If you’re a 90’s baby, you definitely remember Brandy & Monica’s R&B classic “The Boy Is Mine.”
Well, get ready to feel nostalgic!
According to Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins – who co-produced the song with Dallas Austin – Jessie J and Ariana Grande will duet to record an updated version of the 1998 track. He revealed the news during an interview with HitsDailyDouble.
“Next year is my 20-year anniversary and I’m doing a very special project,” Jerkins said. “Some originals as well as re-imagined hits. So for example, I’ll do the ‘The Boy Is Mine’ with Ariana and Jessie J.”
And with two-thirds of the “Bang Bang” singers sure to make some chart-topping noise with their rendition, it’s only right that we celebrate the original by divulging a few interesting facts and tidbits you probably didn’t know about Brandy & Monica’s “The Boy Is Mine.”
That is, until now.
Check them out down below!
1. “The Boy Is Mine” was the lead single on both Brandy’s Never Say Never and Monica’s The Boy Is Mine, which happen to be their sophomore albums.
2. It was the first #1 pop record for both artists in the US, as well as internationally. It was also the first #1 collaboration between solo female artists since 1979’s “No More Tears (Enough Is Enough),” performed by Barbra Streisand and Donna Summer.
3. It became the best-selling song of the year in the US, where it spent a span of 13 weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100 during the summer of 1998, beating out Shania Twain’s “You’re Still The One.”
4. It was written by Brandy, alongside Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins, his brother Fred Jerkins III, Japhe Tejeda, and LaShawn Daniels. The concept of the song was inspired by an episode of Jerry Springer that focused on love triangles.
5. While “The Boy Is Mine” was originally intended to be a solo effort, it made more sense to Brandy and Jerkins for it to be a duet, which was an idea partially influenced by Michael Jackson & Paul McCartney’s “The Girl Is Mine.” The song is said to be a response record to the 1982 smash hit.
6. Brandy requested Monica be on the record with her, in hopes that it would help diffuse incessant rumors of a rivalry between the two singers. However, it only added fuel to the fire.
7. Brandy & Monica singing “The Boy Is Mine” at the 1998 Video Music Awards in Los Angeles happens to be their only television broadcast performance of the song. Gossip reports stated that the two got into an altercation during a rehearsal. An incident that may have been later confirmed during an interview with Angie Martinez back in 2012.
8. In 2008, Billboard ranked “The Boy Is Mine” 54th on its All-Time Hot 100 Top Songs chart. That same year, Billboard ranked the song 3rd on The 40 Biggest Duets Of All-Time.
9. “The Boy Is Mine” was awarded the Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group and garnered three Billboard Music Awards.
10. Actresses Naya Rivera (Santana) and Amber Riley (Mercedes) of the Fox TV series Glee covered “The Boy Is Mine” in the first season episode “Laryngitis.”
Short Man With A Tall Brain! 