Ariana Grande’s latest music video for “The Boy Is Mine” has taken the internet by storm, featuring a slew of Easter eggs and cameos that have fans buzzing. Released on June 7, 2024, the video is a visual feast inspired by the iconic Catwoman character and includes surprise appearances by Brandy and Monica, who originally sang the 1998 hit of the same name.
The video opens with Grande watching a press conference led by TV news anchors played by Brandy and Monica. This nod to the original “The Boy Is Mine” is a clever homage, as the song spent 13 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 back in the day. The scene then shifts to a Gotham-esque city where Penn Badgley, known for his role in “You,” plays the mayor. His character proposes a unique solution to the city’s rat problem: releasing stray cats to hunt down the vermin.
Grande, channeling her inner Catwoman, hatches a plan to infiltrate the mayor’s apartment. Dressed in a sleek Catwoman costume, she uses her cat claws to carve a hole in his window and sneaks inside. The video takes a sultry turn as she attempts to seduce Badgley’s character, ensnaring him with a lasso and nearly injecting him with a love potion. However, Badgley distracts her by removing her mask and staring deeply into her eyes, ultimately throwing the potion against the wall.
The video has been teased all week, with Grande even posting a TikTok video of Badgley dancing to “The Boy Is Mine,” fueling rumors about his involvement. The night before the video’s release, Grande performed the track on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” marking her first late-night interview since 2021. During the show, she expressed her admiration for Badgley, saying, “I’ve been a fan of [him] my entire life. It was just so amazing to work with him. I’m such a fan.”
“The Boy Is Mine” is the third single from Grande’s album “Eternal Sunshine,” which has already topped the Billboard 200. The album’s previous singles, “Yes, And?” and “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love),” both hit No. 1 on the Hot 100. The music video for “Yes, And?” was inspired by Paula Abdul, while “We Can’t Be Friends” paid tribute to “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.”
In addition to Brandy and Monica, the video features a brief reunion with Grande’s “Victorious” co-star Elizabeth Gillies, who voices the rats at the beginning of the video. Halle Berry, who famously portrayed Catwoman in the 2004 film, also gave her seal of approval. Berry commented on a clip shared by a Grande fan account on X (formerly Twitter), writing, “Get it, Ari! Living.”
Critics have praised “The Boy Is Mine” for its nostalgic yet fresh take on the original song. Rolling Stone described it as a “late Nineties, early Aughts, R&B-pop moment,” while Variety’s Jem Aswad called it “comparatively sprightly” and an outlier among the rest of the album. The Guardian’s Laura Snapes referred to it as “trap-Aaliyah hauteur,” and The Daily Telegraph’s Poppie Platt described it as a “silky ode to love and lust.”
The song has also performed well commercially, debuting at number 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 and charting globally on the Billboard Global 200 at number eleven. Critics have noted its tongue-in-cheek nature and ’90s R&B sound, similar to Grande’s earlier leaked track “Fantasize.”
Grande’s decision to reimagine “The Boy Is Mine” was inspired by the positive fan reception to “Fantasize,” which was leaked in 2023. Although disheartened by the leak, Grande decided to incorporate elements of the song into her new album. In an interview with Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1, she explained, “There is a large group of my fans that really do love a bad girl anthem, and this is an elevated version of that.”
The music video for “The Boy Is Mine” is a testament to Grande’s ability to blend nostalgia with modern flair, creating a visual and auditory experience that resonates with both old and new fans. With its Catwoman-inspired theme, surprise cameos, and sultry storyline, the video is sure to be a memorable addition to Grande’s impressive catalog.
