The Boy Is Mine (Brandy and Monica song)

"The Boy Is Mine"
Song

"The Boy Is Mine" is an R&B song recorded by singers Brandy and Monica. It was originally written by LaShawn Daniels, Fred Jerkins III, Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins and Brandy Norwood for Norwood's second studio album Never Say Never (1998) but eventually released as the lead single off of both singers' second albums during the second quarter of 1998 (see 1998 in music). Co-produced by Darkchild, Brandy and Dallas Austin, "The Boy Is Mine" has become one of the most successful R&B singles of all time. The song's lyrics tell a story about two women disputing the love of a man and were inspired by Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson's 1982 duet "The Girl Is Mine."

Song information

At the time, rumors were circulating of mutual dislike between Brandy and Monica. Both denied the rumors, and Brandy stated, "We took the song and brought humor to a situation that people had tried to make so serious." Although Monica had visited Brandy in Los Angeles to record the song together with producer Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins, the joint recording was felt to be a failure. She returned to Atlanta and recorded her vocals separately with help from Dallas Austin.

The song was also referenced in the chorus of the 1999 song "It's Mine", by Mobb Deep and Nas. There is a musical interpolation as well as lyrics that are clearly intended to match the chorus of "The Boy Is Mine".

Music video

File:The Boy Is Mine (screenshot).jpg

Brandy and Monica in the video for "The Boy Is Mine" (1998).

The video begins with the girls in their apartments, watching television. Brandy watches the "The Jerry Springer Show" but then Monica accidentally turns Brandy's TV to a romantic movie, in which Monica is watching on her own TV set. Whenever Brandy or Monica turns the channel, the other's TV stays on that channel and they grow sick of it. They then give up and start to sing. The next scene shows Brandy and Monica discussing their problem with their separate groups of friends. The "boy" himself (played by Mekhi Phifer, who played Brandy's boyfriend in the movie I Still Know What You Did Last Summer) then appears at a nightclub, where all the girls seem to want him. The girls are in pajamas next, and then each one calls the man over to choose. After Brandy and Monica fight with words, the man comes to the apartment, frustrated over who to choose. The door opens, and only Brandy is shown. Then it swings a little wider and Monica comes. The man gets a startled expression, and we are left hanging. The video was nominated for two 1998 MTV Video Music Awards, for Best R&B Video, and Video of the Year.

Chart performance

"The Boy Is Mine" topped the U.S. Hot 100 for thirteen weeks and the Canadian Singles Chart for fifteen weeks, which made it one of the biggest singles of the 1990s, selling over two million copies. The song became the first significant European success for Brandy and Monica and peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart at at number three on the Swedish Singles Chart. "The Boy Is Mine" also charted at number three on the Australian Singles Chart. In the U.S. it ascended twenty-two positions from number twenty-three to number one the week of June 6 1998, and became one of the biggest jumps to number one in the history of the Billboard Hot 100.

The song is known to be the official R&B breakthrough song in Asia, since R&B was not a popular musical genre in the region. It topped the Asia Hitlist for eight weeks, the longest R&B single to peak at the top spot until "We Belong Together" by Mariah Carey in 2005. It was disputed with Mariah Carey's "Honey" which topped the charts in 1997, as the first official R&B number one single in Asia, since no other R&B-influenced single has topped the charts aside from these three singles before 1998. Following this single, both Brandy and Monica achieved success in Asia with their latter hits have each one earn a number one single, "Angel of Mine" for Monica, and "Have You Ever?" for Brandy.

Charts

Chart (1998) Peak position Australian Singles Chart 3 Austrian Singles Chart 6 Brasil Hot 100 2 Canadian Singles Chart 1 Dutch Mega Top 50 Singles Chart 1 Dutch Top 40 Singles Chart 1 European Singles Chart 1 French Singles Chart 2 Italian Singles Chart 10 Latin America Singles Chart 1 Latvian Singles Chart 28 Japan J-Wave Tokio Hot 100 1 Japanese Oricon Singles Chart 1 German Media Control Singles Chart 5

Chart (1998) Peak position New Zealand Singles Chart 1 Norwegian Singles Chart 2 Swedish Singles Chart 3 Swiss Singles Chart 3 UK Singles Chart 2 UK R&B Singles Chart 1 U.S. Billboard Hot 100 1 U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs 1 U.S. Billboard The Mainstream Top 40 3 U.S. Billboard The Rhythmic Top 40 1 U.S. Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay Songs 1 U.S. Billboard Airplay Top 100 2 U.S. Billboard Dance Maxi Singles 1 United World Chart 1

Track listing

U.S. Maxi CD

1. Album Version
2. Club Mix
3. Radio With Intro
4. Album Instrumental
5. Acappella

2-Track CD

1. Album Version
2. Instrumental

Europe Maxi CD

1. The Boy Is Mine (Radio Edit Without Intro) 4:00
2. The Boy Is Mine (Radio Edit With Intro) 4:00
3. The Boy Is Mine (LP Version) 4:51
4. The Boy Is Mine (Club Version)