The Boy Is Mine

Album

Sugar Lips

Label

Atlantic Records

Genre

Rhythm & Blues

Duration

0:00

Composer(s)

LaShawn Daniel;sRodney Jerkins;Fred Jerkins III;Japhe Tejeda;Brandy Norwood

Entered Chart

May 30, 1998

Peak Date

Jun 6, 1998

Released

May 4, 1998

Recorded

October 1997[1] Studio Los Angeles; Atlanta, Georgia

Catalog #

Atlantic 84089

B-Side

The Boy Is Mine (instrumental)

A massive hit from 1998, "The Boy Is Mine" was written by Brandy together with Rodney Jerkins, LaShawn Daniels, Fred Jerkins III and Japhe Tejeda. The song's lyrics tell a story about two women disputing the love of a man. They were inspired by Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson's 1982 duet "The Girl Is Mine," and by The Jerry Springer Show, where love triangles among the guests were a common theme. In real life, there was no boy that Brandy and Monica were fighting over - the story was completely made up. The song exploited the persistent rumor that Brandy and Monica were locked in a genuine feud. "We didn't even know each other," Monica explained in 1998. "I had never even seen her before because I listen to a lot of gospel music. From the time she was [first] released and I was [first] released, instantly people compared us and I never understood it. It's like they chose the two of us out of the bunch to put at odds. They never did it with me and Aaliyah, or Brandy and Aaliyah. It was always Brandy and Monica. That's why we took the song and brought humor to a situation that people tried to make serious. We thought it would be really funny to show us feuding in the video and then come together at the end, because we wanted people to let go of the idea of us not liking each other - but of course, they haven't." Originally, Monica and Brandy recorded the song together in Los Angeles, but that joint session didn't sound right to the song's producer, Dallas Austin, so Monica rerecorded her vocals separately in Atlanta with Austin, who also worked with the popular trio TLC on songs like "Creep" and "Unpretty." Austin told Billboard: "I had to make Monica Monica on it. I didn't want it to turn into something where Monica's full character wasn't on it. It had to have their attitudes on it, and not just be them singing a song." The song spent 13 weeks at #1 in the US, making it the all-time #1 female duet in US chart history and the top-selling US single in 1998, with over 2 million copies sold. It topped the Canadian chart for 15 weeks. The Hot 100 success was aided by a Billboard rule making songs that weren't sold as singles in the US ineligible for the chart - a stipulation that was lifted later in 1998. This kept "Torn" by Natalie Imbruglia and "Iris" by the Goo Goo Dolls - both not sold as singles - from competing on the chart. "The Boy Is Mine" won the 1998 Grammy for Best Rhythm & Blues Performance by a Duo. Report this ad Prior to the release of this song, R&B had not been a popular musical genre in Asia. "The Boy Is Mine" changed that when it topped the Asia Hitlist for eight weeks. In the music video, directed by Joseph Kahn, the girls are neighbors fighting over their shared boyfriend, played by Mekhi Phifer. Brandy and Monica sang this at the MTV Video Music Awards in 1998. It was the only time they performed the song on television together. Amber Riley and Naya Rivera sang this on Glee in the 2010 episode "Laryngitis." In 2024, Ariana Grande released an entirely different song titled "The Boy Is Mine." While Brandy & Monica's original has the two divas going head-to-head over a love interest, Grande's version finds her all cool confidence. She delivers the story with a smooth and assured attitude, leaving no doubt she and her man were always meant to be. Brandy and Monica don't get left out. The two queens grace the music video with a cameo appearance and even lend their silky vocals to the remix.

Excuse me, can I please talk to you for a minute

Uh huh, sure, you know you look kinda familiar

Yeah, you do too but, umm,
I just wanted to know do you know
Somebody named you,
You know his name.

Oh, yeah definitely I know his name.

I just wanted to let you know he's mine.

Huh, no no, he's mine.

You need to give it up.
Had about enough.
It's not hard to see,
The boy is mine.

I think it's time we got this straight,
Let's sit and talk face to face.
There is no way you could mistake him for your man,
Are you insane?

See I know that you may be
Just a bit jealous of me.
Cause' you're blind if you can't see
That his love is all in me.

See I tried to hesitate,
I didn't want to say what he told me.
He said without me
He couldn't make it through the day,
Ain't that a shame.

And maybe you misunderstood,
Plus I can't see how he could
Want to take his time and that's all good.
All of my love was all it took

The boy is mine.
You need to give it up.
Had about enough.
It's not hard to see,
The boy is mine.
I'm sorry that you
Seem to be confused.
He belongs to me
The boy is mine.

Must you do the things you do
Keep on acting like a fool
You need to know it's me not you
And if you didn't know it girl it's true.

I think that you should realize,
And try to understand why
He is a part of my life
I know it's killing you inside.

You can say what you want to say.
What we have you can't take.
From the truth you can't escape.
I can tell the real from the fake.

When will you get the picture.
You're the past, I'm the future
Get away it's my time to shine
If you didn't know the boy is mine.

You can't destroy this love I've found
Your silly games I won't allow
The boy is mine without a doubt
You might as well throw in the towel

What makes you think that he wants you,
When I'm the one that brought him to
The special place that's in my heart,
He was my love right from the start

He belongs to me

The boy is mine, not yours

But mine!

Not yours!

But mine!

Not yours!

But mine!

I'm sorry that you
Seem to be confused.
He belongs to me
The boy is mine