"2002" is a song by English singer and songwriter Anne-Marie from her debut studio album '' Speak Your Mind'' (2018). It was released on 20 April 2018 as the sixth single from the album. She co-wrote the song with

Ed Sheeran Edward Christopher Sheeran ( ; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently r ...

Julia Michaels Julia Carin Michaels (''Birth name, née'' Cavazos; born November 13, 1993) is an American singer and songwriter. She has received six Grammy Award nominations, including twice for Grammy Award for Song of the Year, Song of the Year and Grammy A ...

Benny Blanco Benjamin Joseph Levin (born March 8, 1988), known professionally as Benny Blanco (stylized in all lowercase), is an American record producer and songwriter. He is the recipient of the 2013 Hal David Starlight Award from the Songwriters Hall ...

, and its producer

Steve Mac Steve McCutcheon (born 15 January 1972), known professionally as Steve Mac, is a British record producer, songwriter and musician. A multi-award-winning producer, he is one of the most prolific songwriters and record producers in modern Briti ...

. Other people officially credited as co-writers are Andreas Carlsson, George Clinton,

El DeBarge Eldra "El" Patrick DeBarge (born June 4, 1961) is an American singer, songwriter and musician. He was the focal point and primary lead singer of the DeBarge family, family group DeBarge. Popular songs led by El DeBarge include "Time Will Reveal ...

, Randy DeBarge, Jay E,

Ice-T Tracy Lauren Marrow (born February 16, 1958), known professionally as Ice-T (or Ice T), is an American rapper and actor. He is active in both hip hop music, hip hop and heavy metal music, heavy metal. Ice-T began his career as an underground r ...

, Etterlene Jordan,

Kristian Lundin Kristian Lundin (born 7 May 1973) is a Swedish composer, music producer and songwriter. Biography Kristian's worked on the song "Quit Playing Games (with My Heart)" which he co-produced with Max Martin for the Backstreet Boys. He co-wrote & pro ...

, Max Martin,

Nelly Cornell Iral Haynes Jr. (born November 2, 1974), better known by his stage name Nelly, is an American rapper, singer, and actor. He grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, and embarked on his musical career in 1993 as a member of the Midwest hip hop g ...

, Alphonso Henderson, Jake Schulze, and City Spud, due to co-writing or being sampled on one of the songs referenced in the chorus. "2002" was a commercial success, becoming one of Anne-Marie's most successful singles worldwide. It peaked at number three on the UK singles chart, becoming Anne-Marie's fourth top-ten single at the time. The song has also reached the top ten in seven countries, including Australia, where it reached number four, Scotland where it peaked at number 3 and Ireland were it peaked at number 2. It was a massive success in South Korea, topping the country's year-end chart in 2019. It was the first non-Korean track on the chart to achieve this result, as well as being the only foreign song, and second overall, to surpass 2.2 billion digital index points on Gaon. "2002" is also the fourth longest charting song in

Melon A melon is any of various plants of the family Cucurbitaceae with sweet, edible, and fleshy fruit. It can also specifically refer to ''Cucumis melo'', commonly known as the "true melon" or simply "melon". The term "melon" can apply to both the p ...

history, leaving the chart after 145 weeks and the only non-Korean song to be streamed over 350 million times on the platform.

Background

"2002" is a love ballad about a childhood romance of Anne-Marie's that took place in the titular year. She wrote the song with

and

. She was not initially planning to release "2002" as a single, but finally caved in after constant pestering from Sheeran on

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

to bring it out. The beginning of the song's chorus, "Oops, I got 99 problems singing 'bye, bye, bye' / Hold up, if you wanna go and take a ride with me / Better hit me, baby, one more time", references six songs released between 1998 and 2004: " ...Baby One More Time", " Oops!... I Did It Again", "

99 Problems "99 Problems" is the third single released by American rapper Jay-Z from '' The Black Album''. It was released on April 27, 2004. The chorus of "I got 99 problems, but a bitch ain't one" is taken from the Ice-T song "99 Problems", from the album ...

", " Bye Bye Bye", " The Next Episode" and " Ride wit Me". In an interview with Polish music magazine ''luvPOP'', Anne-Marie explained the song: "It is all about that year, when I was that age just listening to that music that I loved at that time. You know,

Christina Aguilera Christina María Aguilera ( , ; born December 18, 1980) is an American singer-songwriter, actress and television personality. Recognized as Cultural impact of Christina Aguilera, an influential figure in music and having received Public imag ...

Missy Elliott Melissa Arnette "Missy" Elliott (born July 1, 1971), also known as Misdemeanor, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. She began her musical career as a member of the Contemporary R&B, R&B girl group 4 All the Sistas Arou ...

. All of these songs...Yeah, it just takes me back to that time." In a March 2017 interview, she mentioned

Alanis Morissette Alanis Nadine Morissette ( ; born June 1, 1974) is a Canadian and American singer, songwriter, musician, and actress. Known for her emotive mezzo-soprano voice and confessional songwriting, she became a cultural phenomenon during the mid 199 ...

as a big influence on her while growing up.

Composition

"2002" is originally in the key of

E major E major is a major scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has four sharps. Its relative minor is C-sharp minor and its parallel minor is E minor. Its enharmonic equivalent, F-flat maj ...

with a

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for 'time'; plural 'tempos', or from the Italian plural), measured in beats per minute, is the speed or pace of a given musical composition, composition, and is often also an indication of the composition ...

of 96

beats per minute Beat, beats, or beating may refer to: Common uses * Assault, inflicting physical harm or unwanted physical contact * Battery (crime), a criminal offense involving unlawful physical contact * Battery (tort), a civil wrong in common law of in ...

and a

time signature A time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, and measure signature) is an indication in music notation that specifies how many note values of a particular type fit into each measure ( bar). The time signature indicates th ...

of . The

chord progression In a musical composition, a chord progression or harmonic progression (informally chord changes, used as a plural, or simply changes) is a succession of chords. Chord progressions are the foundation of harmony in Western musical tradition from ...

E–B–Cm–Gm–A–B–E is used in the verses; the progression Cm–A–E–B–A–B in the pre-choruses and bridge, A–E–B–Cm in the choruses, and E–B–Cm–A (the I–V–vi–IV progression) after the last chorus.

Music video

The official music video was directed by Hannah Lux Davis, who also directed the video for Anne-Marie's previous single "

Friends ''Friends'' is an American television sitcom created by David Crane (producer), David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting List of Friends episodes, ten seasons. With an ensemble cast ...

". It was filmed in London and uploaded to

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

on 8 May 2018. It features Anne-Marie recreating the videos of the songs referenced in the chorus; as well as Cerys Hill as young Anne-Marie. As of June 2024, the video has gained over 863 million views and 5 million likes.

Charts

Weekly charts

Monthly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{authority control 2018 singles 2018 songs Anne-Marie songs Song recordings produced by Steve Mac Songs written by Ed Sheeran Songs written by Julia Michaels Songs written by Benny Blanco Songs written by Steve Mac Songs written by El DeBarge Songs written by Andreas Carlsson Songs written by George Clinton (funk musician) Songs written by Ice-T Songs written by Kristian Lundin Songs written by Max Martin Songs written by Nelly Music videos directed by Hannah Lux Davis Cultural depictions of Britney Spears Songs about nostalgia Synth-pop ballads 2010s ballads Songs written by Anne-Marie Fiction set in 2002 Asylum Records singles Warner Records singles