"21 Questions" is a song by American rapper

50 Cent Curtis James Jackson III (born July 6, 1975), known professionally as 50 Cent, is an American rapper, actor, and businessman. Born in the South Jamaica neighborhood of Queens, Jackson began pursuing a musical career in 2000, when he produced ...

featuring fellow American rapper and singer

Nate Dogg Nathaniel Dwayne Hale (August 19, 1969 – March 15, 2011), known professionally as Nate Dogg, was an American singer and rapper. He gained recognition for providing guest vocals for a multitude of hit rap songs between 1992 and 2007, earning the ...

. It was released in March 2003 through

Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture with Atlantic Records of Warner Mus ...

Dr. Dre Andre Romelle Young (born February 18, 1965), known professionally as Dr. Dre, is an American rapper and record producer. He is the founder and CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and Beats Electronics, and previously co-founded, co-owned, and ...

Aftermath Entertainment Aftermath Entertainment is an American record label founded by hip hop producer and rapper Dr. Dre. It operates as a subsidiary of, and is distributed through, Interscope Records. Current acts include Dr. Dre himself, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, An ...

Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem (; often stylized as EMINƎM), is an American rapper and record producer. He is credited with popularizing hip hop in middle America and is critically acclai ...

Shady Records Shady Records is an American record label founded by rapper Eminem and his manager Paul Rosenberg, after the highly successful release of Eminem's ''The Slim Shady LP'' (1999). Shady has seen negative times when being part of the unsuccessful i ...

, and 50 Cent's own

G-Unit Records G-Unit Records is an American record label, owned by Universal Music Group. Founded in 2002 by rapper 50 Cent, for the first eleven years of operation, G-Unit ran in conjunction with, and was distributed by, Interscope Records. In February 2014, ...

as the second single from 50 Cent's debut studio album ''

Get Rich or Die Tryin' ''Get Rich or Die Tryin'' is the debut studio album by American rapper 50 Cent. It was released on February 6, 2003, by Interscope Records, Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment, Eminem's Shady Records, and 50 Cent's G-Unit Records. After signing wi ...

''. Unlike his previous singles and most of the songs on the album, "21 Questions" is an R&B-influenced love song, largely themed around a series of questions pertaining to a relationship between 50 Cent and an unnamed girlfriend. It contains elements of

Barry White Barry Eugene Carter (September 12, 1944 – July 4, 2003), better known by his stage name Barry White, was an American singer and songwriter. A two-time Grammy Award winner known for his bass voice and romantic image, his greatest success came ...

's 1978 song "

It's Only Love Doing Its Thing "It's Only Love Doing Its Thing" is a track featured on Barry White's album '' The Man''. English soul band Simply Red later covered the song, under the shortened title "It's Only Love", as the lead single for their third studio album, '' A New ...

". "21 Questions" peaked at #1 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart in May 2003, becoming the second consecutive chart-topping single for 50 Cent, following the album's lead single, "

In Da Club "In da Club" is a song by American rapper 50 Cent from his debut studio album ''Get Rich or Die Tryin (2003). Written by 50 Cent alongside producers Dr. Dre and Mike Elizondo, the song, which uses an unconventional off-beat rhythm, was rele ...

", and the first for Nate Dogg. In total, ''21 Questions'' spent four weeks atop the Hot 100 and twenty-three weeks on the chart. It was also successful internationally, reaching the top ten in

the Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, and the top five in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Background

When producer Dr. Dre worked with 50 Cent on his debut album, he objected to the song being included on the tracklist. According to 50 Cent;. 50 Cent responded saying;

Music video

Directed by Damon Johnson, Dr. Dre and

Phillip Atwell Philip G. Atwell is an American music video, television commercial and feature film director. Starting out as a music video producer, he took up directing in 1999. Often co-directing with Dr. Dre, he has helped out with many music videos for ...

in March 2003,Reid, Shaheem (May 2, 2003)
50 Cent: Still Hungry After 4 Million Records
MTV. Retrieved July 7, 2007. the music video for "21 Questions" depicts 50 Cent being arrested and confined to prison, where he tries to keep in touch with his

girlfriend A girlfriend is a female friend, acquaintance or partner, usually a female companion with whom one is platonically, romantically, or sexually involved. In a romantic context, this normally signifies a committed relationship where the indi ...

, played by

Meagan Good Meagan Monique Good is an American actress. She first gained critical attention for her role in the film ''Eve's Bayou'' (1997), prior to landing the role of Nina in the Nickelodeon sitcom ''Cousin Skeeter'' (1998–2001). Good received further ...

. In prison, he is constantly harassed by a rival inmate (

Tyson Beckford Tyson Beckford (born December 19, 1970) is an American model and actor best known as a Ralph Lauren Polo model. He was also the host of both seasons of the Bravo program '' Make Me a Supermodel''. Beckford has been described as one of the most ...

). The video ends with a continuation of the beginning, showing 50 Cent and his girlfriend watching from their home as the police arrest Beckford instead; the prison scenes are revealed to be a hypothetical scenario imagined by a worried 50 Cent. The video has

cameo appearances A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly ei ...

by Nate Dogg (who provides vocals on the chorus and the outro) and fellow

G-Unit G-Unit (short for Guerilla Unit) was an American hip hop group formed by longtime friends and East Coast rappers 50 Cent, Tony Yayo, and Lloyd Banks. After amassing a string of self-released mixtapes in the early 2000s, the group released th ...

members

Lloyd Banks Christopher Charles Lloyd (born April 30, 1982), better known by his stage name Lloyd Banks, is an American rapper. He began his career as a member of East Coast hip hop group G-Unit, alongside childhood friends 50 Cent and Tony Yayo. After the ...

and

Young Buck David Darnell Brown (born March 15, 1981), best known by his stage name Young Buck, is an American rapper. He heads his own record label, Cashville, and was a member of the former hip hop group G-Unit. Early life Brown was born in Nashville, Te ...

as other inmates. On April 15, 2003, the video debuted on MTV's ''

Total Request Live ''Total Request Live'' (known commonly as ''TRL'') was an American television program broadcast on MTV that premiered on September 14, 1998. TRL featured popular music videos played during its countdown, and was also used as a promotion tool by ...

'' at number six, reached number one two days later, and stayed on the chart for 50 days. It also reached number two on the ''

MuchMusic Much (an abbreviation for its full name MuchMusic) is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults. MuchMusic launched on August 31 ...

'' video charts.

Remixes

Official remixes of the single includes featured artists among the likes of

, Monica, Free and

Lil' Mo Cynthia Karen Loving (born November 19, 1978), known professionally as Lil' Mo, is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, television and radio personality. She is best known for her 2001 single " Superwoman Pt. II", featuring then-unknown rapper ...

, all of whom have either rapped or sung their own verses over the song's instrumentals.

21 Answers

"21 Answers" is a remix by

and former

106 & Park ''106 & Park'' is an American hip hop and R&B music video show, set up in a countdown format, that was broadcast on weekdays at 6:00 pm ET/5:00 pm CT on BET; it aired on a one-day delay on BET International. It was the network's highest- rated ...

co-host Free, which was released as an 'answer track' to "21 Questions." Kevin "Dirty Swift" Risto, one-half of

Midi Mafia The MIDI Mafia is a music production duo consisting of American Bruce Waynne (born Waynne Nugent) from Brooklyn, New York and Canadian Dirty Swift (born Kevin Risto) from Ottawa, Ontario. Together as Midi Mafia since 2003, they are most notable for ...

, originally penned the idea of creating a female response record; he immediately got in touch with R&B singer Lil' Mo and added former ''

'' personality Free to the mix. The song then premiered on New York's

Hot 97 WQHT (97.1 FM, ''Hot 97'') is a commercial radio station, licensed to New York, New York, which broadcasts an urban contemporary music format. The station is owned by Mediaco Holding and operated by Emmis Communications under a shared service ...

radio station—resulting in numerous rotations on various radio stations around the country—and later debuted on ''Billboard'' Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs at number 77.Jessen, Wade. "Singles Minded > Back and Forth." ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

''. May 10, 2003: 67. Print. Although the song went on to spend eleven weeks on the chart based solely on airplay, it failed to see a release on Lil' Mo's second album ''

Meet the Girl Next Door ''Meet the Girl Next Door'' is the second studio album by American rapper and singer Lil' Mo. It was released on April 29, 2003 by Elektra Records. Written and recorded during her eighth-month pregnancy break in which she became a part-time anchor ...

'' (2003), due to the song not being finalized in time to meet the album's deadline. However, because of

Elektra Records Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the 1 ...

' 2004 merging with

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

, the song appeared on the 2011 re-release of ''Meet the Girl Next Door''.

Charts

Track listings

* UK CD single # "21 Questions" - 3:44 # "Soldier (Freestyle with

) - 3:18 # "21 Questions" (Live from New York) - 4:54 # "21 Questions" (Music Video) - 3:49 * French CD single # "21 Questions" - 3:44 # "21 Answers" (featuring Monica) - 4:03

Credits and personnel

* Producer: Dirty Swift of Midi Mafia * Mixed by: Dr. Dre * Recorded by:

Sha Money XL Sha or SHA may refer to: Places * Sha County, Fujian, China * Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport, (IATA code) * Sia, Cyprus, also spelled ''Sha'' * Sagamihara Housing Area, an army installation in Japan * Vehicle registration plates in th ...

and Maurico "Veto" Iragorri * Protool edits by: Carlise Young * Assisted by: Ruben Rivera

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Myke Towers version

In 2020, Puerto Rican rapper/singer

Myke Towers Michael Anthony Torres Monge (born January 15, 1994), known by his stage name Myke Towers, is a Puerto Rican rapper, singer and songwriter. Career His mixtape ''El Final del Principio'' (2016) peaked at 12 on Latin Rhythm Albums. Towers collab ...

released a Spanish version of the song titled ''Girl'' for his album ''Easy Money Baby''. His version is all in the same rhythm as the original but the message of the lyrics is different.MYKE TOWERS SAMPLEA A 50 CENT EN “GIRL”
/ref> His version entered the charts in the Hispanic market and was certified quintuple platinum in the United States.

Charts

Certifications

References

External links

* {{authority control 2003 singles 50 Cent songs Nate Dogg songs Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Songs written by 50 Cent Contemporary R&B ballads Shady Records singles Aftermath Entertainment singles Interscope Records singles Sony Music Latin singles Elektra Records singles Universal Music Group singles Song recordings produced by Midi Mafia 2003 songs Songs about crime G-Unit Records singles