Tori Kelly unveiled her new single “Missin U” and its Y2K-inspired music video on Friday (March 17).
The visual features the newly brunette Grammy winner cycling through a variety of funky fresh looks — from a silver puffer coat and red leather to a midriff-baring, white ribbed ensemble — in a series of bold, monochromatic rooms as she sings, “It was the perfect night kissin’ you/ Was rainin’ purple skies in my room/ Me and you/ Baby, I’m missin’ you/ Oooh, I’m missin’ you” over a sample of Craig David’s 2000 single “Fill Me In.” Directly inspired by the work of Hype Williams, the music video even uses classic tools from the turn of the century including a fisheye camera lens and a wind machine.
Rife with her signature vocal acrobatics and chill-inducing runs, the Jon Bellion-produced single marks the start of a new era on Epic Records for the Sing 2 star, and her first new music since 2019’s Inspired By True Events and 2020’s A Tori Kelly Christmas.
“There’s some TLC references. We’re very inspired by Aaliyah and Missy Elliott with all the fisheye stuff,” Kelly dished in an interview with People about the video’s colorful aesthetic, also pointing to Destiny’s Child’s iconic “Say My Name” visual. “We were having so much fun being like, ‘What if we throw this little move in and see who catches it?’ I grew up just being obsessed with all those videos. For whatever reason, in the early 2000s, everything was metallic.”
In the chat, Kelly even hinted, along with the litany of references to the late ’90s and early 2000s, there may be a number of Easter eggs littered throughout the video for eagle-eyed fans to find that point to more music coming dow the pipeline.
Watch Kelly transform into a Y2K pop princess in “Missin U” below.
