Missy Elliott took a moment on Sunday to share a full circle moment on her social platforms! In Twitter and Instagram posts, Missy said she spent some time in the studio recently. Her studio engineer Terence Elam was “very quiet and didn’t say much.” Then, on the last day, Terence (who also goes by CooL-T) revealed a touching throwback moment with Missy.
“He said I was at the graduation when you got your doctorate’s at Berklee College and I remembered your speech about NOT QUITTING & now LOOK I’m here mixing your music,” Missy wrote.
Back in 2019, Missy Elliott became the first hip-hop artist to receive a Berklee’s honorary doctorate, according to their official cite. Berklee’s President Roger H. Brown praised Missy at the time for “bending genres, breaking stereotypes, and pushing musical, visual, and stylistic boundaries.”
“I’m not going to talk y’all ears off but I want y’all to know there will be ups-and-downs, prepare for that but don’t give up,” Missy said during her commencement speech. “And I know you may hear that all the time but if I had given up a long time ago, I wouldn’t be standing here today. You have come too far to quit…,” Missy continued.
Terence stepped into The Shade Room and gave further insight into the professional encounter. Apparently, he graduated from the Berklee College of Music in 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in Electronic Production and Design. Since then, he has landed himself a job as a “house engineer” at Tree Sound Studios located in Norcross, Georgia.
He said Missy booked a session at the studio and when he was called to be the engineer he “didn’t hesitate to accept.” Terence further revealed that he felt “pumped” but ‘nervous” to get the gig because one never knows what to expect. When asked about his experience working with Missy, he described her as “by far the sweetest person you could meet.”
“She was super nice and her ear for music is superb,” Terence said. “Everyone in the room stops and listens to every word that comes from her. You can’t help put respect her as a legend.”
Missy packaged the moment for her audiences by adding pictures of Terrance at the 2019 graduation.
“…Look at God. This touched me so much,” Missy wrote in the last of her caption.
As for Terence, the budding engineer and producer hopes to join the greats one day.
“It’s my goal to be a great music producer such as Missy and other legends in the music field,” Terence said. “It’s also a goal to be an excellent engineer.”
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