Ariana Grande enlisted R&B vets, Brandy and Monica, for the to her latest hit song, “The Boy Is Mine.” The released the “The Boy Is Mine” track, which pays homage to Brandy and Monica's hit '90s song of the same name, in early June and that she's always been a fan of the record. “I love that song.
I always wanted to reimagine that song in some kind of way,” she said in a March 7 interview, noting that her version is also a “bad girl anthem.” In the original song, which was released in 1998, the two artists sing about dating the same guy and their frustration with the other for not letting him go. In the chorus they say, “You need to give it up / I had about enough / It’s not hard to see / The boy is mine / I’m sorry that you / Seem to be confused / He belongs to me / The boy is mine.
” However, in Grande's rendition, she's not competing with another for her love interest. Rather, she sings about her desire to be with someone who doesn't yet know her. “Somethin’ about him is made for somebody like me / Baby, come over, come over (Oh my) / And God knows I’m tryin', but there’s just no use in denying / The boy is mine / I can’t wait to try him / Le-let’s get intertwined,” she croons.
To pay homage to the original track, Grande tapped Brandy and Monica for roles in her music video, which centers on a rat crisis in a metropolitan city. In the video, Brandy and Monica play news reporters who announce that the city's mayor, played by Penn Badgley.