Even though the holiday season is well over for most people, you might find singer Monica still wanting to celebrate because of the news about a possible joint tour in the works with R&B crooner R. Kelly.

Even though she scored a pair of number one songs last year, for "The First Night" and "The Boy Is Mine" duet with Brandy, Monica is eager to put some of the more unpleasant aspects of 1998 behind her.

During the recent announcements for this year's Grammy nominees, the singer spoke with MTV News' Chris Connelly about putting a few long-standing rumors to rest, including the supposed fight that erupted between Monica and Brandy during rehearsals for the 1998 Video Music Awards show (see [article id="1426534"]"Brandy And Monica Deny Slugging It Out At VMA Rehearsals"[/article]).

[article id="1440661"]"You know I've given up [on that],"[/article] Monica said, [article id="1440661"]"I would think that when you were talking

to me [at the VMAs], if I had had a fat lip, you would have noticed. But I've let it go. It's just become hilarious to me now."[/article]

[article id="1440661"]"It's not mandatory that we be together,"[/article] Monica said of her VMA appearance with Brandy. [article id="1440661"]"We chose to come together. If we did not, like, love and care for each other, would we come together that often, would we be in the studio together? No, I would hope not, so I let it go. I thought that the song would put an end to it, but then we came out with a song that was kind of a quarrel, and that kind of added fuel to the fire. So I just gave up." [28.8 RealVideo][/article]

And in the spirit of togetherness, both Monica and Brandy have received two Grammy nominations for their chart-topping, man-battling duet, "The Boy Is Mine.