"03 Bonnie & Clyde" is a song recorded by American rapper Jay-Z, released on October 10, 2002, as the lead single from his seventh studio album The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse (2002). Composed by Jay-Z, Kanye West, Darryl Harper, Ricky Rouse and Tyrone Wrice, and featuring Jay-Z's then-girlfriend, now wife, American singer Beyoncé Knowles, "03 Bonnie & Clyde" sampled its beat from Tupac Shakur's 1996 song "Me and My Girlfriend" (released under Shakur's pseudonym Makaveli), paraphrasing its chorus, as well as Prince's 1987 song "If I Was Your Girlfriend". Inspired by the 1967 crime film Bonnie and Clyde, the song features programmed drums, bass instruments, and a flamenco guitar as instrumentation.
"03 Bonnie & Clyde" was generally received with favorable reviews by music critics, who complimented the combination of Jay-Z's and Knowles' musical styles and the song's production. The single reached number four on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Jay-Z's second top ten single and Knowles' first as a solo artist. It charted at number one in Switzerland, number two in the United Kingdom and peaked in the top twenty 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, directed by Chris Robinson, features Jay-Z and Knowles playing a modern-day version of the 1930s bank robbers Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker, and 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" and accused West and Jay-Z of stealing the idea of using the song as a sample (which both men later denied), even though Mariah Carey had earlier sampled the same song by Shakur on the track "How Much" from her 1999 album Rainbow. "03 Bonnie & Clyde" was performed by Jay-Z and Knowles on several television shows and was later included on the set list of their concert performances and tours, most notably on their co-headlining On the Run and On the Run II tours.
Production and release "03 Bonnie & Clyde" marked the first collaboration between rapper Jay-Z and R&B singer Beyoncé Knowles. While listening to American rapper Tupac Shakur's The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory, producer Kanye West suggested that Shakur's song "Me and My Girlfriend" would make a good sample to use on Jay-Z's duet with Knowles. West told MTV News that Jay-Z had asked him on the telephone for a duet for him and Knowles: "We got this joint, it has to be the best beat you ever made." He continued:
So I went home and called my dog, E Base, who plays a lot of instruments up at Baseline [studio] for me and [producer] Just Blaze. [E] came through. I programmed the drums in 10 minutes, and then he played all the different parts. This version is all live bass, live guitars, [live] chords on it. I brought it to Hov that night, he heard it, he thought of the video treatment before he thought of the rap. He just knew it was gonna be the one.
Tensions arose during the conception of "03 Bonnie & Clyde" over the sampling of "Me and My Girlfriend". Senior Vice President of A&R Tina Davis commented on the issue, "We only had one day to clear the [Tupac Shakur] sample [from 'Me and my Girlfriend'] that was used on "03 Bonnie and Clyde" last year with Jay-Z and Knowles [Beyoncé]. We were back and forth with Afeni Shakur all day until we got the clearance. And then it's a hit."
"03 Bonnie & Clyde" was released on October 10, 2002, as the lead single from Jay-Z's album The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse. Knowles later included the song as a bonus track on international editions of her 2003 debut solo album Dangerously in Love. In 2003, Now That's What I Call Music! included "03 Bonnie & Clyde" as the opening track of the 12th volume of the US release and the fifteenth track of the 54th volume of the UK release. The song's release was the first indication of Jay-Z's and Knowles' romantic status, spawning rumors about a burgeoning relationship. Their relationship was not publicized until Jay-Z featured on Knowles' songs "Crazy In Love" (2003) and "Déjà Vu" (2006).
Composition
"03 Bonnie & Clyde" features drums and live instrumentation such as bass instruments and guitar chords. It also consists of a beat sampled from "Me and My Girlfriend". The song was inspired by the 1967 American crime film Bonnie and Clyde as Jay-Z and Knowles proclaim themselves as the current version of the criminal duo Bonnie Parker (Faye Dunaway) and Clyde Barrow (Warren Beatty). Ethan Brown of New York magazine noted that its patina of flamenco guitar was reminiscent of that in Jay-Z's 2001 collaboration with R. Kelly on "Fiesta." Knowles mimics the hook of "Me and My Girlfriend" on the chorus as she sings, "Down to ride to the very end, me and my boyfriend".
Some lyrics sung by Knowles during the bridge were sampled from "If I Was Your Girlfriend" by American recording artist Prince. On the first verse, Jay-Z references the relationship between Bobby Brown and Whitney Houston, and the American television comedy drama series Sex and the City: "I'm mashin' the gas, she's grabbin' the wheel, it's trippy / How hard she rides wit' me, the new Bobby and Whitney / Only time we don't speak is during Sex and the City / She gets Carrie fever, but soon as the show's over / She's right back to being my soldier / 'Cause mami's a rider and I'm a roller / Put us together, how they gon' stop both of us? / Whatever she lacks I'm right over her shoulder (Woo) / When I'm off track, mami is keeping me focused / So let's lock this down like it's supposed to be / The new '03 Bonnie and Clyde, Hov' and B, holla".
Critical reception "03 Bonnie & Clyde" was received favorably by critics, who commended the use of different samples, and commented on the relationship between Jay-Z and Knowles. Chris Ryan of Spin magazine described "03 Bonnie & Clyde" as a highlight on The Blueprint 2: The Gift & the Curse, stating that it consists of "a house party in a crib as big as the Georgia Dome." John Bush from AllMusic included the song as a highlight on the album, further describing it as "a slick R&B crossover with Beyoncé Knowles". Marc L. Hill of PopMatters viewed it as the "obligatory radio song" of the album. Awarding the song a rating of eight out of ten possible points, Dele Fadele of NME complimented it as "a cool duet" between Jay-Z and Knowles. John Robinson of the same publication wrote that as the couple describe their life, it is not all "Lexus and sipping Cris". He added, "A similarly relaxed production makes for a behind-the-diamante-net-curtains classic".
Ethan Brown of New York magazine named "03 Bonnie & Clyde" as a follow-up to the previous "Bonnie & Clyde Part II" by Jay-Z featuring rapper Foxy Brown. Erik Parker, music editor of Vibe magazine, was divided on the song's sample, writing that it was "tasteless but well-executed", and complimented West's production as "impeccable". Margena A. Christian of Jet magazine praised Jay-Z's and Knowles' collaboration, favoring the former's "dropping lyrics" and the latter's "cooing silky vocals". Chuck Taylor of Billboard magazine wrote that though it was unclear at the time whether the couple were together or not, they created good music together. Taylor praised the song's ability to showcase what each artist does best: Jay-Z "spitting" verses of praise, and Knowles' sweets coos and hooks. Taylor noted that the sampled acoustic guitar "added spice to the track, setting it up for future success". In a more negative review, Nathan Rabin of The A.V. Club described the song as "terrible" and different from the other songs on The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse.
Rap-Up credited "03 Bonnie & Clyde" for giving Knowles a "little street-credit". The staff members of Vibe magazine placed the song at number two on a list of the best Bonnie and Clyde inspired songs. On a list of the 10 Best Jay-Z Songs, Dean Silfenv of AOL placed "03 Bonnie & Clyde" at number six. Popjustice listed "03 Bonnie & Clyde" at number 66 on its list of the best singles of 2003. It was nominated for the Best Collaboration at the 2003 BET Awards, but lost to Snoop Dogg, Pharrell and Uncle Charlie Wilson's song "Beautiful". In a 2013 list of Jay-Z's 20 Biggest Billboard Hits, "03 Bonnie & Clyde" was ranked at number 6. Elijah Watson and Erika Ramirez of Billboard magazine noted that the song proved the couple was "unstoppable from jump".
Commercial performance "03 Bonnie & Clyde" reached the top ten on music charts in six European countries. It peaked at number six on the Norway Singles Chart and on the Danish Singles Chart, number eight on the Italian Singles Chart, and topped the Swiss Singles Charts. In Canada, the song peaked at number four and became Jay-Z's highest-charting single until it was surpassed by his 2009 Alicia Keys-assisted song "Empire State of Mind", which peaked at number three. In the United Kingdom, "03 Bonnie & Clyde" peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart. At the time, it became his highest-charting single in Britain since "Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)" achieved the same feat in November 1998. It peaked at number four on the New Zealand Singles Chart, his highest-charting single in that territory. The song also became Jay-Z's highest-charting single in Australia, where it peaked at number two. "03 Bonnie & Clyde" was certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), denoting shipment of 70,000 copies.
"03 Bonnie & Clyde" broke into the top five of the Billboard Hot 100 at number four; it became the highest-charting single that references the famous bank robbers Bonnie and Clyde. The record was previously held by Georgie Fame's 1967 single "The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde". It also became his highest-charting single in the U.S. at the time. Following the performance of "03 Bonnie & Clyde" on Saturday Night Live on November 2, 2002, its radio audience increased by 12%, allowing the song to advance into the top ten of the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, at number seven. This gave Jay-Z his 12th top 10 single, tying him with rapper P. Diddy, who had the same number of top 10 singles on that chart. "03 Bonnie & Clyde" was his first top 10 since his 2001 single "Girls, Girls, Girls". It was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), denoting sales of 500,000 copies. The song sold over 1 million copies in US.
Music video Chris Robinson directed the song's accompanying music video, which was filmed in Mexico during October 2002 and premiered on MTV on November 8, 2002. June Ambrose was hired as the personal stylist, and Johnathon Schaech and Lance Reddick appear in the video as police officers tailing Jay-Z and Knowles, who play a modern-day version of the 1930s bank robbers Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker. The choreography used in the clip suggests a relationship beyond screen, as Jay-Z wraps his arm around Knowles while singing his part of the chorus. Loosely based on the American 1993 romance crime film True Romance, which stars Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette as Clarence Worley and Alabama Whitman two lovers on the run from cocaine dealers, the video also marked a departure for the "clean-cut Beyoncé" and created a symbiotic relationship between her and Jay-Z, allowing them to exchange audiences.