Background and composition The Boy Is Mine (song)

a sample song s chorus, featuring both singer s vocals.

boy mine song brandy wrote rodney darkchild jerkins, brother fred jerkins iii, japhe tejeda, , lashawn daniels. singer came concept while watching episode of jerry springer show tabloid talk show, love triangles among guests theme. created solo track, brandy recorded song alone. after listening result, however, , jerkins thought work better duet, idea further inspired paul mccartney , michael jackson s 1982 hit duet girl mine . @ brandy s request, label atlantic records approached fellow r&b teen singer monica collaborate: pair had seen each other in passing @ award shows , other live events, , brandy thought duet combat ongoing rumors singers rivals. permission of clive davis, headed monica s record company arista records, monica signed on project.

the song has tempo of 93 beats per minute. written in key of c♯ minor, follows chord progression of f♯m9–c♯m9, , vocals span g♯3 f♯4.

originally, 2 artists recorded vocals song jerkins , production team @ record 1 studios in north hollywood. however, joint recording felt failure monica re-recorded vocals separately @ darp studios in atlanta, georgia longtime contributor dallas austin. (thus, austin later share main production credit alongside jerkins.) though both brandy , monica repeatedly denied song reflected actual rivalry between them, tabloids began writing opposite. there claims monica upset when brandy performed song solo on tonight show jay leno, , brandy reportedly miffed when monica opted take name of duet title of second album. following reports pair came blows during rehearsal performance @ mtv video music awards in september 1998, talk of rivalry became loud singers managers released joint statement in called press out disturbing behavior , called ongoing negativity [as] totally unfair. boy mine, jerkins later claimed both singers didn’t along during production , , dexter simmons remixed track 7 times keep even. in 2012 interview wzmx, monica spoke past relationship brandy:

young. barely stay in room each other. no means jealousy or envy. , polar opposites , instead of embracing that, used our differences reasons not amongst each other.