her fervent praise. Thankfully, that’s not the end of the story for Elliott and Halsey’s interactions. On _The Ellen Show_ this week, [Ellen DeGeneres](http://time.com/5230783/ellen-degeneres-kobe-bryant-ice-cube-basketball/) brought together Halsey and the iconic rapper for a surprise meeting. Just before that, Halsey explained that her “Work It” cover has been a work in progress for 15 years, and has become something of her specialty over the course of that time ever since she first performed the song in a contest in 2003. “I learned, and I read the words, and I studied it, and the reaction that I got was so positive that it became my go-to song,” she explained to DeGeneres. “Everybody wants to hear it.” Of course, DeGeneres had to ask Halsey to sing it for her audience. But halfway through the song, everyone was in for a shock when Elliott herself joined Halsey onstage to finish it off. 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