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. Knowles later included the song as a bonus track on international editions of her 2003 debut solo album Dangerously in Love. "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" was released on October 10, 2002, as the lead single from Jay-Z's album The Blueprint²: The Gift & the Curse. We were back and forth with Afeni Shakur all day until we got the clearance. Senior Vice President of A&R Tina Davis commented on the issue, "We only had one day to clear the sample that was used on ' '03 Bonnie and Clyde' last year with Jay-Z and Knowles. Tensions arose during the conception of "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" over the sampling of "Me and My Girlfriend". I brought it to Hov that night, he heard it, he thought of the video treatment before he thought of the rap. This version is all live bass, live guitars, chords on it. I programmed the drums in 10 minutes, and then he played all the different parts.
So I went home and called my dog, E Base, who plays a lot of instruments up at Baseline for me and Just Blaze. 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: While listening to Shakur's The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory, producer Kanye West suggested that American rapper Tupac Shakur's song "Me and My Girlfriend" would make a good sample to use on Jay-Z's duet with Knowles. "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" marked the first collaboration between rapper Jay-Z and R&B singer Beyoncé Knowles. " '03 Bonnie & Clyde" was performed by Jay-Z and Beyoncé 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. She accused West and Jay-Z of stealing the idea of using the song as a sample, which was later denied by both of them. "'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". It was nominated for Best Hip-Hop Video at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards. The accompanying music video was directed by Chris Robinson, and features Jay-Z and Beyoncé playing a modern-day version of the 1920s bank robbers Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker. "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA).
It charted at number two in the United Kingdom and peaked in the top twenty in other European territories. The single reached number four on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Jay-Z's second top ten single and Beyoncé's first as a solo artist. "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" was generally received with favorable reviews by music critics, who complimented the combination of Jay-Z's and Beyoncé's musical styles, their collaboration and the song's production. The instrumentation is based on programmed drums, bass instruments, and a flamenco guitar. A R&B song, "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" sampled its beat from American rapper Tupac Shakur's 1996 song "Me and My Girlfriend", paraphrasing its chorus, and was inspired by the crime film Bonnie and Clyde. The song was released as the album's lead single on October 10, 2002. It was composed by Shawn Carter, Kanye West, Prince Nelson, Tupac Shakur, Darryl Harper, Ricky Rouse and Tyrone Wrice for Jay-Z's seventh studio album The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse (2002). " '03 Bonnie & Clyde" is a song recorded by American rapper Jay-Z featuring his then-girlfriend, American singer Beyoncé Knowles.