The Boy Is Mine (Brandy and Monica song)

This article is about the 1998 single by Brandy and Monica. For the remix of the 2024 Ariana Grande song featuring the singers, see The Boy Is Mine (Ariana Grande song) § Remix.

"The Boy Is Mine"
Cover art for "The Boy Is Mine": Brandy in a grey tank top and Monica in an off-white blouse
Single by Brandy and Monica
from the album Never Say Never and The Boy Is Mine
ReleasedMay 4, 1998 (1998-05-04)
RecordedOctober 1997[1]
StudioLos Angeles; Atlanta, Georgia
GenreR&B[2]
Length
  • 4:54 (album version)
  • 4:03 (radio version)
LabelAtlantic
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Brandy singles chronology
"Missing You"
(1996) 		"The Boy Is Mine"
(1998) 		"Top of the World"
(1998)
Monica singles chronology
"For You I Will"
(1997) 		"The Boy Is Mine"
(1998) 		"The First Night"
(1998)
Music video
"The Boy Is Mine" on YouTube

"The Boy Is Mine" is a duet by American singers Brandy and Monica. It was written by LaShawn Daniels, Japhe Tejeda, Fred Jerkins III, Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins, and Brandy, while production was helmed by Jerkins and Dallas Austin. It was released as the lead single from both singers' second albums from 1998, Never Say Never by Brandy and the album of the same name by Monica. Inspired by Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney's 1982 duet "The Girl Is Mine", the lyrics of the mid-tempo R&B track revolve around two women fighting over a man.[3]

The song received generally positive reviews from music critics and was the first number-one pop hit for both artists, in the US and internationally. Exploiting the media's presumption of a rivalry between the two young singers,[4] "The Boy Is Mine" became the best-selling song of the year in the US, selling 2.6 million copies, and spent 13 weeks at the top of the US Billboard Hot 100. It became the second song in the history of the chart to ascend directly to number-one from a previous position beneath the Top 20, at number 23, following the Beatles and the 27–1 leap of their single "Can't Buy Me Love" in April 1964. Internationally, the single also achieved a strong charting, peaking at number one in Canada, the Netherlands and New Zealand, while reaching the top five on most of the other charts on which it appeared.[4]

The accompanying music video, directed by Joseph Kahn, starred the singers and Mekhi Phifer. It was nominated for two MTV Video Music Awards, including Video of the Year and Best R&B Video. In addition, "The Boy Is Mine" was awarded the Grammy Award for Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group and received nominations for both Record of the Year and Best R&B Song in 1999. Billboard named it the Hot 100 Sales Single of Year and also listed it 54th on its 50th Anniversary All-Time Hot 100 Top Songs chart, as well as 18th on the All-Time Top R&B/Hip-Hop Songs countdown. The singers reunited on the 2012 single "It All Belongs to Me" and the remix of American singer Ariana Grande's 2024 single of the same name, "The Boy Is Mine".

  1. ^ "Brandy Back in the Studio – Music, Celebrity, Artist News". MTV.com. October 10, 1997. Archived from the original on February 6, 2012. Retrieved January 16, 2014.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference EW was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Adams, Cameron (June 19, 2008). "We Assess The Best, and Worst, All-Time Musical Duets". Herald Sun. Archived from the original on June 22, 2008. Retrieved December 15, 2008.
  4. ^ a b Farber, Jim (February 6, 2002). "At Age 21, The N.J.-based Producer Is King of His World". NY Daily News. Retrieved April 22, 2008.