This can't be the same baggy-clad, fourteen-year-old tomboy who sang "Don't Take It Personal," can it? Well, the real Monica hasn't changed. She's just growing up in public and doing it with style.
Last year, the video for her duet with Brandy, "The Boy Is Mine," revealed a new Monica to the world: still sassy, but suddenly sleek and sophisticated. Her sought-after look has developed over the course of the subsequent videos, "The First Night" and "Angel of Mine," and a lot of the credit goes not only to her stylist, Derek Khan, but to Monica herself, who is about as far from makeover-shy as possible.
"Never thought I'd be afraid to trust/somebody that I love so much," Monica sings on "Street Symphony," the lead-off track on her smash second album. It's the plea of a frightened young woman devoted to a guy who's more devoted to "the profession," and an ambitious selection for her next single. Then again, it's the kind of move we've come to expect from Monica.
The song's dark, cinematic drama is translated to the small screen by Darren Grant (who directed "Nobody's Supposed to Be Here" for Deborah Cox and "Anytime" for Brian McKnight), and stylist Khan helped Monica make her latest and most dramatic physical transformation yet.
Monica invited MTV News to L.A. and allowed us to eavesdrop as she talked "Street Symphony" with Khan. We got the scoop on the song's real-life inspiration, her contributions to the video concept, her excitement about her latest (and blondest) look, and her decision to reveal a choice piece of body art.
Derek Khan: So, Mo, how did "Street Symphony" come about?
Monica: Well, "Street Symphony" was actually a song written from a phone conversation of mine. Dallas [producer/songwriter Dallas Austin] and I have a relationship that is indescribable, I mean, I can't put it in words. But for him to sit down and listen to me and write this song made this song a lot closer to me than the others.
DK: So he heard this conversation and then --
M: Oh yeah, and I would always talk to [Dallas] about how I felt about that particular person, and that's what he wrote this song around.
DK: Is it correct of me to say this is your favorite song on the album?
M: Yes, it is.