Explaining the savage lyrics and meaning behind The Boy Is Mine by Ariana Grande

Ariana Grande has finally released her new album Eternal Sunshine – her first record in three years. Ariana Grande has turned a. fair few heads in the last year thanks to her relationship with the married-but-separated Ethan Slater who is her co-star in Wicked, and even more eyebrows lifted with Eternal Sunshine’s lead single Yes, And? which addressed her critics directly and shrugged them off. As she’s well within her rights to do, mind you. One song title got attention on Eternal Sunshine – The Boy Is Mine. Obviously the statement is bold, but also the fact it’s the same title as the famous Brandy and Monica single of the same name. Ariana Grande has now explained what The Boy is Mine actually means on her new album, so here’s the meaning behind it.

Speaking to Zane Lowe just before the record dropped, Ariana Grande explained referring to the track True Story which is on the tracklist just before The Boy Is Mine “It’s an untrue story based on all untrue events. It sets up ‘The Boy Is Mine,’ obviously. It’s kind of like, ‘I’ll play the bad girl, now here’s your bad girl anthem.'”

She also said it’s a “reimagining” of the Brandy and Monica classic. She spoke about comparisons of it to Fantasize, a song leaked before Eternal Sunshine was released or even announced, saying it was an extension of what she was exploring on Fantasize.

“In a way. I think I kind of was like, ‘This is a very bad idea, I think.’ But there is a large group of my fans that do love a bad girl anthem, and this is, I think, an elevated version of that.” She said it was the second song she worked with Max Martin on for the album, the Swedish hitmaker who’s been behind not only some of the biggest Ariana songs but some of the biggest in pop ever from the 90s onwards.

Recommended stories by this writer:

• Right, who actually is Ariana Grande’s new boyfriend Ethan Slater?

• It’s all over your feed, so here’s a timeline of events between Ariana Grande and Ethan Slater 

• In defence of Ariana Grande and her ‘boyfriend stealing’ behaviour