Missy Elliott's lyric fear during Carpool Karaoke surprise
Missy Elliott was terrified about forgetting her words when she joined Michelle Obama for Carpool Karaoke.
The First Lady's hotly anticipated appearance on James Corden's now world-famous segment, which sees celebrities join him in the car and sing along to some music, aired on his show on Wednesday night (20Jul16).
While fans knew what to expect from Michelle during the appearance,
having previously being treated to a sneak peek, Missy's
involvement was kept under wraps until the broadcast.
The musician popped up to perform Get Ur Freak On with Michelle,
who gamely rapped along to the tune. The prospect of belting out
her hit song with the 52-year-old was a daunting one for Missy, who
admits she was terrified she might forget some of the lyrics.
"I was probably more nervous about forgetting my words," she told
People.com. "(I was worried) I’d start mixing Work It with The Rain
with Get Ur Freak On. But I wasn’t nervous about being in the car
because they made me feel like they knew me."
But the sight of the First Lady repeating her lyrics back to her
was one Missy will long struggle to comprehend. And more than that,
Michelle knew every single word.
"When we got in the car and I saw her rapping Get Ur Freak On, it
kind of bugged me out!" Missy laughed. "I know for a fact that it
was all over my face like, 'Wait, is she rapping this?' But that
goes to show you just how cool she is. People hold her in such a
high regard – as you should – but she’s so down to Earth. I was
just sitting in the back like, 'I gotta be dreaming. This ain’t
even real. Is somebody going to wake me up and say, 'You
overslept.'"
And Michelle's eagerness to involve herself in the segment, as well
as her amenable personality, meant Missy was quickly drawn to her.
In fact, she went as far as to say she even thought of her in the
same way she would of a relative.
"It's one thing when you're watching on TV … but she's so down to
Earth," Missy smiled of the First Lady. "She's like one of my aunts
that would be at a cook-out. She's so cool you almost forget! You
almost gotta remind yourself, 'Hold up, this is the First Lady. You
ain’t at the family reunion!'"