Missy Elliott didn’t let a cold derail her show-stopping performance at the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards earlier in the week. The “Throw It Back” rapper was sick and on medication prior to taking the stage, she revealed on The Angie Martinez Show Thursday (Aug. 29).
As Missy explained, her chest began hurting a day before the show. “I couldn’t breath,” she told Angie Martinez. “I had to go to the hospital.”
The sickness turned out to be “just a cold” and Missy was prescribed prescription-strength cough syrup and sent home. “I was like ‘oh this is not good.’ I drunk that thang…I said ‘oh they got me on the lean,’” she said through laughter.
“You just gotta’ fight it,” Missy explained when asked how she managed to perform while sick, and on medication. “What I’mma do? Tell MTV [‘no’] after they spent all that bread?”
The seven-minute performance leading up to Missy being presented with the year’s Video Vanguard Award featured a medley of hits including “The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly),” “Lose Control,” “Get Ur Freak On,” “One Minute Man” and her latest single, “Throw It Back.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Missy confirmed another Lizzo collaboration and went into detail about her battle with Graves Disease, her new album and more. “I’m truly blessed,” she added.
Check out the full interview below.