Throwing back to the week of July 26, 2003, we find Beyoncé in the #1 spot with ‘Crazy in Love,’ her second single and first to top the Hot 100. I featured ‘Crazy in Love’ all the way back at Song of the Day #139, so sadly I can’t revisit it here.
That brings us to #2, where Lil’ Kim and 50 Cent pair up on ‘Magic Stick.’ The song spent a total of 24 weeks on the chart but never made it higher than the second slot, unable to best Beyoncé.
Throwing back to the week of July 5, 2003, we find American Idol second-place contestant Clay Aiken’s debut single, ‘This is the Night.’ This slice of cheese debuted at #1, becoming only the 11th song in history to accomplish that feat.
‘This is the Night’ was released simultaneously with ‘Flying Without Wings,’ debut single by Ruben Studdard, the man who won that season of Idol. Studdard’s song made it to #2, suggesting the musical marketplace saw things differently than American Idol voters. Both men would go on to have two other top ten hits in their careers (including a shared credit on an Idol finalists version of ‘God Bless the U.S.A.’
Throwing back to the week of June 14, 2003, we find 50 Cent atop the Billboard Hot 100 with ’21 Questions,’ a track featuring singer/raper Nate Dogg. This song spent four weeks atop the chart on its way to 23 total weeks on the Hot 100.
This was 50 Cent’s second straight single from debut album Get Rich or Die Tryin’ to reach #1. The first was ‘In Da Club,’ which showed up on a Throwback Weekend six weeks ago.
Today we throw back to the week of May 24, 2003, when the Billboard Hot 100 was topped by Jamaican reggae rapper Sean Paul and his party song ‘Get Busy.’
‘Get Busy’ spent three weeks in the top spot, the first of two Sean Paul solo tracks to reach #1. The second, ‘Temperature,’ came two years later, so we might see it on a future Throwback Weekend.
Today’s Throwback Weekend installment has us throwing back to the week of May 3, 2003, when 50 Cent’s ‘In Da Club’ occupied the top spot of Billboard’s Hot 100.
This song spent 17 weeks on the Hot 100 and nine weeks at #1. It was the first single on 50 Cent’s well-received debut studio album, Get Rich or Die Tryin’.
Meet Me In Montauk 