"9th Inning" is a song by American rapper

Missy Elliott Melissa Arnette "Missy" Elliott (born July 1, 1971), also known as Misdemeanor, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. She began her musical career as a member of the Contemporary R&B, R&B girl group 4 All the Sistas Arou ...

featuring a guest appearance by childhood friend and longtime collaborator

Timbaland Timothy Zachery Mosley (born March 10, 1972), known professionally as Timbaland, is an American record producer and rapper. Born and raised in Norfolk, Virginia, he is widely acclaimed for his distinctive production work and "stuttering" rhythm ...

. Originally, a snippet was released on Elliott's official website on September 10, 2012. This song, along with the accompanying " Triple Threat", made its full debut via

Ustream IBM Watson Media (formerly Ustream and IBM Cloud Video) is an American virtual events platform company which is a division of IBM. Prior to the IBM acquisition, it had more than 180 employees across San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Budapest office ...

on September 17, 2012, and were both released as promotional singles on September 18, 2012.

Background

After many delays stretching from as far back as 2008 and after many choices for the lead single from Elliott's upcoming album ''

Block Party A block party or street party is a party in which many members of a single community congregate, either to observe an event of some importance or simply for mutual solidarity and enjoyment. The name comes from the form of the party, which ofte ...

'', the songs "9th Inning" and " Triple Threat" were finally chosen and both released on September 18, 2012.

Composition

"9th Inning" is a

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

song that features vocals from both Elliott and Timbaland, with Elliott being the main vocalist and Timbaland being the guest vocalist. Its lyrics talk about the two performers preparing for their return to the music scene with brand new material and comparing their return as being in the ninth inning of a baseball game.

Critical reception

In a retrospetive review of the song, Steven J. Horowitz from ''

Vulture A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to Nort ...

'' found that it "lacked oomph, as well as the innovation of her more thought-out efforts."

Charts

References

{{authority control 2012 songs Missy Elliott songs Timbaland songs Songs written by Missy Elliott Song recordings produced by Timbaland Song recordings produced by Jerome "J-Roc" Harmon