You Still Remeber The Boy Is Mine By Brandy And Monica, But Did You Know It Connects To Horror?

A few days ago, while driving, I heard “The Boy Is Mine” on the radio, the Brandy and Monica single that I remember as one of the biggest hits of the late 90s. Since I’m always looking for a genuine reason for songs that are brought out of the attic (although this hit is occasionally played), I conducted some new research. I wondered if it could be related to the fact that “I Know What You Did Last Summer” is currently being released worldwide, a film that I associate with that hit in several ways. It’s well known that the editors of the radio stations build their playlist according to what’s happening in the horror world, right?

Even if the actual reason is probably different – the fact that 27 years after that hit, Brandy and Monica recently announced their reunion for a tour called, of course, “The Boy Is Mine Tour” – I couldn’t help myself. So how the hell are Brandy, Monica, and Mekhi Phifer connected to “I Still Know What You Did Last Summer”? And will I ever stop trying to link every song or music to the horror world? You’re welcome to read, put the song on loop, and decide for yourself. So, it’s true that it’s not a scary song like some of the others we review here, but it does connect to our favorite genre.

Before we discuss horror movies, it’s essential to introduce the song we’re exploring. “The Boy Is Mine” is a single by singers Brandy Norwood (better known as Brandy) and Monica (or Monica Denise Arnold by her full name).

When Was The Boy Is Mine Released?

“The Boy Is Mine” was released on May 5, 1998, and, quite unusually, it appeared as a single for both singers. For Brandi, it was the first and lead single from her second album, “Never Say Never,” which was released a month later and debuted at number two on the US Billboard charts. For Monica, it was also the first single from her second album, simply called “The Boy Is Mine”.

The single became a huge hit. It immediately reached number one on the Billboard charts. It stayed there for no less than 13 weeks, an extraordinary achievement (the all-time number one, by the way, is currently held by “Old Town Road” by American Rapper Lil Nas X, which has stayed there for a total of 19 weeks). It was the best-selling song in the United States in 1998, with approximately 2.6 million copies sold.

The song’s most outstanding achievement, probably, is its win at the Grammy Award for “Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group”, one of three categories for which he was nominated (he was nominated but did not win Record of the Year or R&B Song of the Year). He won three awards at the Billboard Music Awards, which in 2008 also ranked him at a very respectable 54th on the list of the “100 Greatest Songs of All Time.” On the list of the 100 R&B and Hip-Hop Songs of All Time, the song is at number 18.

The Inspirations: From Jerry Springer To Michael Jackson

The “Boy Is Mine” lyrics, along with its accompanying music video (which we’ll discuss later), depicts a rivalry between two girls over the same man. Brandi wrote and composed the song, along with LeShawn Daniels, Fred Jerkins III, Rodney Jerkins, and Japhe Tejeda and was also among its producers. She said that she got the idea for the song while watching an episode of the bizarre “The Jerry Springer Show,” which dealt with love triangles. We don’t know who the song “The Boy Is Mine” is about, and it may be a general concept.

Originally, “The Boy Is Mine” was supposed to be a solo song by Brandi. But she and the other producers listened to the recording and realized that something was missing: an additional female presence, which would connect to the rivalry depicted in the song. This idea was also born out of a somewhat feminist response to Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney’s 1982 duet, “The Girl Is Mine,” which was about two men competing for a woman. It is said, by the way, that Michael Jackson completed writing the song while he and McCartney were watching cartoons, a fact that takes on new meaning when you consider Jackson’s terrible deeds, published several decades later.

Brandi decided that the young singer Monica, who was reportedly a rival at the time, would be suitable for the role. Her record company approached Monica, and the project was finally happening. Then came the video.

The Boy Is Mine Video Clip

It’s hard to say that the video for “The Boy Is Mine” is remarkable, but there’s still something that connects it to our site. The video was directed by South Korean-American video and film director Joseph Kahn, who has become one of the most prominent names in the industry. He’s worked with the who’s who of the music world, for example, Taylor Swift, Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys, Kylie Minogue, Christina Aguilera, Shakira, Lady Gaga, Destiny’s Child, George Michael, Mariah Carey, Eminem, Jennifer Lopez, Snoop Dogg – and the list goes on.

Technically, the video clip featured some interesting elements, such as the camera tilt at a 90-degree angle. Its plot begins when Brandi watches an episode of “The Jerry Springer Show”, which corresponds with the background for writing the song. Monica, whom we will later learn lives in the apartment next door, changes the channel to a romantic movie, and the two fight over the TV. They start singing and talking to their friend, and then we see “The Boy” – played by Mekhi Phifer, who was a relatively unknown actor at the time. We understand that Brandi and Monica are neighbors who start arguing and fighting over the guy.

The guy calls each of them, the other hears, and they get upset because they realize that he is probably trying to enjoy both worlds. The two get upset, throw away the gifts and souvenirs of the guy, who comes and knocks on door number 6, which is Brandi’s door. He smiles when the door opens, but his look changes when he realizes that Monica is also next to Brandi. He is as embarrassed as a cheating couple at a Coldplay concert, and the girls slam the door in his face.

The Clip That Predicted The Slasher

Fast forward a few months to November 1998. “I Still Know What You Did Last Summer,” the sequel to the hit released the year before, is hitting the screens. Its quality is quite problematic, and viewers and critics felt. It’s hard to say it was a big success, mainly because its budget was significantly higher than the first film (about $65 million, compared to only about $18 million), and the difference in revenue between the two films is slight. It introduced the two survivors from the first film, Julie (Jennifer Love Hewitt) and Ray (Freddie Prinze Jr.), the killer, and a few new characters.

“I Still Know What You Did Last Summer” takes place a year after the events of the previous film. Julie moves to Boston and tries to start a new college life, probably after singing out loud Augustana’s Hit “Boston” released a few years later (“I think I’m going to Boston, I think I’ll start a new life, I think I’ll start it over… No One Knows My Name”).

“I Still Know What You Did Last Summer” takes place a year after the events of the previous film. Julie moves to Boston and tries to start a new life in college. One day, her best friend Karla (played by Brandi) wins a phone-in game show, which demonstrates that knowing capital cities can help you avoid scams. She wins a flight to the Bahamas and invites Julie to come. Julie tries to convince Ray to join, but he refuses, at least at first, so she sets off for the coveted destination with Karla, her boyfriend Tyrell (Phifer), and another friend, Will Benson. In other words, a few months after Brandi fights over Mekhi Phifer in the plot of that music video, this time they’re starring in a horror movie as a couple. That relationship won’t last long because one of them will be murdered, but still.

Note that their co-casting in the movie preceded the music video, not the other way around. “I had just moved to California from New York, and I was meeting with the people involved with I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, and Brandy had already been cast in the film as my love interest,” Phifer told Entertainment Weekly. “We were getting ready to shoot the movie in a few weeks, and in between all that, she was working on the music video for “The Boy Is Mine.” They asked me if I wanted to be the boy in ‘The Boy is Mine,’ and I thought it would be a cool little prequel to the film, so I said, ‘For sure!’ The rest is history.”

I Know What Brandi Did In Recent Decades (Quite A Bit, Apparently)

Although Brandi and Monica have not been able to recreate the hysterical success of their hit, it is difficult to argue that they are singers of one duet. Brandi burst onto the scene at the age of 14, with her first album named after her, and then with hits like “I Wanna Be Down.”

Many people ask how old Brandy and Monica were on “The Boy Is Mine”. The clip was recorded in October 1997, meaning Brandy, born in February 1979, was about 18 years old. Today, Brandy is 46 and has released about 10 albums to date and sold more than 10.5 million albums worldwide. In between, she has composed, written, and produced songs for artists such as Toni Braxton and Kelly Rowland, judged the first season of “America’s Got Talent,” and also experienced some difficult moments in her personal life.

In 2006, Brandy was involved in a chain accident after driving at high speed and not having time to stop. She crashed into the first car and caused the death of the driver of the third car. The deceased’s family claimed wrongful death and sued Brandi for $50 million. The parties eventually reached a settlement, the details of which were not made public.

In between, Brandi appeared in several film and television roles, such as the character of Cinderella in the 2024 film “Descendants: The Rise of Red” (her first film role, by the way, was as Cinderella in the movie of the same name in 1997) or the romantic comedy “The Perfect Match” in 2016.

Her comeback to the horror genre was relatively recent, in A24’s “The Front Room.“ In the film, she plays a pregnant woman, and also an anthropology professor who is frustrated with the treatment in the ward, suffers from some difficult symptoms, and is still grieving the loss of her first child, in a silent birth. Her husband (Andrew Burnap from the play “The Inheritance,“ which we remember in a pretty awful role as Snow White’s lover in that terrible remake with horrific Rachel Zigler) receives a phone call and learns from his estranged mother that his father is dying. After the father’s passing, the couple goes to the funeral and gets a deal from the evil mother: to take care of her for a short time, and receive the inheritance. They agree, but they will soon regret it, as there are several mysteries in the house and within the family story. “The Front Room“ received pretty negative reviews, and it’s hard to say that Brandy’s appearance in the film is the big comeback she dreamed of.

Still, Brandy may be here to stay, or to make a comeback to our favorite genre. Fans of the series may be happy to hear that Brandy has a guest appearance in the reboot of “I Know What You Did Last Summer.“ Without spoilers – mainly because I haven’t seen the film yet – she appears in a brief scene during the credits. As far as I understand, this scene also hints at a sequel, and perhaps even suggests that she will have a larger role in it.

The Horror Life Of Monica

Throughout her decades-long career, Monica (who is a year younger than Brandy) has also tried to prove that she is more than just a duet singer. After her debut album, “Miss Thang,” came the album “The Boy Is Mine,” which became a sensation, and “After the Storm”, which received platinum album status. She released several hits, appeared in TV shows (such as “Felicity” and “American Dreams”), films (although not many were notable), reality shows (including “The Voice”), and more. The bulk of her success remains in the field of music, with more than 5 million albums sold, including hits such as “Why I Love You So Much”, “Before You Walk Out Of My Life”, “U Should Have Known Better”, and others.

Monica’s personal life is quite turbulent, and it’s unclear whether it’s her fault. In 1999, at the height of her career, she took a break from music due to her complicated relationship with her then-boyfriend, Jarvis Weems. That relationship came to a particularly tragic end in July 2000, when the two visited Weems’ brother’s grave, marking the second anniversary of his death in a car accident. In front of Monica’s stunned eyes, Weems pulled out a gun and committed suicide. She realized (or convinced herself) that there was nothing she could do, and tried to move on with her life.

Her relationship with a rapper named C-Murder was also traumatic, when the singer – perhaps influenced by his stage name – was imprisoned in 2003 on murder charges. She dated another rapper, got back together, broke up, and had two children. She then met an NBA player named Shannon Brown, and the two got engaged and married, also bringing a daughter into the world. In 2019, they divorced.

More Than The Boy From The Boy Is Mine

And what about the third rib, Mekhi Phifer? To this day, he is an active actor, with several memorable roles in film (“8 Mile“ alongside Eminem, “Carmen: A Hip Opera“ alongside Beyoncé, “Honey“ with Jessica Alba, the “Divergent” films and especially George Romero’s “Dawn of the Dead“ in 2024) and on television (Dr. Greg Pratt in “ER”, “House of Lies”, “Love, Victor”).

Phifer has demonstrated impressive abilities in these films, far beyond the “be handsome and smile” approach seen in his early music video.

The Legacy Of The Boy Is Mine is still Alive

It is worth noting that, apart from occasional airplay on radio stations, the song has been given new life on several occasions. It has starred in the soundtracks of several films and television series, unsurprisingly from the romantic comedy genre: “He’s All That“ (2021) with the hot Addison Rae (“Thanksgiving”), Tanner Buchanan (“Cobra Kai”, “Designated Survivor“ and also horror icon Matthew Lillard (“Scream”, “Scooby Doo”, “13 Ghosts”, “Five Nights at the Freddy”) in a supporting role; Judd Apatow’s excellent “Trainwreck” (2015) starring Amy Schumer, Bill Hader, Brie Larson, Tilda Swinton and others; and of course musical TV series, such as “Glee“ and the fabulous “Zoe’s Extraordinary Playlist”, which had a twist with two bosses fighting over a genius man, mainly because he has some High-Tech thing.

The person who recently brought the song back to life is none other than Ariana Grande. Around the same time that she shone as the good witch Galinda in “Wicked“ in 2024, she released “The Boy Is Mine”, a kind of reimagination of THAT Brandy and Monica hit. The song, the third single from her seventh album, features an elaborate video inspired by comic movies. The plot takes place in a fictional city plagued by a rat infestation. The mayor (Penn Badgley, “Gossip Girl”, “You) decides that the solution is to release stray cats. Grande plays the Catwoman, who at one point tries to break into the mayor’s apartment, seduce him, and inject him with a love potion, or something like that – a plan that fails. What’s relevant is that at the beginning of the video, we see Grande watching a news report, which describes the rat plague. The news reports are, as you might have guessed, no other than Brandi and Monica.

Shortly after, the three, namely Ariana Grande, Brandi, and Monica, released a joint remix of the song. Surprisingly, I liked this version, with Grande’s fingerprint, as well as the voices of the three that blend wonderfully. If you were hoping for a guest appearance by Phifer to complete the reunion show, you may be disappointed to hear that this remix only released a video that includes the lyrics and some pretty basic animations.

The Boy Is Mine Tour 2025

Recently, Brandi and Monica announced a joint tour, marking the 30th anniversary of “The Boy Is Mine” (or, more precisely, 27 years, by her calculation). But for some reason, references to a 30th anniversary tour still appear in various places.

The Boy Is Mine tour will start this October in Cincinnati, Ohio, and will include a total of 24 cities across the United States, such as New York, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Houston. We don’t know for 100% who is on The Boy Is Mine tour, but the news we got till now are that the tour will traditionally feature several artists, such as Kelly Rowland, Mooney Long, and the last American Idol winner, Jamal Roberts.

This tour is likely to be a big hit, mainly due to the song that became an unprecedented sensation. You can see The Boy Is Mine tour dates and dates, and buy tickets, here.

Do you have any ideas for more songs with a scary angle that we should analyze? Feel free to send us your suggestions.

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