Monica on Teaming Up With Ariana Grande for ‘The Boy Is Mine’ Remix and Where She and Brandy Stand (Exclusive)

Monica is forever grateful to Ariana Grande for reuniting her and Brandy for “The Boy Is Mine” remix. 

Talking with ET’s Denny Directo ahead of the release of the reworking of Grande’s latest hit — which is inspired by the 1998 collab from Brandy, 45, and Monica, 43 — the “So Gone” crooner shared that while she’s historically been against remixes of their “sacred” project, Grande’s reimagining was something completely different to her. 

“I’ve always said that the song should not be touched, right? And I said that because I felt that it did not need to be redone in the idea of, let’s say, actually doing it the exact way that it was,” the GRAMMY Award-winning artist explained. “But Ariana and [producer] Max Martin — as soon as I heard this version, I fell in love with it.”

Of 30-year-old Grande, Monica added, “What I am so amazed by is her humility, her compassion. On the day that we recorded, I received flowers and a note that was directly from her. Everything has been directly from her chest and, for me, authenticity, humility, all of those things are key.”

For Monica, that included FaceTime sessions with Grande as they were working on the song, which ultimately ended up including both of their families and helped her feel the “authenticity” of the collaboration and Grande’s interest in paying homage to their song.

She says it was that enthusiasm from the singer-songwriter that sold her on getting the band back together not only for the highly anticipated remix, but the recently released music video.

In the freshly-dropped visuals, Brandy and Monica make a surprise appearance as Grande, in character, concocts a love potion to make a fictional mayor, played by Gossip Girl‘s Penn Badgley, fall for her.

Before the music video officially takes off, though, the two ’90s singers grace the screen as Grande watches a news report about the city’s rat infestation on TV. The broadcast quickly cuts to the R&B duo as they introduce the mayor’s segment.

Monica tells ET that the process of bringing the original “The Boy Is Mine” singers started with the “7 Rings” creator and that she could not have been more humbled and kind when it came to approaching the source material. Monica also says that in some ways, it helped to build a bridge between her and her previous collaborator, who were long-rumored to have beef. 

“The process of the new collaboration did a lot of closing the gaps,” Monica said. “When you properly communicate, something — you can find not only the resolutions and solutions to problems — but sometimes you find that there weren’t ever problems, just consistent miscommunications.”

She continued, “It made it a lot easier just to talk.”

The original “The Boy Is Mine” song was a massive hit, but its popularity was also fueled by the rumored feud between the two singers. In 2020, ET met exclusively with the superstars after their Verzuz battle and they put rumors of their online tension to rest.

“It was not something that I would say was anyone’s fault,” Monica told ET of the pair’s rocky relationship, admitting at the time, “We all added to it, and after a while, it became real.”

“It’s over now. And it took a very adult conversation. There’s no shame in saying that,” Monica later added. “We had to come to that place and to that moment that we had, that allowed us to sit here today. That had to happen first.”

In the new sit-down with ET, Monica echoed her previous statements and shared that while their relationship was not fully healed back then, working with Grande and coming together at new points in their lives — no longer as children — has made all the difference for them, so much so that they have talked more in recent weeks than they have in “the last two decades.”

“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,” she stated. “My son was in the hospital the other day and she was who I was speaking to while he was there, so I think that is what Ariana has done that she may not even realize.”

Monica continued, “But this time, I thank God for growth and change and just becoming a mom and experiencing a lot of what I have and learning to properly communicate.”

Back in February, ET spoke with Monica at Clive Davis’ annual pre-GRAMMY Gala and she teased that she would be more than down to potentially team up with the Moesha star should the situation feel right. 

“I believe anything is possible. We’re both adult women now who fully understand the business and how much we both mean to it and how much it means when we come together,” she said at the time. “Anything is possible, anything. I say that with my heart.”

Thankfully, that collaboration has arrived. Monica says that while everyone else is clearly ready to hear it, she is most excited to see the reactions from the fans who have waited patiently for this type of moment. 

“I cannot wait for you all to hear it. Y’all gonna go crazy, I go crazy every time I listen to it. I let my kids hear it this morning for the first time,” Monica shared. 

Monica is mom to three children, Laiyah, 10, Romelo, 16, and Rocko, 19, and stepmom to Ramone, 28, from her relationship with ex Rodney Hill. Her kids gave the collaboration an emphatic stamp of approval, with Monica telling ET, “My 19-year-old, Rocko, was like, ‘That’s hard.'”

Shoutout to Queen Ari for putting in the work to get this done! And for anyone hoping that Brandy and Monica may reunite again in the future, Monica says that anything is possible.

“There is a chance, there is for sure,” she said, adding that they are “very much on board” for another project, song or anything else. “It’s team ‘The Boy Is Mine’ today, tomorrow, and for the last 25 years. We have a lot of catching up to do in the sense of giving the audience what they really wanted from us even back then. We didn’t find a way to do it then, but we’re finding a way to do it now.”

And for the singer who believes fan service is paramount, this remix is a way for them to finally bring together their fanbases.

“Over the years, one thing Brandy and I always had in common is that what we did, we did it for the people. It was never just about or for us. So it’s like she’s really, really bringing these two worlds together that have never been brought together in such a beautiful way and I hope it does the same thing for the fans,” Monica said. “I hope it finally allows people to see that you could love both or you could love one and not have to put the other down. It’s a collaborative unit that is unbreakable at this point.”

She added that her hope is for fans to “have fun to this record because it is really the rebirth of ‘The Boy Is Mine’ in such a special way.”

Grande’s “The Boy Is Mine” remix featuring Brandy and Monica is out on June 21. 

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