Brandy and Monica Have Deceived Us All These Years: 'There Was No Boy'

Brandy and Monica’s classic single, “The Boy Is Mine,” depicted the two singers vying for the attention of the same man, resulting in a stir of emotions for their fans back in 1998. Many asked, “Whose side were you on—Brandy’s or Monica’s?” Almost two decades later, Monica has revealed the truth about the meaning of the tune, as well as her and Brandy’s rumored rivalry.

“People are still asking, ‘Who was the boy?’ and ‘Who got the boy?’ There was no boy! It just was a song!” Monica said in an interview with HuffPost Live to promote her new album, Code Red. When host Alex Miranda asked if the song was inspired by talk show host Jerry Springer, Monica said Brandy used to love Springer and pointed out his appearance in the beginning of the music video. “We played up the dramatics of it all, but I’m like, ‘Guys, we were 16 and 17.’ We’re 35 and 36 now. There was no boy and no beef.”

Monica described their supposed real-life feud as a marketing ploy gone awry. “It started off as brilliant marketing and what started to happen was people started creating these skits and then our fans divided and it became this really real thing,” she said. Interesting. What if that same exact thing is what happened between Mariah and J.Lo? A joke that becomes way too real.

Monica also addressed the rumors that Ariana Grande and Jessie J were planning to remake the song. “I was brought into that record by Brandy and Rodney Jerkins, and I feel like they know the origin of it, so if that’s something that they’re comfortable with, then I would be too,” she explained. She also mentioned that she and Brandy had been asked to redo the song themselves, but that it didn’t feel right. Still, she’s not totally against the idea of a modern rendition of their hit.

I still want to imagine these two as basically former frenemies from ‘90s R&B summer camp. Now, we might as well watch the video for “The Boy Is Mine” at least three times.