This one’s for all my fellow millennials and 90s babies because the musical marriage of Brandy and Monica is alive, well and stronger than ever before. It’s been 27 years since they released their legendary duet “The Boy Is Mine”  and now they are joining forces for a 24-city tour across the USA, tickets are on sale today. 

 

The ladies dropped a c*nty teaser to promote the shows and even confirmed that they will be recording new music together. 

For me, it doesn’t get more iconic than this tour, especially since there was a time when this seemed impossible. Industry politics and personal issues got in their way every time they came together, but sometimes two artists are just meant to collaborate, regardless of their differences, and the universe has a different plan for you than you might think. Monica said it best herself this week when the two appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, describing it as a “musical marriage” put together by destiny so let’s take a walk down memory lane and see how we got from monumental success and feuding teens to touring divas sharing their legacies for a historic R&B musical moment. 

 

1998-1999: THE ORIGINAL RUN

When Brandy and Monica first released “The Boy Is Mine” in May of 1998, they were on the top of their game at a time when a wave of teen R&B stars were taking over the mainstream. This elite group aside from Brandy and Monica also included Usher and Aaliyah. All four of them have had intertwining moments over the years, and while they all were very successful, it was Monica and Brandy who had the rumour mills buzzing about a potential feud. 

The music industry did this with Whitney and Mariah before, and Britney and Christina after – it’s tale as old as time. When Brandy and producer Rodney Jerkins were working on her new music and a little song called “The Boy Is Mine” came about – it was she who had the genius idea to bring Monica on it. Brandy has always had a talent for understanding the public discourse and playing it to her advantage – she is Cinderella after all, a woman of the people! Thirteen weeks at number one later, and I think it’s safe to say that Brandy’s instincts were and continue to be spot on.

 

 

The song’s signature harp at the beginning makes for an instantly recognizable sound that when played incites a battle cry of excitement from anyone born between the years of 1985 and 1995. Points if you don’t fall in those years, that just means your musical taste is immaculate. Today in 2025, we get tons of female collaborations but back in the 90s it was more of a rarity, so when two of the biggest R&B teen divas came together for this anthem, it was an event that they couldn’t have predicted would be so successful. 

The ladies may have been fighting over a boy in the actual song but they barely knew each other in real life. Numerous reports over the years indicated that once the song became a success, that’s when the real drama began. Monica’s main producer at the time, Dallas Austin, even let it slip that she punched Brandy in the face before their one and only televised performance of the song during the 1998 MTV VMA’s. Watching the performance with that knowledge puts their icy chemistry on stage into perspective, however it only added fuel to the success of the song and the girls earned their one and only Grammy…together. If that’s not fate, you tell me what is?

2012: “IT ALL BELONGS TO ME” + WHITNEY’S DEATH

It took FOURTEEN long years before we would hear these queens singing together again on a new record and aside from one low-key pop-up performance in 2008, they didn’t interact at all. At least not publicly. Even though the song came out in 1998, by the time the 2010s rolled around, the two were still synced because of the song. When a song hits #1 for 13 weeks, it stays relevant forever. So when news came in early 2012 that the two would reconnect for a new song, it came at a time when they both were at a career crossroads and could use the boost. 

“It All Belongs To Me” was the product of that collaboration, and while the song was nice, it wasn’t great. However, I do believe that it could have had the bandwidth to become a medium rotation hit if it was given the proper roll out that was intended. Once Whitney Houston passed, though, everything changed. 

 

Brandy and Monica were scheduled to perform a tribute to Whitney along with their new single at the 2012 Clive Davis pre-Grammy party. Whitney had been present at the rehearsals and was even captured on camera passing a note to Brandy during an interview. Whitney had always been a mother figure to Brandy and Monica – I mean she literally was Brandy’s fairy godmother. The bond that they each shared with Whitney is yet another force that keeps them bonded.

The two did go on to do a few magazine covers and interviews together to promote “It All Belongs To Me”, but once Monica went on to release her album New Life and Brandy her new single Put It Down, the collaboration all but fizzled out. “It All Belongs To Me” was intended to be the first single for both Monica and Brandy’s new albums, but once Brandy delayed her project and didn’t put the song on the album altogether, there were rumblings that maybe they had fallen out once again. 

2017: THE FEUD RE-IGNITES

Their names wouldn’t be spoken much together again until their respective fan groups started dueling on social media. If you know anything about stan Twitter, you know that fans like to fight. They may say that they don’t, but we all know that they do. Once the mid-2010s rolled around however, the stans were taking the fighting to other platforms and Brandy had something to say (flip through the slides). 

 

Brandy called out Monica’s fans in a pretty sassy IG comment after they took her saying Whitney passed the “torch” down to her as a dig to Monica. As you can imagine, this caused a firestorm of headlines. Monica stayed quiet and it wasn’t until Brandy responded to a fan comment above a viral challenge associated with her hit “So Gone” that she touched on the topic. It’s always a shame to watch industry politics get in the way of something that is supposed to be celebratory. As much as I am a huge fan of many artists, I have always tried to stay out of negative discourse. I may have sass, but we keep it cute babes. The headlines fizzled out and it seemed like the idea of a musical reunion was all but dead…and then COVID hit.

2020: VERZUZ + HEALING

It was very clear that once VERZUZ took off during the pandemic, the most obvious choice for a battle would be Brandy and Monica. I screamed when it actually happened, and I know this for a fact because my neighbours told me to shut up. Sorry y’all but when fan girl mode is activated there’s no controlling it. The two got together for what they went on to say was the first time in eight years (further confirming the 2012 fallout), and went on to have one of the most epic musical battles in the VERZUZ series. The ladies talked about their issues, with Monica alluding that they spoke before the battle and hashed things out like grown women. I know that’s right. 

It was evident seeing them together again that they really do belong next to each other. It’s what the people want to see, and it’s what the universe does, too, you can’t convince me otherwise. The numbers don’t lie either – at its peak on IG Live it had 1.2 million viewers, and finished off with a tally of 6+ million total viewers across streaming platforms. If you’re trying to have a festive Friday night in, grab a bottle of wine and press play on the full three-hour battle at the link below, it’s a moment. Plus, you can catch Brandy putting a tour “out there” during the battle and by Monica’s reaction, it seemed she still needed some convincing. 

 

2024-2025: ARIANA GRANDE + “THE BOY IS MINE” TOUR 

Ariana Grande to me has always been the quintessential Millennial in terms of her musical and movie references. She literally is about to star opposite Ben Stiller and Robert DeNiro in Meet the Parents 4. Whether it’s songs like “twilight zone” or sampling *NSYNC, she just gets it. When she did her own song titled “the boy is mine” the writing was on the wall –  the song was arguably one of her more R&B records and the reference was clear so Ariana did what only Ariana had the power to do: bring Brandy and Monica together one more time. This time, it was cosmic. 

 

The two hopped onto the remix of Ariana’s “the boy is mine” and it seemed that they were getting along more than they had in decades. The ladies even made a cameo in the music video to the original version. Hearing them sing together again after all these years was comforting, especially since Ray J (Brandy’s brother) had caused a bit of tension in regards to the possibility of the tour that Monica said “isn’t happening”. It seems all the ladies needed was Ariana Grande to step in and play peacemaker.

 

It took 27 years to get here, but we made it. “The Boy Is Mine” tour will not only be the first tour these two do together, but it is also the first-ever headlining arena tour for both of them. Once again these two are achieving a career peak, together. They have their own respective careers that shine bright and are each respected as legends in their own right, but the way the world lights up when they join forces is pure magic. The tour will also feature Kelly Rowland, Muni Long and Jamal Smith as opening acts. If you’re like me and already have your tickets secured, hit up my new playlist with both Brandy + Monica’s hits. I’ll see you all at the tour. Will you be there? Let us know at The Squawk! (App link here)

Brandy and Monica spotted exiting CBS Mornings, June 24, 2025
Photo credits: Backgrid

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