The Cookbook by Missy Elliott

The Cookbook is the sixth studio album by American rapper Missy Elliott, released by The Goldmind Inc. and Atlantic Records on July 4, 2005 in Germany and the UK, and on July 5 in the United States and Japan. Three singles were released from the album; the first, "Lose Control", was released on May 27, 2005, and peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and charted well internationally. The second single, "Teary Eyed", was released on August 8, 2005, and failed to chart on any Billboard chart and charted low in other countries. The third single, "We Run This", was released on February 21, 2006, and peaked at number forty-eight on the Billboard Hot 100 and charted moderately well internationally. The album received generally favorable reviews from critics and peaked at number two on the Billboard 200. It was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), selling 657,000 copies in the United States and received a Grammy nomination for Best Rap Album, ultimately losing to Kanye West's Late Registration. The music video for "Lose Control", directed by Dave Meyers won the Grammy for Best Short Form Music Video. The title The Cookbook derived of Elliott feeling "no two records are going to sound alike; each record has its own spices and herbs. Each record is cooking up a hot recipe for a hot album." The black and white cover features Elliott posing with a vintage microphone in a 1920s juke joint. She explained the cover, saying, "I wanted people to see I was taking music back to the roots—not just hip hop, but our ancestors. Whether they was on railroad tracks or cooking in somebody's kitchen, they was always singing."In an interview with Billboard magazine, Elliott said, "I really do think this is my best album. I was in a really great space with this album. I wasn't in a great space with some of the other albums I've done." She went on to say, "I played Lil' Kim the album the other day, and she told me it was incredible and that there was not one song on it that she didn't like."