In 1998, few songs had as much of a chokehold on the nation as Brandy and Monica’s “The Boy Is Mine.” In fact, it came in at number two on Billboard’s Year-End Hot 100 singles list, bested by, of all things, Next’s “Too Close” at number one for the year. Not only was “The Boy Is Mine” better as a song, but also as a video—even if the logistics presented in said video proved to be a highly unrealistic nightmare. With all of that in mind, to have the balls to release a song called “the boy is mine” in a similar style and pitch (regardless of “enough time” passing) was not only a huge risk on Ariana Grande’s part, but also a potentially huge affront. After all, who is she to take up the mantle for Brandy and Monica?
Fortunately, Grande found a double whammy kind of way to pay homage to the R&B duo’s masterwork by not only featuring them in her video for the song (with a Catwoman-inspired premise that continues to build on Grande’s movie tribute universe), but also having them jump on a remix version of the track. While some quipped that there was hardly any room for more vocal layering on this song, it manages to work much better as a remix than the “yes, and?” one that featured a surprisingly out of place Mariah Carey on it. Perhaps because two singers vying for dominance in such a similar pitch all the time simply ends up canceling the other one out.
In any case, “yes, and?” now comes across as an especially inferior remix compared to “the boy is mine.” What’s more, Grande’s overarching theme on the track differentiates itself from Brandy and Monica’s in that, while it still focuses on the idea of “possession,” its larger focus is on a sense of “destiny,” “stars aligning,” etc. In short, that it’s through no fault of her own that the boy is hers, he simply is because “God” or whoever willed it so.
Accordingly, there’s less braggadocio involved on Ariana’s rendering than there is on the original, with Monica taking the lead on the mea culpa/“not my fault” verse that goes, “Please know this ain’t what I planned for/Probably wouldn’t bet a dime or my life on/There’s gotta be a reason why/My girls, they always come through in a sticky situation/Say, ‘It’s fine’ (it’s fine)/Happens all the time.” In truth, compared to 1998’s “The Boy Is Mine,” Monica is much more noticeable on this track, her vocals being more present than Brandy’s, who was the ostensible “star” of the original song. Indeed, part of the reason Monica was tapped for a feature on “The Boy Is Mine” in the first place was to capitalize on the presumed rivalry between the two similarly aged solo artists at that time. A rivalry that both women ended up playing into because they were teenagers (granted, at the end of their teenage years when the song was recorded and released) easily susceptible to suggestion and competition.
Buying into the hype around their rivalry was something that crested for both women in September of 1998. A moment highlighted, in an interview with Monica’s producer, Dallas Austin, for Vlad TV a few years back. One during which he brought up their supposed altercation. In yet another interview for Vlad TV with Brandy’s producer for the song, Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins, it is, presciently enough, mentioned there was a rumor that Darkchild might remake the song with Ariana Grande. He balked, “That was a rumor,” adding, “To me it would never do justice for it to be done over with two females unless they don’t like each other.” This, of course, is a very male take on the matter. For it has always served men to have women pitted against one another in the media so as to make them look both frivolous and foolish (and, where a rival record label is concerned, to force women to have more “drive” when it comes to upping their game on sales). This is in part why it was rather groundbreaking for Grande to say nothing during the media furor surrounding her homewrecking romance with Ethan Slater, after which Slater’s fresh ex-wife, Lilly Jay, released a statement in which she said of Grande, “She’s not a girl’s girl.” A withering statement for a pop star with a largely female audience.
Nonetheless, Grande’s “fairy princess” vibe (further solidified by playing Gilda) managed to return as 2024 rolled around and the release of her seventh album, Eternal Sunshine, was upon the masses. For few could resist the “shake it off” (Mariah reference intended) attitude of “yes, and?”—which would turn out to be the only single Grande chose to put out before the record’s release. In between “yes, and?” and “the boy is mine,” there was the much more serious “we can’t be friends (wait for your love).” For it seems Grande wanted to unveil a more tongue-in-cheek side of the album yet again, even though it is filled with woeful ruminations inspired by her divorce from Dalton Gomez (e.g., “don’t wanna break up again,” “eternal sunshine” and “i wish i hated you”). And for “tongue-in-cheekness” assistance, there can be no better duo than Brandy and Monica (except maybe Patsy and Edina).
In many ways, certain lyrics of “the boy is mine” remix apply to the relationship between Brandy and Monica themselves. Namely, “And I know that this is meant to be and I/I’ll show you accountability and empathy and sympathy/How could you still be so disillusioned after all of this time time?” That “disillusionment” effortlessly applying to the on-again, off-again feud between the two singers. Crystallized even further by the aforementioned lore that Monica “punched” (though a slap, at best, seems more believable) Brandy before their only live performance together of “The Boy Is Mine” at the 1998 VMAs. The fact that the two weren’t seen together again for years afterward only fanned the flames of speculation. In addition to how neither one seemed game to reteam for another collab. That is, until 2012, with the single, “It All Belongs To Me.” As Brandy noted of what took so long to duet again, “[Monica] didn’t want us doing a new collaboration to affect the old collaboration.” Because no matter what new song they put out, or how excited the fans were about the prospect, it would always be pitted against “The Boy Is Mine”—much the same way that Brandy and Monica were perennially pitted against one another.
Hence, when their second song together did get the green light, it was unfortunate that a dark pall had to be cast over the single. This as a consequence of the release date coinciding with the death of their respective mentors, Whitney Houston, on February 11, 2012. The single came out just two days later. And although designed to be more empowering instead of kowtowing (to a man), many critics were quick to jump on its lackluster nature in comparison to “The Boy Is Mine.” Another comparison that came up was Beyoncé’s “Irreplaceable.” And yet, “It All Belongs To Me” is actually far more cutting than that, with Brandy and Monica savagely reminding their respective former objects of affection just who pays for all of his shit (though, in this regard, too, Beyoncé still comes to mind in the form of Destiny’s Child’s “Bills Bills Bills”). But perhaps the song was too chock-full of “references” in every way, with the video also pulling inspo from Waiting to Exhale (the car burning scene, duh) and, in its way, Thelma and Louise. In short, it didn’t capture the same “magic” or “lightning in a bottle” as “The Boy Is Mine” (even though that song, too, wasn’t entirely original in that its premise was extrapolated from Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney’s “The Girl Is Mine”—not to mention, as Brandy stated, watching The Jerry Springer Show…though she left out the part where she was, indeed, involved in her own very dramatic love triangle a few years earlier with Wanya Morris of Boyz II Men and Adina Howard).
The lyrics of the song also didn’t come across quite as timelessly, with Brandy and Monica choosing to rhyme MacBook with Facebook (almost on par with 50 Cent saying, “If you be a nympho/I be a nympho”). All of which is to say that Grande has achieved no small feat in reuniting the two for what is likely to be the closest they’ll ever come to “The Boy Is Mine” again (for obvious reasons). In a promo clip posted the day before the remix’s release, Brandy and Monica return in their newscaster guises from the video for “the boy is mine,” with Monica asking Brandy, “How did we decide this is the time?” Brandy shrugs, “Because we’re on it. Periodt.” Monica adds, “They called us, see that’s what I’m saying. When you call us, I barks with Ariana. She knew to call the girls.” Brandy then praises, “She can really really sing.” Another big compliment from an industry titan. Even so, Grande knows to step aside for large portions of the remix and let the iconic duo take their spotlight to help reimagine a concept they perfected.
One of the verses they add in for the remix is also particularly poignant, as it speaks to a shift in women’s attitudes since 1998. Presently unwilling to play the “mistress” role for the sake of getting only a small modicum of time with the man who claims to “love” them. Thus, they sing in harmony, “Yeah, said he wanna make plans with me/But I don’t fuck with affairs, you see, I know/But listen what they say to me/‘If it ain’t broke then it can’t be broken’/Well, he better sort out his business/‘Cause I’ll never be nobody’s mistress.” As for the “If it ain’t broke it can’t be broken” line, it feels like some clear shade at Lilly Jay, who still wants to put all the blame on Grande for the dissolution of her marriage. Resultantly, with this remix, Grande has put a few matters to rest for good…or at least for now.
Genna Rivieccio
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