There are some songs that are best untouched, and Monica once thought “The Boy Is Mine” was one of them. That is, until she heard the remixAriana Grande and producer Max Martin had put together.
“I’ve always said that the song should not be touched, right? And I said that because I felt that it did not need to be redone in the idea of, let’s say, actually doing it the exact way that it was,” Monica explains to ET. “But Ariana and [producer] Max Martin — as soon as I heard this version, I fell in love with it.”
Working and speaking with Ariana, Monica says, also helped in bringing the collaboration to fruition.
“Everything has been directly from her chest and, for me, authenticity, humility, all of those things are key,” Monica says. She adds that it was Ariana’s enthusiasm that ultimately convinced her to do the song.
Ariana’s “The Boy Is Mine (Remix)” is now out, also featuring one-half of the original hit, Brandy. Though the two had put rumors of a feud to rest during their Verzuz battle in 2020, Monica says the new collab further helped heal their relationship, which had briefly given in to the chatter of a beef and became real.
“The process of the new collaboration did a lot of closing the gaps…,” Monica said. “It made it a lot easier just to talk,” she continued, adding she and Brandy have talked more recently than they have in “the last two decades.”
The singer didn’t rule out a future Brandy/Monica collab, saying, “There is a chance, there is for sure.”
Until then, her wish is for fans to “have fun to this record because it is really the rebirth of ‘The Boy Is Mine’ in such a special way.”
Kendrick Lamar‘s Pop Out event on Juneteenth was a star-studded one filled with natives from the city of LA. Though it seemed like everyone was in attendance, fans took notice of the absence of The Game; he’s since taken to social media to shut down rumors that he’s taken sides in the Kendrick and Drake feud.
“Now, as far as the Kendrick and Drake s*** concerned, that’s Kendrick and Drake s***,” he said in a 17-minute long video on Instagram. “Kendrick do his s*** and what he did last night was amazing for the West Coast. I sat back and I watched it. I ain’t have to be there, you know what I’m saying? I think it’s a W for the coast.”
“I think what K.Dot did for a lot of West Coast n***** last night was hard as f***. I think it was dope of him and big-hearted of him to do that for n*****,” he continued.
Game then acknowledged that he also has a relationship with Drake, saying, “Drake is my brother. I f*** with Drake.”
He claimed that the two rappers are both doing “amazing” things in their career and noted his belief that they “just came out of one of the biggest hip-hop beefs ever and survived,” something he says Tupac and The Notorious B.I.G. were unable to do.
As for why he chose to skip out on the event, The Game said, “I’m doing me!”
Among those who did appear, though, were The Weeknd, SZA, Roddy Rich, Black Hippy, Mustard, LeBron James, Rick Ross, RussellWestbrook, Tyler, the Creator and more.
Cancel culture can’t and won’t dictate who Ty Dolla $ign supports, according to his recent interview with Billboard. In it, he spoke of his decision to work on Vultures 1 with Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, despite the backlash over his antisemitic remarks and alleged bad treatment of employees, among other things.
“Ye is the best artist of this generation, besides me, and I don’t give a f*** about what people were talking about. I know my n****. He’s one of the best people I’ve ever met,” he says, adding his belief that Ye’s talent supersedes his behavior. “Just with my analysis of how it goes with him, he goes all the way to the top. And something may happen and he’ll say (something people find offensive) — and then people (get) right back, you know. Because this s*** is undeniable.”
Following the success of their album, which peaked atop the Billboard 200, Ty and Ye are now working on Vultures 2, which was delayed a few times but, according to Ty, is almost done.
“We got all the songs. Basically, it’s just like, ‘How can we get it there? How can we go bigger than the first album?’” Ty says. He adds he’ll stay focused on completing the Vultures trilogy and bringing out Ye’s creative potential while Ye worries about marketing and distribution.
Clipse, the rap duo featuring Pusha T and his brother No Malice, is cooking up some new music. For the second year in a row, the group debuted a new song during Paris Fashion Week’s Louis Vuitton show. This one kicks off with piano keys, followed by John Legend‘s singing. Pusha then raps about his late mother, while No Malice spends his verse talking about his father. Clipse later told Vulture they have a new album on the way.
Quavo hosted his first Rocket Foundation Summit on Gun Violence, and Vice President Kamala Harris was in attendance. Following the event, she wrote on social platform X, “I joined @QuavoStuntin for the first-ever Rocket Foundation Summit on Gun Violence Prevention. Quavo. Thank you for your courage, leadership, and for bringing us together for this critical conversation. Together, we continue our work to save lives and keep our communities safe.”
Verzuz is coming back! Swizz Beatz and Timbaland announced at a conference at Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in France that they’ll exclusively release the brand’s content on X. “We are beyond thrilled to have found the best partner for Verzuz. Not only are we excited to have Verzuz on X, we’re excited to help X build the biggest entertainment company in the world,” Swizz said.
Remy Ma asked for privacy as a legal team works to prove the innocence of her son, JaySon Scott, who was arrested in connection to the fatal June 2021 shooting of Darius Guillebeaux.He’s facing charges of first-degree murder, criminal possession of a weapon and reckless endangerment.
Missy Elliott is Out of this World, and she’s planning to show fans how with the Missy Elliott Experience. Her Out of This World – The Missy Elliott Experience is getting its start on Independence Day, marking her first headlining tour and first time on the road since 2004. She tells Peoplethe extensive break was partly due to her battle with Graves’ disease, which resulted in severe weight loss, anxiety and depression.
“I’m feeling so much better now. That was a run. Every now and then you get a little ache in the leg or the knee, but outside of that, I feel good,” says Missy, who also stayed away from the spotlight because she’s an introvert.
Fast-forward to today and Missy’s putting those “shy” feelings aside for a tour that she’s “super excited” about.
“Listen, every morning my regimen is I get up, wash my face, brush my teeth and walk,” she tells People. “I say my prayers as I’m walking, and then all of these ideas start coming to mind. I’ll call everybody like, ‘I want to swing from this,’ and they’re like, ‘Do you know how much that costs?’”
Asked how she manages the stardom as a shy person, Missy says, “It’s one of those things I can’t really explain.”
Kendrick Lamar‘s “Not Like Us” was created to be a Drake diss, but it appears to have also become a party-starter in the Black community. In an interview with XXL, Mustard says he first heard the track alongside the public, refuting rumors that he helped get the Drake diss together.
“I made that beat on my manager’s birthday [April 6]. I sent [Kendrick] maybe three [beats] that day,” he recalled. “He just hearted it. I didn’t hear it ’til [the song] came out.”
Mustard says he was on the freeway when he heard the track and instantly starting getting texts from people who realized he was behind the beat. He called his manager to ask what he missed, found out Kendrick had dropped a song over the beat he’d created and went to take a listen.
“I started going crazy. I had a f*****’ Vegas show that night, so I played that s*** all the way to the f*****’ plane, got to Vegas, played it that night,” Mustard said. “It was f*****’ crazy, man. That’s some crazy s***.”
Though Mustard has some big records under his belt, he says he “never had a record with this kind of impact.”
“I feel like I’m just living in it right now. … [I]t’s an unexplainable feeling,” he tells XXL of the song’s success, adding he attributes being part of this historic moment to his faith.
“I feel really good about what this did,” he continues. “And I do feel like it should make people respect who I am.”
Mustard turned up with Kendrick onstage at the Pop Out concert Wednesday, where K. Dot performed their song a total of five times.
