"Street Symphony" is a song by American R&B singer Monica. It was written and produced by

Dallas Austin Dallas L. Austin (born December 29, 1970) is an American musician, songwriter, record producer, and film producer. Biography Early life During a 2019 interview with DJ Vlad, Dallas Austin detailed previously unknown or unconfirmed events inv ...

for her second studio album, '' The Boy Is Mine'' (1998), featuring an orchestral background performed by the

Atlanta Symphony Orchestra The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO) is an American orchestra based in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. The ASO's main concert venue is Atlanta Symphony Hall in the Woodruff Arts Center. History Though earlier organizations bearing the same name date b ...

. The song was released as the album's fourth single in the United States ("

Inside Inside may refer to: * Insider, a member of any group of people of limited number and generally restricted access Film * ''Inside'' (1996 film), an American television film directed by Arthur Penn and starring Eric Stoltz * ''Inside'' (2002 f ...

" was released in Europe only) in May 1999. It peaked at number 50 on the US ''Billboard''

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

chart. "Street Symphony"s accompanying video was directed by

Darren Grant Darren Grant is an American television, film and music video director. He has directed over eighty music videos for mostly R&B and hip hop artists. In 2005, Grant directed his debut film Tyler Perry's ''Diary of a Mad Black Woman''. In 2008, he ...

Music video

A music video for "Street Symphony" was directed by

. It takes place at night in downtown Atlanta, Georgia. In the video, Monica is seen wearing several dark outfits whilst singing and dancing through different sections of the song. Included are cuts of Monica and her female back-up dancers performing choreography in black leather costumes, with choreographed string players (violins and violas) in similarly dark clothing. The video is mainly composed of dark greys and blues despite black being a recurring color, presumably to go with the song’s emotional, somewhat bitter (yet mildly hopeful) subject matter. The plot follows Monica's romance, and her decision to leave a lover involved in unspecified criminal activity. In the opening scenes, there are flashing police lights as police arrest a purposely edited/obscured man. Then, in a scene meant to have taken place hours earlier inside of a luxury apartment, we see Monica modeling and admiring various diamonds and jewels (presumably stolen property, given as gifts by her lover). During this scene, she sings about loving him much more than any ill-gotten luxury. Next we see Monica as the passenger in a car with her love driving, when he decides to make a quick “stop”. Whether or not this is meant to portray the dealing of illicit substances, pimping, gambling, fraud, or theft, it is never specified. All we see is the exchange of money. The two men walk off towards a dark place, which is revealed to be a parking garage, leaving Monica visibly distraught and alone in the car. She begins to realize there is no changing her love’s criminal ways. Back at the apartment, Monica tosses the same diamond jewels (that she previously admired) across the room. Then she departs, alone, with a defiant and determined swagger. Once outside, she spots the police car lights driving in the direction of her now ex-lover. He is arrested; Monica continues on her path.

Track listings

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''The Boy Is Mine''. *

– orchestral performance *

– producer, arranger, composer * A. Baars – engineer * Leslie Brathwaite – engineer, mixing * Greg Crawford – engineer * Eddie Horst – orchestral arrangements * Ty Hudson – assistant engineer *

Debra Killings Debra Killings (born July 7, 1966) is an American singer and bass guitarist, notable for extensive session musician, session and background vocal work for LaFace Records and Rowdy Records-based artists such as TLC (band), TLC, Monica (singer), Mo ...

– background vocals * Rico Lumpkin - engineer * Andrew Lyn – assistant engineer * Carlton Lynn - engineer, assistant engineer * Monica – vocals * Vernon Mungo – assistant engineer * Claudine Pontier – assistant engineer * Rick Sheppard – midi and sound design * Kimberly Smith – production coordinator * Gary White – composer

Charts

Release history

References

{{Monica songs Songs about streets 1998 songs 1999 singles Monica (singer) songs Music videos directed by Darren Grant Song recordings produced by Dallas Austin Songs written by Dallas Austin Arista Records singles