NASA beams Missy Elliott’s music to Venus

How long does it take to get to Venus?

For Missy Elliott’s “The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)” it took nearly 14 minutes to travel to the planet of love, a distance of about 250 million kilometers, NASA announced on Monday (15). The agency transmitted the song to the planet via radio antennas near Barstow, in the US state of California, normally used for spacecraft tracking missions, as well as sending commands and receiving data.

“My song ‘The Rain’ has officially been beamed to Venus, the planet that symbolizes strength, beauty and empowerment,” Elliott wrote on X. “The sky is not the limit, it’s just the beginning.”

NASA has not said why it chose to beam a song into space again, after the Beatles’ “Across the Universe” was sent to the North Star, Polaris, in 2008. Culturally, though, the fact that the song was sent at all could signal Elliott’s status as one of Earth’s singular artists. If the intention is to serenade aliens, why not do it with Elliott rapping over Ann Peebles’ 1973 standout “I Can’t Stand the Rain”?

The artist often plays with space iconography in her work, something NASA acknowledged in a statement about the broadcast. The space agency pitched ideas for collaborations to Elliott before deciding on this effort.

“Missy has a history of infusing space-centric narratives and futuristic visuals into her music videos, so the opportunity to collaborate on something out of this world is really fitting,” said Brittany Brown, a director in NASA’s communications office.

While music transmissions are rare, NASA has sent music into space in other ways. Most notably, aboard Voyager 1 and 2 in 1977, NASA included a gold-plated copper phonograph record with “sounds and images selected to portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth.”

Elliott has also been receiving well-deserved recognition here on Earth. In 2019, the rapper became the first female hip-hop artist to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Four years later, she became the first female rapper to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. She even has a street named after her in her native Virginia.

The rapper’s 2024 North American tour, her first as a headliner, is called “Out of This World” and features Elliott often wearing chrome and studded suits, echoing the futuristic aesthetic of ’80s space movies. Even the music video for her song “Sock It 2 ​​Me,” from her 1997 debut album, is set in space. Dressed in cartoonish, multi-colored space suits, Elliott raps while flying through the galaxy.

NASA’s broadcast of a hip-hop song to Venus is a first for the agency. But for Missy Elliott, it’s safe to say she’s been to space before.

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