I consider to be myself a pretty big Missy Elliott fan. I’ve purchased …So Addictive, Under Construction, and This Is Not a Test the days they were released. For Elliott’s latest, The Cookbook, the situation was the same. I got it on Tuesday. I now feel ready to comment on it.

First, I think Elliott’s best album is …So Addictive, followed by Supa Dupa Fly. I know that Under Construction was her best selling, and I did love a bunch of the songs, but it didn’t feel as surreal — it was more “old skool” and whatnot. Likewise, This Is Not a Test was rather disappointing. Of all the songs on it, I really only love “Pass That Dutch.” The songs “Pump It Up” and “Wake Up” are also good, but nothing spectacular. (Side note: from Under Construction I love “Gossip Folks,” “Work It,” “Play That Beat,” and “Back in the Day.”)

Second, I wrote a major paper (around 20 pages long, I think) about Missy Elliott for my Historical Perspectives in Writing and Rhetoric class. I used Henry Louis Gates, Jr.’s theory of Signifyin(g) and Hélène Cixous’s ideas of women’s writing and writing the body to argue that Elliott’s music is a hybrid of the two ideas and represents a unique rhetoric that, I would imagine, is used by female rappers.

So yah, I’m a big fan and a nerd.

As for my thoughts about The Cookbook, two-days of listening to it still leaves me a little unsure. I have realized that I really don’t like Missy’s slower ballad-like or R&B-like songs. I much prefer her faster songs with rapping in them.

Instead of a proper review at this time, I feel safe to say that my favorite songs so far are: “Click Clack” (which features this rhyme: “click clack caught it back semi-automatic track drink a lot of Semalac shorty better fall back” — which I swear I’ve heard elsewhere but haven’t been able to track down), “Cant Stop,” “We Run This,” “Lose Control,” and “Irresistible Delicious.”

It looks like I like more songs from this album than her last two, so that is progress.

Overall, though, I miss the sci-fi elements that Elliott used to incorporate. And by “sci-fi,” I mean that very loosely and maybe more of a “surrealism” than anything else.

Nonetheless, it’s Missy, and I love her and think she’s a brilliant musician, so in the end I would for sure recommend The Cookbook.