'03 Bonnie & Clyde

'03 Bonnie & Clyde

"'03 Bonnie & Clyde" is a song recorded by American rapper Jay-Z that features American R&B singer Beyoncé Knowles. It was composed by Shawn Carter, Kanye West, Prince, Tupac Shakur, D. Harper, R. Rous and Tyrone Wrice for Jay-Z's seventh studio album The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse (2002). The song was released as the album's lead single on October 10, 2002. An East Coast hip hop and R&B song, "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" sampled its beat from American rapper Tupac Shakur's 1996 song "Me and My Girlfriend", and was inspired by the crime film Bonnie and Clyde. The instrumentation is based on programmed drums, bass instruments, and a flamenco guitar.

"'03 Bonnie & Clyde" was generally received with favorable reviews by music critics, who complimented the combination of Jay-Z's and Knowles' musical styles, their collaboration and the song's production. The single reached number four on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, becoming Jay-Z's second top 10 single and Knowles' first as a solo artist. It attained a high point of number two in the United Kingdom and peaked in the top 20 in other European territories. "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA).

The accompanying music video was directed by Chris Robinson, and features Jay-Z and Knowles playing a modern-day version of the 1920s bank robbers Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker. It was nominated for Best Hip-Hop Video at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards. "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" spawned a feud with American recording artist Toni Braxton, who had also sampled "Me and My Girlfriend" in her 2002 song "Me & My Boyfriend". She accused West and Jay-Z of stealing the idea of using the song as a sample. The two men denied the accusation, and Jay-Z added that he would have arranged a duet with Braxton if he had known that they were both going to sample the same Tupac song.

Read more about '03 Bonnie & Clyde:  Production and Release, Composition, Critical Reception, Chart Performance, Music Video, Toni Braxton Feud, Formats and Track Listings, Credits and Personnel

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