After releasing The Cookbook in 2005, Elliott slowly stepped back from all she had built. Part of that had to do with her 2008 Graves' disease diagnosis, which caused rapid weight loss, hair loss and other issues related to her thyroid. After getting to a place where she could manage her condition, Elliott said she "quietly" released two tracks produced by Timbaland in 2012, but they didn't garner much attention so she didn't pursue any kind of comeback.

That didn't mean she lacked material, though. "If I wanted to do The Missing Files of Missy Elliott, I have probably six albums just sitting there," she said. "But it was much needed," she admitted of her break.