'03 Bonnie & Clyde

"'03 Bonnie & Clyde" is a song by Jay-Z featuring R&B singer Beyoncé. It incorporates elements from the songs "Me and My Girlfriend" by 2Pac, and "If I Was Your Girlfriend" by Prince and uses the theme from "Pasttime Paradise" by Stevie Wonder for the refrain. "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" has lyrics written by Jay-Z and was produced by Kanye West for Jay-Z's seventh studio album The Blueprint²: The Gift & The Curse.^[1] It can also be found on the international editions of Beyoncé's solo debut album Dangerously in Love. Partial Lyrics are credited to Tupac Shakur in this song since the chorus is almost identical to 2Pac's original chorus. Also the "look for me" lyrics come from 2Pac's song as well.

Released in 2002, the single reached number 4 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, becoming Jay-Z's second top ten single and Beyoncé's first top ten single as a solo artist. It also reached number two in the UK, where it featured an album cover distinct from the U.S. cover.

The song caused conflict between Jay-Z and Toni Braxton when Braxton claimed that the song copied her use of "Me and My Boyfriend".^[2]

Music video

The music video for the song, directed by Chris Robinson, was nominated for "Best Hip-Hop Video" at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards, but it lost to Missy Elliott's "Work It". Lance Reddick appeared in the video as the main police officer on their tale. The name of the song is a reference to the original Tupac Shakur song, in which he refers to himself and his gun as the "'96 Bonnie and Clyde". Another artist to reference the original Shakur song was Eminem's "'97 Bonnie & Clyde".

Toni Braxton feud

In November 19, 2002 (a week after the release of Jay-Z's single), Toni Braxton released her 4th album, More Than a Woman which contained the song "Me & My Boyfriend", which contained the same sample by Tupac Shakur. Braxton accused Jay-Z of stealing her idea for a remake of Tupac Shakur's 1996 song. Braxton said, "Jay-Z and Beyoncé are messing with my money. They're trying to steal my mojo," when she called in at a New York radio station. Braxton lashed out in a radio interview, accusing Jay-Z and producer Kanye West of taking money out of her children's college fund. Braxton added that there has never been any drama between her and Knowles, and that Jay-Z has made an effort to talk to her about the situation: "Me and Beyoncé never had a public feud or anything like that. Jay-Z has tried to reach out to me, so I give him props for trying to be a man about it. He's reached out. We're supposed to have a meeting to talk about it. I'll let you know what happens after we talk." "Me & My Boyfriend" was co-written by Ashanti and produced by Irv Gotti.

Although it should be pointed out that "How Much", a duet between Mariah Carey and Usher on Carey's 1999 album Rainbow, uses the same Shakur sample.

Kanye West dissed Toni Braxton on a song called "A Million" on his 2005 Freshmen Adjustment 2 mixtape. In this song, he accused Braxton of "harassin' him". These lyrics were similar to lyrics used by Jay-Z's in the song "A Million & One Questions".

Track listing

Australian EP^[3]

//itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=31378550&s=143460 iTunes Store - Beyoncé & Jay-Z - '03 Bonnie & Clyde - EP]". Itunes.apple.com. Retrieved 2009-09-05.

1. "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" (Radio Edit) - 3:27
2. "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" (Explicit) - 3:26
3. "U Don't Know (Remix) (Jay-Z & M.O.P.) - 4:28

UK single^[4]

//itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=216492707&s=1434440 iTunes Store - Jay-Z - '03 Bonnie & Clyde - single]". Itunes.apple.com. Retrieved 2009-09-05.

1. "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" (Radio Edit) - 3:28
2. "U Don't Know (Remix) - 4:27
3. "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" (Instrumental) - 3:27

Charts

References