NASA has beamed a hip-hop hit out into the Milky Way Galaxy for the first time.
The Southern California-based Jet Propulsion Laboratory broadcast Missy Elliott’s debut 1997 single ‘The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)’ towards Venus (Elliott’s favourite planet), travelling about 254 million kilometres at light speed. The transmission was sent at 10:05 AM PDT this past Friday, 12th July, using NASA’s Deep Space Network (DSN), which uses a number of giant radio antennas to send data to the Earth’s moon and further afield, and took about 14 minutes to reach its target.
“I still can’t believe I’m going out of this world with NASA through the Deep Space Network when ‘The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)’ becomes the first ever hip-hop song to transmit to space!” Elliott said in a press statement. “I chose Venus because it symbolizes strength, beauty and empowerment, and I am so humbled to have the opportunity to share my art and my message with the universe!”
“Both space exploration and Missy Elliott’s art have been about pushing boundaries”, NASA communications director Brittany Brown said. “Missy has a track record of infusing space-centric storytelling and futuristic visuals in her music videos so the opportunity to collaborate on something out of this world is truly fitting.”
This is only the second time NASA has transmitted a song to outer space, following the 2008 broadcast of The Beatles’ ‘Across the Universe’ aimed at Polaris, the North Star.
Missy Elliott is in the midst of her first-ever headline tour, aptly titled Out Of This World, through North America joined by Timbaland, Busta Rhymes and Ciara. She was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in November 2023, and has been honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, a street name in her Virginia hometown and a wax figure at Madame Tussauds Las Vegas.
This is part of NASA’s ongoing musical projects, like its “sonifications” series where it transforms images of space into audio and by sharing the sound of a black hole. It hosts a free streaming platform for its various series, documentaries and launches.
In 2022, Kerri Chandler sent his track ‘Atmosphere’ into space at Sónar Festival — watch a clip of his DJ Mag interview here.
A short 2020 documentary on Netflix, titled John Was Trying To Contact Aliens, shares the story of a Michigan man who spend nearly 30 years broadcasting music into space.
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