The Boy Is Mine (Brandy and Monica song)
- For the album by Monica, see The Boy Is Mine (album).
"The Boy Is Mine" | |
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Song |
"The Boy Is Mine" is a song recorded by American R&B singers Brandy and Monica. Actually penned by LaShawn Daniels, Fred Jerkins III, Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins and Brandy for her second studio album Never Say Never (1998), it was eventually released as the lead single off of both singers' second albums during the second quarter of 1998 (see 1998 in music). The song's lyrics tell a story about two women disputing the love of a man and were inspired by Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson's 1982 duet "The Girl Is Mine."[1]
Co-produced by Brandy, Darkchild, and Dallas Austin, "The Boy Is Mine" was the first number-one record for both artists, both stateside and internationally. Exploiting the media's presumption of a rivalry between the two young singers,[2] the song rose to one of the most successful records of the year, spending record-breaking thirteen weeks on top of the U.S. Billboard charts, and reaching the top five on most of all other charts it appeard on.[2]
Music video
The video begins with the girls in their apartments, watching television. Brandy watches the The Jerry Springer Show (whose episode title is that of the song) but then Monica accidentally turns Brandy's TV to a romantic movie, in which Monica is watching on her own TV set. Whenever Brandy or Monica turns the channel, the other's TV stays on that channel and they grow sick of it. They then give up and start to sing. The next scene shows Brandy and Monica discussing their problem with their separate groups of friends. The "boy" himself (played by Mekhi Phifer, who played Brandy's boyfriend in the movie I Still Know What You Did Last Summer) then appears outside the two girls apartment, where all their friends walk by him as they exit their respective friends place.. The girls are in pajamas next, and then each one calls the man over to choose. After Brandy and Monica fight with words, the man comes to the apartment, frustrated over who to choose. The door opens, and only Brandy is shown. Then it swings a little wider and Monica comes. The man gets a startled expression, and we are left hanging. The video was nominated for two 1998 MTV Video Music Awards, for Best R&B Video, and Video of the Year.
Awards and recognitions
The song garnered the pair a number of industry awards, including a Grammy for "Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal" and three Billboard Music Awards. Billboard listed it 54th on Billboard Hot 100 All-Time Top Songs and it is listed as the 62nd on the most successful singles in France ever. [3][4] It is also listed among one of the most successful 200 singles in Australia, Netherlands and Belgium in music history. [5]
Chart performance
"The Boy Is Mine" topped the U.S. Hot 100 for thirteen weeks and the Canadian Singles Chart for fifteen weeks, which made it one of the biggest singles of the 1990s, selling over two million copies. The song became the first significant European success for Brandy and Monica and peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart at number three on the Swedish Singles Chart. "The Boy Is Mine" also charted at number three on the Australian Singles Chart. In the U.S. it ascended twenty-two positions from number twenty-three to number one the week of June 6 1998, and became one of the biggest jumps to number one in the history of the Billboard Hot 100.
Track listing
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Charts
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Certifications
Country | Certification | Date | Sales |
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Austrian certifications[7] | Platinum | 1998 | 70,000 |
French certifications[8] | Platinum | 1998 | 200,000 |
Germany certifications [9] | Gold | 1998 | 250,000 |
Norwegian certifications[10] | Gold | 1998 | 5,000 |
Swiss certifications[11] | Gold | 1998 | 25,000 |
UK certifications[12] | Gold | 1998 | 400,000 |
U.S. certifications[13] | 2 x Platinum | 1998 | 2,000,000 |
Chart procession and succession
References
- ^ Adams, Cameron (2008-06-19). "We Assess The Best, and Worst, All-Time Musical Duets". Herald Sun. Retrieved 2008-12-15.
- ^ a b Farber, Jim (2002-02-06). "At Age 21, The N.J.-based Producer Is King of His World". NY Daily News. Retrieved 2008-04-22.
- ^ http://lescharts.com/bestall.asp
- ^ "Billboard". Billboard Hot 100 Chart 50th Anniversary - All-Time Top Songs. Retrieved September 11 2008.
{{cite web}}
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ignored (help) - ^ http://www.ultratop.be/fr/showitem.asp?interpret=Brandy+%26+Monica&titel=The+Boy+Is+Mine&cat=s
- ^ a b c d e f g h i ""The Boy Is Mine" Chart History". Swisscharts.com. Retrieved 2008-04-24.
- ^ ARIA Charts - Accreditations - 1998 Singles
- ^ Musique sur Disque en France (SNEP) : Top 50, telechargement legal, droit d'auteur…
- ^ Bundesverband Musikindustrie: Aktuell
- ^ IFPI Norsk platebransje
- ^ Die Offizielle Schweizer Hitparade und Music Community
- ^ The Bpi
- ^ [1]
External links
- ForeverBrandy.com — official Brandy site
- Monica.com — official Monica site
- "The Boy Is Mine" music video on YouTube
- 1998 singles
- ARC Weekly Top 40 number-one singles
- Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles
- Brandy songs
- Monica songs
- Music videos directed by Joseph Kahn
- Number-one singles in Canada
- Number-one singles in the Netherlands
- Number-one singles in New Zealand
- Songs produced by Dallas Austin
- Songs produced by Darkchild
- Vocal duets