Lose Control

Album: The Cookbook (2005)
Charted: 7 3
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This song, from Missy Elliott's sixth album The Cookbook, is mainly about dancing to the music. Guest performer Ciara told MTV News: "It's about music, how music makes you feel and makes you lose control."
  • Ciara and Fatman Scoop are featured as guest performers on this track. Elliott also worked with Ciara on "1, 2 Step" for her debut album Goodies. That song earned a Grammy Award nomination for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration but lost to "Numb/Encore" by Jay-Z and Linkin Park.
  • Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee stars in the second part of the music video when Fatman Scoop is repeating verses. This section is not part of the album version of the song. The video won a Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video, beating Gorillaz' "Feel Good Inc.," Jamiroquai's "Feels Just Like it Should," Martina McBride's "God's Will" and Sarah McLachlan's "World on Fire."
  • Elliott closed her performance at the 2015 Super Bowl halftime show with a bit of this song. The star of the show, Katy Perry, left the stage at this point so she could be strapped into her shooting star contraption and fly around the stadium for her final number.
  • The song experienced a resurgence in 2020 thanks to the Dancing Triangle meme, which was started by a short video posted on Twitter of a computer-animated "triforce" triangle dancing to the first few seconds of the song. The animation itself comes from a 2006 episode of the unofficial web series The Legend of Zelda: The Light of Courage.

Comments: 2

  • Aaron from Des Moines, IaSHE RUINED A PERFEFCTLY GOOD ELECTRO SONG FROM THE 80'S CALLED "CLEAR" BY:CYBERTRON THAT'S THE SONG SHE SAMPLED
  • Ali from St. Louis, MoAccording to Missy Elliot, this song is about the effect music can have on people, and how it can influence them and their lives.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Amy Lee of Evanescence

Amy Lee of EvanescenceSongwriter Interviews

The Evanescence frontwoman on the songs that have shifted meaning and her foray into kids' music.

80s Video Director Jay Dubin

80s Video Director Jay DubinSong Writing

Billy Joel and Hall & Oates hated making videos, so they chose a director with similar contempt for the medium. That was Jay Dubin, and he has a lot to say on the subject.

Loreena McKennitt

Loreena McKennittSongwriter Interviews

The Celtic music maker Loreena McKennitt on finding musical inspiration, the "New Age" label, and working on the movie Tinker Bell.

They Might Be Giants

They Might Be GiantsSongwriter Interviews

Who writes a song about a name they found in a phone book? That's just one of the everyday things these guys find to sing about. Anything in their field of vision or general scope of knowledge is fair game. If you cross paths with them, so are you.

Art Alexakis of Everclear

Art Alexakis of EverclearSongwriter Interviews

The lead singer of Everclear, Art is also their primary songwriter.

Dean Friedman - "Ariel"

Dean Friedman - "Ariel"They're Playing My Song

Dean's saga began with "Ariel," a song about falling in love with a Jewish girl from New Jersey.