Monica on 25 Years of ‘The Boy Is Mine’ and Why Others Shouldn’t Remake Her Epic Duet With Brandy: “What She and I Did Is Sacred”

The 12 months of 1998 belonged to R&B singer Monica. 

She not solely topped the Billboard Scorching 100 chart for a whopping 13 weeks with “The Boy Is Mine,” her duet with Brandy, she launched one other hit with “The First Evening,” which logged 5 weeks on prime of the pop charts. No different artist in that 12 months spent extra weeks at No. 1 than Monica.

Each songs appeared on her sophomore album, The Boy Is Mine, which is celebrating its twenty fifth anniversary this 12 months. Not solely did Monica dominate 1998 — her success spilled over to 1999: Her album’s third single, “Angel of Mine,” additionally turned a No. 1 Scorching 100 hit and was the third most-successful tune of that 12 months.

Launched when she was simply 17 years outdated following the triumph of her 1995 debut, Miss Factor, the now 43-year-old displays on her second album, explains why she initially didn’t need to report a duet about girls arguing over a person, gifting her mom her first and solely Grammy Award, and extra in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.

What involves thoughts while you consider The Boy Is Mine turning 25?

MONICA It’s a blessing to nonetheless be acknowledged and really feel appreciated and really feel cherished. I’ve all the time stated that I used to be a little bit of an underdog, but it surely was a spot that I by no means stated I didn’t need to be as a result of I didn’t see it in a damaging gentle. I used to be very a lot a product of my surroundings at the moment. I used to be nonetheless engaged on myself. I recorded the album on the age most individuals are centered on studying to drive, and I graduated highschool throughout that point, and there was so much occurring for me and I lived out loud in entrance of the general public. So there have been plenty of various things occurring each personally and professionally, so once I take a look at all of these issues collectively, I don’t simply consider the music.

Did you are taking off any time between Miss Thang and The Boy Is Mine? 

MONICA We didn’t take any day without work. I didn’t imagine in day without work. For me, music was a method to change my household’s life. I didn’t develop up eager to be well-known, I simply cherished singing, and singing was a spot of peace and solace for me. It introduced a lot peace and serenity, particularly as a result of I had considerably of a tumultuous childhood. So I had a tremendous mother, who was all the time encouraging me and supporting me to be part of no matter I needed to be part of, and music ended up actually being my calling. I didn’t absolutely perceive what it might require, and I feel that’s what made me relatable and allowed me to attach with an viewers in an genuine manner that also exists to this very day.

Your first album went triple platinum and launched 4 hits. What was it like going into your sophomore album after that success?

MONICA Going into album No. 2 was truly actually enjoyable for me as a result of it was nonetheless an escape for a youngster that was within the means of actually discovering herself. I believed in working arduous. My mother and father had been extraordinarily arduous employees that got here from nothing and created so much for themselves, defied plenty of odds, so I grew up seeing individuals work arduous. Having a grandmother that was up earlier than we had been up for college to make do-it-yourself biscuits and issues like that, you don’t notice that what you see actually does play an enormous half in who you change into and the way in which that you just work. So although I used to be a toddler, I used to be working at a particularly excessive degree. I used to be multitasking, working each albums in several methods, and I used to be on tour. I imagine it was the Nickelodeon tour at the moment.

Do you keep in mind the primary tune you recorded for The Boy Is Mine?

MONICA “For You I Will.” [It] was an announcement report for me. I had all the time expressed that, sure, I’m a younger lady that’s from city America that speaks to a really particular crowd at occasions, however I needed to be clear that I’m not restricted to at least one style or the opposite. It wasn’t as superbly merged as it’s now. You both did R&B or pop, you separated them plenty of occasions. I didn’t need to separate it. I didn’t need to put limitations on myself, so I needed to work with David Foster and Diane Warren. This was a direct request of mine as a result of I needed to point out that these had been additionally the forms of data that I may completely carry out. 

After I landed in L.A., I stored saying that I didn’t really feel effectively and I didn’t know what to do. [My cousin and manager Melinda] stated, “The very first thing we should always do is get to the hospital. Now we have a few hours, let’s see should you’re OK.” Effectively, they informed me I had strolling pneumonia and 104 fever, and I allow them to give me a pair issues and I checked out Cedars Sinai and I went and recorded “For You I Will.” So it was only a testomony to my dedication. It was a testomony to my versatility. 

As an example, “Proper Right here Ready” was a tune that my father performed for me once I was somewhat bit youthful. I heard it a few occasions and I fell in love with it. It was by Richard Marx, and I informed David Foster that I needed to remake it and he was completely shocked that [it] was one in all my all-time favourite data. And he redid it so superbly for me, in order that relationship opened up the door to an excellent higher relationship. 

And a few issues occurred at David’s home which are nonetheless so particular to me. Linda Thompson was his spouse on the time, and he or she had learn that I skilled the loss of life of my boyfriend on the time. And he or she and I began speaking and I began explaining to her the way it felt and the way tough it was, and the way I attempted to all the time nonetheless be sure that once I was in rooms, I made positive individuals felt the love in my coronary heart although I used to be in an excessive quantity of ache and although my coronary heart was damaged. And he or she informed me that I used to be doing a extremely nice job, after which she defined to me that she was Elvis’s girlfriend when he handed away, and he or she and I had a dialog that was life-changing for me. And people are = issues that you just don’t plan for which are simply Godly. They’re orchestrated by him. I felt like our assembly was aligned, however all of that stemmed from me going to work with David Foster for the Area Jam soundtrack [to record “For You I Will”]. So it was a lot that transpired throughout that album that cultivated who I’m not simply as an artist, however as a girl.

How did you get entangled with “The Boy Is Mine” with Brandy?

MONICA I used to be found by Kevin Wells and Dallas Austin, and Dallas turned a father determine in my life as a result of on the time, my relationship with my organic father was extraordinarily strained. It’s stunning now, but it surely wasn’t that on the time. And he and I’d speak about what my final targets had been, and he all the time promised to like and defend me all through the method of me studying the business. So the way in which I heard any tune that you’d hear me on throughout that time-frame was by way of Dallas, and Dallas sat me down and he performed the tune for me. And my preliminary response was, “Effectively, why would we make a tune like this?” As a result of I’d by no means battle over a boy, not like this, and we laughed. And it was very lighthearted and stated in a joking method as a result of I used to be considering to myself, “Would I truly do this?”

And on this specific type, I’m like, “I don’t assume so.” And he stated, “Monica, you’re a pressure to be reckoned with; Brandy is a pressure to be reckoned with; you all coming collectively goes to be unimaginable.” And with the extent of belief and respect that I had for him, it was positively a no brainer. With the extent of respect that I had for Brandy and her artistry, it was a no brainer at that time. So I truly recorded it in L.A. It was my first time assembly Rodney Jerkins and Fred Jerkins and LaShawn Daniels. They had been all such a serious a part of all of it, and he or she and I simply began engaged on the vocals there.

You and Brandy gained a Grammy for “The Boy Is Mine” — the place did you set your Grammy?

MONICA I gifted my mom my Grammy for Mom’s Day the next Mom’s Day. As a result of there isn’t any me with out her — the ethical compass that I’ve, the voice. My mom additionally sings, however she solely sings at church typically after my papa preaches. She’s not the kind that wishes to sing within the public’s eye, she all the time simply sings for the glory of God. However I get all of those vital issues from her, all the teachings that individuals respect about me from her. I felt like the best method to honor her was to say, “Pay attention, I wouldn’t be right here with out you.” We had it encased and given to her, and he or she all the time cherished it as a result of it lights up and he or she may click on it on when individuals came visiting. It was a focus.

There was chatter over time about others probably remaking “The Boy Is Mine.” Would you prefer to see two singers redo it? 

MONICA I honestly imagine that it’s for Brandy and I. I recognize that she and Rodney requested me to be part of the tune and be part of the report, however for me, it’s part of historical past that I’d love to stay untouched. Now, I’ve heard the music used that’s cool when individuals recreate it for themselves however not try and do what she and I did. If somebody does one thing with it, I choose that they make it their very own and do one thing completely totally different, however I really feel like what she and I did is sacred. 

When was the final time you and Brandy carried out it collectively?

MONICA I don’t recall. I’d assume it must be Verzuz [in August 2020].

How is your relationship with Brandy now?

MONICA We’re greater than good. I [turned] 43 in October. I’ve nothing however love and admiration in my coronary heart for her, and I’m good with everybody. I don’t have any points with anybody. So far as she and I am going, plenty of what individuals hear is about two teenage women. Now we’re two grown girls, that’s a very totally different factor. So it’s one thing that I sort of want would go away, to be very trustworthy. I want individuals would cease placing the 2 in opposition to one another. I want individuals would cease making an attempt to match who sing higher, who appears higher, who outdid the opposite one, as a result of I by no means got here into the house with a spirit of competitors anyway. I got here into the house with the spirit of profitable for us each as a result of we each signify two very particular teams of individuals, and I don’t assume we ought to be in contrast. I feel we’re full polar opposites vocally, personally, in each manner, and that’s what makes it so superb. And I want individuals would simply let it’s that and never even examine the 2 or create any animosity, even inside our fan teams.

You, Brandy and Aaliyah actually signify a particular period in music…

MONICA Completely. We do. There have been three of us. Aaliyah was such a phenomenal individual, such a form individual. She was very non-confrontational and supportive, and it was actually unlucky we didn’t get the chance to befriend one another for a particularly very long time, however we all the time communicated. We had been speaking fairly a bit. We had been utilizing plenty of the identical hair and make-up and we might giggle and speak about that, giggle and speak about our histories within the music business, giggle and speak about how a lot the music business was beginning to change at the moment. However Aaliyah is only a particular individual. Anyone’s life that she got here into in any aspect, even when it was in a small manner or an enormous manner, it doesn’t matter what the connection was, they’ll inform you she was all issues love. She was all issues sort. She didn’t like something that appeared damaging in nature in any respect. She was positively one of the vital stunning individuals I’ve ever encountered on this business, for positive.

Did you decide The Boy Is Mine because the album title?

MONICA Completely not. That was the legend himself, Clive Davis. I had a number of album titles that I dropped at him and he stated, “Monica, why would this album be titled something apart from The Boy is Mine?” And he had plenty of causes as to why he felt that manner, and I trusted him in each manner and he was proper. However that positively was not my concept. It by no means crossed my thoughts.

“Angel of Mine” additionally topped the Scorching 100 chart for a number of weeks. Most individuals don’t realize it’s a canopy — what made you need to remake that tune?

MONICA What I cherished about Dallas was since he knew me so effectively far past the music, he by no means defined to me that it was a canopy till I truly recorded my very own [version]. I feel it was very sensible of him to not play me the unique till after I recorded it. And Soulshock & Karlin, all of them that had been part of it had been simply superb at permitting me to be me. I feel one of many issues that I discovered most about myself in the course of the making of my first two albums is that I can’t do something that isn’t really me. After I sing a tune, I don’t prefer to take heed to references. I don’t like to try this.

“The First Evening” additionally hit No. 1. Was that the primary time you labored with Jermaine Dupri?

MONICA “The First Evening” was the primary time that Jermaine Dupri and I ever labored collectively, and that was such a tremendous expertise for me as a result of he actually turned a lifelong good friend of mine. We acquired the report and the demo was truly J.D. himself singing it, and it was horrible. You needed to hear this to know, this man completely can not sing in any respect, and I giggle about it on a regular basis. I’ve actually been searching for the demo in order that I can let individuals hear what I used to be working by way of. However J.D. is such a realist. We’re each from the Southside of Atlanta, Georgia, and we recorded the tune in his mother’s basement.

We knew that this wasn’t going to be a one-off, a one-time factor. We had so much in frequent. The data are nonetheless coming immediately. I’m nonetheless getting data from my good friend to at the present time, but it surely all occurred due to “The First Evening.”

That 12 months was additionally your huge gown period, particularly within the music movies for “Avenue Symphony” and “Simply One other Lady.”

MONICA You’re recalling it accurately. I used to be beginning to discover myself. I’ve requested individuals to let go of the white sneakers from the “Earlier than You Stroll Out of My Life” curb scene for a few years now. I didn’t care about clothes at the moment. I used to be in survival mode, for positive. However by the point The Boy Is Mine was launched, I used to be positively within the period and within the house of discovering and determining who I used to be in each manner. In order you do this and also you develop who you’re, you begin to determine what you want, what you need to put on, what you take pleasure in sporting. I’ve all the time cherished lengthy clothes. One in every of my favourite appears all through my profession, it was executed by Derek Khan, whom I like. He introduced this skirt and he stored saying that the break up was giving fever. I didn’t absolutely perceive what he meant till I noticed it, and I wore it in a scene in “The Boy is Mine.” 

The black skirt!

MONICA The black skirt. It’s nonetheless one in all my favorites to at the present time. I’d put on that very look and identical hairdo proper now — timeless. It’s vital that as you be taught who you’re, you share that in your music. I do know that for some artists, sadly, it’s been dictated to them, and I do know there’s reasoning behind that, however that simply was by no means who I used to be. So I all the time made positive that the issues that I wore after that had been issues that I actually cherished and loved and appreciated.

You additionally wore a bunch of armbands, which I believed was a style assertion on the time…

MONICA Effectively, that’s what I needed individuals to assume as a result of for me, I keep in mind the frustration, the frustration and the anger that my mom had in the direction of me for truly sneaking and getting a tattoo. That’s what truly transpired. It’s not like she permitted of me going off and doing that, and I hid it from her for fairly a while and sooner or later I made a decision to inform her. So once I would dress, I’d consider how she felt and I’d consider how different individuals’s mothers might have felt in the event that they noticed that that’s what I had executed, and perhaps different children felt like, “Monica did it, I can too.”

So I didn’t need that to be the sentiment. I made a poor selection in going in opposition to my mom and doing one thing that she utterly didn’t need me to do, and I simply felt prefer it was a manner of me being accountable, and I believed that was a cool method to do it. So the armbands, oftentimes I’d discover headbands as a result of it wasn’t a factor, and we might have totally different seamstresses make them match my arm. That wasn’t one thing that existed, that I walked within the retailer and purchased. It was an concept I had, and we made it work.

This 12 months additionally marks one other huge anniversary for you — it’s been 20 years because you launched your third album, After the Storm, which featured a collaboration with late rapper DMX. What was it like working with X?

MONICA You understand what? He had this bigger than life character, however this refined candy nature of a man that simply needed to be cherished and appreciated and revered, that was so sturdy. I’m positively a preacher’s child of kinds. My mother married a Methodist minister once I was 11 years outdated. I completely adore him and so they’re nonetheless married to at the present time, so he raised me, and I may really feel that in him. And what for many would’ve most likely been one session, a few hours, the tip, we ended up spending virtually three days collectively in L.A. simply hanging out. We had been going totally different locations in his lowriders, and he introduced all of his canines for me to see and see how a lot he cherished them. And he simply talked about his spouse and household and the way a lot all of them meant to him and the way vital his children had been to him. He was aggressive, however very mild on this actually attention-grabbing manner.

And as quickly as he heard the tune, he stored saying actually quick, “I bought it. I bought it, I bought it, I bought it,” however he needed me to remain within the studio whereas he recorded. And since I don’t drink or smoke, I tried as finest I may to remain within the sales space whereas he recorded, and I’m so grateful that I did. Nothing wanting musical genius watching him create. And he wasn’t writing something down, and he had this factor that he cherished, which was this spice. It was inexperienced. I don’t recall what he stated it was known as, however he would put this spice all around the meals each time we ate, all three days. It didn’t matter the place we went. We went to Roscoe’s sooner or later, we went to a different restaurant one other day. We had been simply just about hanging out as a result of he stated, “I don’t need to simply do a report with you, I need to get to know you,” and that’s precisely what occurred and he eternally remained my brother after.