"Take Away" is a song by American rapper Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott. It was written by Elliott and

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 ...

for her third studio album, '' Miss E... So Addictive'' (2001), while production was helmed by the latter, with Elliott and Craig Brockman served as co-producers. The downtempo track features guest vocals from R&B singer

Ginuwine Elgin Baylor Lumpkin (born October 15, 1970), better known by his stage name Ginuwine ( ), is an American R&B singer. He began his career as a member of the musical collective Swing Mob in the early 1990s. As a solo act, he signed with Epic R ...

. While the album version of "Take Away" credits background vocals by 702 member, Kameelah Williams, the single version replaces Williams's vocals with then-newcomer, Elliott's former protégée Tweet. Released as the album's third single, it reached the top 20 on the US

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

chart but was less successful than Elliott's previous singles "

Get Your Freak On ''Get Your Freak On'' is a live album released in 1995 by the Washington, D.C.-based go-go band Rare Essence. The album was recorded live at the Rhythms Nightclub in Landover, Maryland on November 25, 1994. Track listing ;Side A #"Get Your ...

" and "

One Minute Man "One Minute Man" is a song written by American rapper Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott. It was written and produced by Elliott and Timbaland for her third studio album '' Miss E... So Addictive'' (2001) and features guest vocals by rapper Ludacris. ...

." The accompanying music video was dedicated to Elliott's close friend

Aaliyah Aaliyah Dana Haughton ( ; January 16, 1979 – August 25, 2001) was an American singer, actress, dancer, and model. Known as the " Princess of R&B" and "Queen of Urban Pop", she is credited with helping to redefine contemporary R&B, p ...

, who was killed in a

plane crash An aviation accident is an event during aircraft operation that results serious injury, death, or significant destruction. An aviation incident is any operating event that compromises safety but does not escalate into an aviation accident. Pre ...

in August 2001. The remainder of the music video features a snippet of Elliott's single, " 4 My People", which served as an aptly–upbeat dedication to the victims of the

9/11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

and citizens of the United States.

Critical reception

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' felt that the song was "awesome." ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

'' found that "Take Away" attempts "to update early

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

ballads, and instead reveals how those slow R&B jams depended on The Artist's histrionics to carry the song. And despite having already proven herself more than capable of similar theatricalities, she relies on played-out

vocoder A vocoder (, a portmanteau of ''vo''ice and en''coder'') is a category of speech coding that analyzes and synthesizes the human voice signal for audio data compression, multiplexing, voice encryption or voice transformation. The vocoder wa ...

, and irrationally allows Ginuwine to dumb things down with "sensitive" crooning." Stephen Dalton from ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'' called "Take Away" the "dullest cut off ''Miss E… So Addictive'', a sugary R&B ballad with no subversive sexual sermons, no chop-socky speedbeats, no dazzling verbal somersaults – just a straight declaration of love which transcends mere earthly riches. With Ginuwine and newcomer Charlene "Tweet" Keys shouldering the bulk of the vocals, Missy the hyperkinetic maverick is cooking on a low heat here." ''

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly ''Exclaim!'' print magazine publishes seven ...

'' critic Cam Lindsay found that the song "disappoints, with Ginuwine taking over the spotlight, and is a throwaway slow jam that seems to steer away from Missy's talents."

Chart performance

"Take Away" was released via

radio airplay Airplay is how frequently a song is being played through broadcasting on radio stations. A song which is being played several times every day (spins) would have a significant amount of airplay. Music which became very popular on jukeboxes, in n ...

as the third single from ''Miss E... So Addictive'' on October 18, 2001 and began charting as an album cut."Billboard: Hot R&B/Hip Hop." ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

''. November 3, 2001: 46. Print. Soon as it picked up heavier airplay and debuted on the US ''Billboard''

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

at number 84, the song was physically released in the United States on November 5, 2001, and in international regions on January 29, 2002.

Music video

Directed by Dave Meyers, the video begins with a message from Missy Elliott: Elliott is then shown singing her verses in a Fantasy Kingdom–themed palace; decorated with angelic statues and flowers. Tweet is then spotted singing the chorus with Elliott while holding an umbrella under showering flower petals. The following scene then shows

singing his verses in two differing locations—one being a rocky cave; and the other being steps of the palace. During his verses, Ginuwine along with Elliott glance at the sight of waterfalls where pictures of

are reflecting from the water. Tweet is then shown singing the chorus with Elliott, while playing the harp as people dressed in white begin to dance. The video then transitions to Elliott performing " 4 My People" with an American crowd in an upbeat dedication to the 9/11 victims. The video then ends with a message from Elliott:

Cover versions

On September 29, 2014, the album version of the song was sampled by Elliott's protégée

Sharaya J Sharaya Howell (born January 17, 1984), known professionally as Sharaya J, is an American rapper and choreographer. She is known for her singles "BANJI" and "Smash Up the Place," as well as for being signed to Missy Elliott's label The Goldmind ...

for her single, "Takin' It No More".

Track listings

Notes * signifies a co-producer * signifies a remix producer

Credits and personnel

* Craig Brockman – co-producer * Jimmy Douglass – engineer, mixing *Missy Elliott – co-producer, vocals, writer *

– vocals *Jesse Gorman – assistant engineer *

Bernie Grundman Bernie Grundman (born 16 December 1943, Minneapolis) is an American audio engineer. He is most known for his mastering work and his studio, Bernie Grundman Mastering, which he opened in 1984 in Hollywood. The studio, which includes engineers Chr ...

– mastering *Steve Penny – assistant engineer *Grayson Sumby – assistant engineer *

– mixing, producer, writer * Tweet – vocals *Melah Williams –

ad lib In music and other performing arts, the phrase (; or 'as you desire'), often shortened to "ad lib" (as an adjective or adverb) or "ad-lib" (as a verb or noun), refers to various forms of improvisation. The roughly synonymous phrase ('in acc ...

Charts

Release history

References

{{Tweet (singer) 2001 singles 2001 songs Elektra Records singles Ginuwine songs Hip-hop soul songs Missy Elliott songs Song recordings produced by Timbaland Songs written by Missy Elliott Songs written by Timbaland Tweet (singer) songs Contemporary R&B ballads 2000s ballads