The wait is almost over. After a 7-year hiatus, Missy Elliott steps back up to the plate on “9th Inning,” one of two new singles off her seventh album, tentatively titled Block Party. The hip-hop icon comes back with a vengeance over a triumphant beat courtesy of her partner-in-rhyme Timbaland.

“Now I’m in the 9th inning, thought I fell off, I ain’t quite finish,” raps Missy. “2012 there’ll be no games/ Real rap, real bars, I’m not playin’.”

If you thought the dynamic duo had fell off, think again. “We hitmakin’, hitbreakin’, partyshakin’, innovative, groundbreakin’, so creative/ We be the most anticipated,” proclaims Timbo.

Missy is also readying a second single “Triple Threat” for release later this month. Listen to a snippet of “9th Inning” below.