Ariana Grande reunites Brandy and Monica for a remix of her version of “The Boy is Mine.”
Twenty five years after the original 1998 hit was released, a new version of the song was released by Grande, 30, for her Eternal Sunshine album that arrived in March.
Although the Wicked actress tapped both Brandy, 45, and Monica, 43, to make cameos in the remake’s music video earlier this month, the two R&B icons lent their voices to a remix of Grande’s track which dropped on Friday.
According to Monica, Grande was the mastermind behind the collaboration, which unintentionally led the two former collaborators to rekindle their relationship.
“What came first was the release of her version [with] Brandy and I both loving it,” Monica told Entertainment Tonight’s Denny Directo. “And then the conversations ensued about us being in the video and somewhere along the way, the conversation was had about us doing the remix, but I did not know to what capacity.”
The “Angel of Mine” singer also noted that Grande’s “Boy is Mine” coincided with the 25th anniversary of the original song and praised the singer for her humility, authenticity, and for the homage she has paid to both her and Brandy.
“It's a feeling of honor that comes with it because I've not always been comfortable even with being celebrated in such a way. And this is just massive for us to be able to do it in this manner and actually be singing the remix with her,” said Monica.
Although the women have made meaningful reunions with on “It All Belongs to Me” off of Monica’s 2012 album New Life, and then their record-breaking Verzuz battle in 2020, it seems as there were still some past misunderstandings between them left to resolve.
“We have talked more in the last four weeks than we have in the last two decades. It's pretty amazing,” she said. “The truth is the evolution of both Brandy and myself— we learned a lot over the twenty-five years. We recognized that the key was to keep other people out of our relationship, both business and personal and let it be between she and I. And that has changed everything. It's changed the trajectory of it in its totality.”
“It gave us the opportunity to talk as women because I think what people don't recognize is that ‘The Boy is Mine’ was recorded between two children, two teenagers. And the things that were kind of created—they didn't even start with us. But it started to become a part of our relationship, which in most cases was very, it became very negative.”
Monica also confirmed that she and Brandy are “both very much on board “ to work together on a future collaboration. As for a music video for their “Boy is Mine” remix, she says the sky is the limit.
“We told her that we are one hundred percent down with whatever she wants to do,” she said. “And that means that it's limitless. The sky is the limit with ‘The Boy is Mine’ 2.0.”
