When one person makes it, the whole team eats — especially when you’re Missy Elliott.

The legendary emcee took to social media to remind the world that she has always been one to carve her own lane and that she wasn’t afraid to ensure that her friends were with her every step of the way.

“Always been a leader,” wrote the Virginia native in a tweet. “When I got signed I fought for my brothers Timbaland and Magoo. I took a chance and told the label I can’t do a[n] album without them…so they flew them up and they got signed and the world witnessed their greatness. The rest is HERSTORY.”

Missy Elliot's Rise to Fame

In fact, Elliot’s rise to fame started thanks to another Virginia native… Jodeci’s DeVante Swing. In 1991, Swing signed Elliott’s Sista group to his Swing Mob Records label. Ultimately, due to financial reasons, the group was dropped from the label and later broke up. In a previous interview with Variety, she admitted to never wanting to be a solo artist.

“I was afraid,” she shared with the outlet. “I love being in a group because the pressure isn’t on one person – it probably don’t seem like it, but I’m super, super shy. Once I was no longer in the group, instead of being an artist I wanted a record label.”

Does Missy Elliott Own A Record Label? After signing with Elektra with then-CEO Sylvia Rhone, Elliott expressed her desire to own a label of her own.

“By that time I had done some [prominent] features, and Sylvia Rhone said, ‘We’ll give a label if you give us an album.’ So when I went to Tim and said, ‘Let’s hurry up and do this album so they can give me my label,’ and we finished in two weeks.'”

Thanks to the success of her “Supa Dupa Fly” album, Elliott’s label ownership dreams came true through her The Goldmind Inc., which is responsible for acts like R&B superstar Tweet.