Nothing comes between the bond of two Virginians. At least, not when those Virginians are Pharrell Williams and Missy Elliott. It marked Missy’s first appearance on The Voice as Team Pharrell’s guest mentor, and, as Pharrell told E! News, he could hardly believe she accepted the gig, let alone that the show offered it to her!
“I think what’s more surprising than anything else is they let two Virginians [work together,]” the “Happy” singer said as he and Missy burst out laughing. “For me, this is huge because Missy is somebody that, we came up together and she just continued to trailblaze. The idea that she would accept to come on the show with us just means the world to me because we just get to show this Virginian camaraderie…This is major to me, in my life.”
The feeling was more than mutual, as Missy revealed. “It’s major to me, too,” she said. “This is my brother, this is family. We go back to…We [were] youngins, teenyboppers. [We’re] both from Virginia. I’m here and I’m enjoying myself.” For Missy, the good vibes that emanate from the NBC series and her old friend were a major selling point. “Pharrell has a compassion and he gets in there and makes the people start crying. They don’t even know what’s going on. He’ll be like, ‘Listen. Look at me,'” she said. “But they need that. Not having somebody just say ‘You suck,’ but saying, ‘This is what you need to do. You have it on you.’ Because we come from a different era where people wold tell you, ‘You suck.'”
“Back in the day, a lot of lives were wrecked. A lot of people did not bounce back from some of the reviews,” Pharrell added. “She’s totally right, there’s a kindness that’s exercised on The Voice.” As the battle rounds kick off on season nine of The Voice, Missy joins fellow guest mentors Selena Gomez, John Fogerty, and Brad Paisley, who are on hand to assist coaches Gwen Stefani, Adam Levine, and Blake Shelton, respectively. For more on Missy and Pharrell’s epic team-up, including their sugary sweet pre-game ritual, be sure to press play on the video HERE!