"The Boy Is Mine" is a song recorded by American R&B singers Brandy and Monica. It was written by LaShawn Daniels, Fred Jerkins III, Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins and Brandy with co-production by Darkchild and Dallas Austin, and released as the lead single from both singers' second albums during the second quarter of 1998. The song's lyrics tell a story about two women disputing the love of a man and were inspired by Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson's 1982 duet "The Girl Is Mine".
"The Boy Is Mine" was the first number-one pop record for both artists, both stateside and internationally. Exploiting the media's presumption of a rivalry between the two young singers,[2] the song became one of the most successful records of the year, spending a record-breaking 13 weeks on top of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 during the summer of 1998, and it reached the top five on most of the other charts on which it appeared.