NZ hits of 2004

This was the year that reality TV took over in Australia and the NZ charts updated their format to conform to modern listening trends, as a result there'll be fewer songs to make it big through artistic merit from here on out. That said, music would continue to thrive for at least another decade before it found itself in any real trouble.

Trying to look up this hip hop band from NZ will likely direct you towards an obscure TV show from the 80's, however you'll eventually come across information about these guys given how they scored a massive hit this year in their homeland with this track. Naturally this was around the time where NZ hip hop was really making the waves over there, so much so that some of their MC's even managed to crossover to Australia.

Given how her older brother was born in NZ, it only makes sense that the kiwis would be equally as receptive towards Natasha Bedingfield's music as they were with Daniel's. Still, I don't think even they expected this to be as inescapably popular over there as it wound up being given that it became one of the biggest hits of the decade for her, naturally this led to her scoring a second hit later in the decade.

As promised from the Australian side of this site, I'll talk about the song in question as it saw no such hinderance over in NZ like it did down under with its popularity. This was the lead single to Usher's magnum opus Confessions where he makes a club track with the assistance of Lil Jon and Ludacris that was so well received upon its initial release, many consider it to be the song that defines the 00's.

I'm not sure why this song managed to be even more successful in the southern hemisphere than in Jamelia's native UK, however that was the case as the uplifting dance track proved to be equally as successful in NZ as it was here in Australia for the British singer this year. Although her second hit "Thank you" was a minor success over there, it was too minor to make another appearance on this site.

I guess if you wanted to hear a NZ equivalent of KCI and Jo Jo then these two are able to fill that niche as that's the best way I can describe them and their music. Here they scored the first of three massive hits in their homeland with the same formula that their American counterpart did throughout the 90's, although unlike their American counterpart, their success only lasted them for one album in their homeland.

Although there won't be any other entries form Australian idol contestants on this side of my site, I should bring up that this victory single from Guy Sebastian is a better representation of how well it did here in Australia back in the day given how the kiwis obviously liked this song beyond the reason of its existence. As such, it had a much better chart run over there and no doubt led to the success of NZ idol months later.

This is another entry whose placement on this list better reflects how popular it was back in the day here in Australia, suffice to say, it's because of these entries that I wanted to present what was popular in NZ on this site as I always found their charts to be much better than ours for this reason. I guess a side effect of this not being as successful down under was that the response track was a huge hit here which wasn't the case in NZ.

This was one of two hits that NZ rapper Dei Hamo managed to achieve in his brief time in the music industry, the other being "To tha floor" which was a huge hit for him the following year (which we'll look at in the next list.) This was so popular in his homeland that it even managed to see minor success here in Australia which was impressive given how it had to compete with all of the Australian Idol shenanigans.

This was released slightly sooner in NZ than it was here in Australia, although it did have to climb up their charts as opposed to it becoming an instant success over here which balances out its overall success in both countries. It still staggers me to think that these guys wouldn't have this level of success in their native America until the tail end of the decade.

This was released on time for Snoop Dogg over in NZ, as such it had very little issues in becoming one of the biggest hits of the decade over there as opposed to it merely being a moderate success here in Australia for the rapper. This is the second collaboration that he had with Pharrell following their earlier hit "Beautiful," I guess they wanted to keep the momentum going with both of their careers as a rapper and singer respectively.

It looks like the kiwis were also able to appreciate this cover of the Who classic that Limp Bizkit made for their (at the time) final album Results may vary, it should be noted that this is a very misleading lead single for the album as it was nothing like the nu metal that was found on the album and indeed throughout their previous catalogue.

It may surprise you to learn that Outkast never had a chart topper over in NZ, heck this was the only song from their catalogue to have the same amount of success over there as it did here in Australia despite (or likely because) their albums being more successful over there than they were over here. I don't know if it was even possible for this song to fail upon its initial release due to how joyous and happy the melody is despite its lyrics.

This was the third of three hits that Adeaze managed to score from their one and only album in their homeland, this time they recruit RNB singer Aaradhna who can best be described as NZ's answer to Ashanti (who funnily enough never had much success over there) as she would score a few more hits later in the decade both as a lead artist and a featured vocalist.

Given how NZ hip hop was quickly becoming one of the biggest genres in music over there this decade, it only makes sense that a hip-hop group would find success the same way as the likes of Scribe and Savage would. This was the first of three big hits from said hip hop group Fast Crew which was so popular over there that it even saw minor success over here in Australia the following year.

This is another entry whose placement on this list is a better representation of its popularity back in the day, this time it's the second single from Britney's fourth album In the zone which proved to be the only hit she had over in NZ from the album due to both "Me against the music" and "Everytime" failing to connect with the kiwis. This was apparently written with Kylie Minogue in mind but was given to Britney instead.

It was only inevitable that the winner of the first season of NZ Idol would achieve massive success in his homeland following his victory on the show, such was the fate for Ben Lummis who wowed his fellow kiwis with his brand of RNB which resulted in this chart topper for him. Sadly, NZ Idol didn't have as much staying power over there as the Australian counterpart over here as this remains his only hit.

This was released on time over in NZ, although it was rather late from the previous year and it didn't peak until the early months of this year, so it's not like that gave it any advantages with how popular it was considering that it was merely delayed here and not pulled from shelves like some of the other entries on this list. Regardless, it was equally as successful in both countries in the southern hemisphere.

This is another entry whose placement on this list is a better representation to how popular it was here in Australia back in the day, although we could make the argument that it was because we Aussies checked out Confessions the album rather than its singles given the poor treatment of Usher's earlier entry on this list over here. Somehow, I doubt that's the case as the single managed to become a hit over here and not even chart over there.

I remember this track receiving a ton of airplay here in Australia back in the day, so my confusion as to how it was only a modest sleeper hit at best is pretty high especially given how it was a huge chart topper for the Finnish band over in NZ and throughout the rest of the world. The remain a one hit wonder in both countries in the southern hemisphere, however they had more success throughout Europe.

This proved to be an even bigger success in NZ than it was here in Australia for Stacie Orrico, so much so that it even outranks her bigger hit here in Australia on this list which goes to show you how much the kiwis loved this track about whether or not Stacie (and by extension the world in general) was living their life to the fullest. It remains her signature track in places where she had success in her career.

I guess I was a little mean to this song on the Australian side of this site, after all, this was released during a time where comedy was far less sophisticated in the mainstream than what it's evolved to since. As such, it doesn't surprise me in the slightest that this was a massive success in NZ for D12 back in the day, more so than it was here because of the lack of competition it faced against Australian Idol over there.

This was equally as successful in NZ as it was here in Australia, naturally this was because it was one of the few songs to not have its release schedule tampered with by Sony due to the Australian Idol phenomenon which technically means that it was more popular in NZ given how it had stiffer competition over there. I guess the kiwi's felt Jo Jo was the new Avril Lavigne given the latter doesn't have any entries on this list.

Whereas in Australia where the biggest hit that Green Day had was the song that played during the series finale of Seinfeld, in NZ, that honour goes to this lead single and title track from their politically charged album that would eventually be turned into a musical with said musical continuing to polarise fans to this day. This was so popular over there that it even rebounded on their charts when the second single was released.

Although it remains a polarising film to this day, few would argue that the soundtrack to Shark tale was a failure given how its lead single became a massive success for Christina Aguilera and Missy Higgins worldwide. It was a much bigger hit over in NZ largely due to it sticking around for much longer over there than it did over here, I'm guessing because it was a cover of a 70's classic that's fondly remembered to this day.

Much like here in Australia, this was a two for one deal from Nelly given how both "My place" and "Flap your wings" were bundled together onto this track which resulted in them both being a massive hit for Nelly over there like they were over here. I'm not sure why Nelly decided to release two albums on the same day as each other, I'm guessing because he couldn't decide if he wanted to be a rapper or an RNB singer at the time.

Much like his previous appearance on this site, this was also a double entry from Scribe which comprised of "Dreaming" and "So nice" which meant that both songs were able to become his second chart topper over there and no doubt led to the success he achieved here in Australia this year.

This managed to be slightly bigger in NZ than it was here in Australia, mainly due to it sticking around for slightly longer over there which further proves that juvenile humour was more in vogue throughout the 00's than it was before and especially since (this was the decade where Freidberg and Seltzer thrived after all.) At least Eminem's has clearly moved on from this phase of his career as has all of his fanbase.

This proved to be equally as successful in NZ as it was here in Australia, which means of course it was technically more successful over there due to having far stiffer competition given how there wasn't a reality series preventing certain songs from having a fair run on their charts which was the case on ours this year. I get the feeling this was due to the presence of Amy Lee given how Seether haven't had any success outside of this ballad worldwide.

I guess the kiwis weren't as on board with Gwen Stefani's solo career than we Aussies were, then again, I have noticed that she hasn't had as much success in her career up until this point in general given how much weaker her hits with No doubt were over there. That said, this was still a massive hit for her over there which is certainly more than I can say about how it did in her native America where it flopped.

This was released slightly sooner in NZ than it was here in Australia, naturally it meant that it would be slightly more successful for Green day over there than it was over here also likely because "My happy ending" was a flop over there which meant there weren't any comparisons between the two songs. This led to the band having massive success with their album as well as their follow up later in the decade.

While I can't confirm it this is what happened, I'm willing to bet that this song was pulled from shelves here in Australia to encourage album sales for Songs about Jane given how quickly it fell from our charts once it reached its peak position over here. Naturally this wasn't the case in NZ where it was their biggest hit of the decade as well as their only reappearance on this side of my site from said decade.

Given how this managed to become a massive hit the following year here in Australia for P Money and Scribe, it only makes sense that this was a huge chart topper in their homeland this year even though it appears the song quickly fell off the charts going into the new year likely due to it peaking during the Christmas period of this year and thus giving off the impression it was pulled from shelves over there.

This will be the only song from Simple Plan to reappear on this side of my site, I guess the kiwis could only stomach one of their songs making it big in their mainstream as opposed to us Aussies who gave them a string of hits over here back in the day from their first two albums. They're one of the most loathed bands of all time on the internet, and unlike other bands in this vein, I won't argue against their infamy.

This was a much bigger hit over in NZ for Houston than it was here in Australia, likely because it had both Chingy and Nate Dogg on the track who both saw more success with their respective catalogues over there than they did here in Australia. Apparently, this was used as a McDonald's campaign in the UK as the British cover art mentions the ad where you can download it and other songs using a coupon from the restaurant.

The hits just kept on coming for Chingy in NZ, admittedly this is his only new appearance on this side of my site as the other three hits he had over there were also successful here in Australia. This song has become infamous for the line "I like them black, white, Puerto Ricon, or Haitian like Japanese, Chinese, or even Asian" which was supposed to show he wasn't a racist when it came to women but came off as a tad redundant.

Much like in Australia, Kelis is also a two-hit wonder in NZ with both of her appearances on this list, although it's worth noting that this proved to be the bigger hit over there as "Milkshake" (which is still to come) wasn't as big for her likely due to how much of a meme it was even back in the day. Indeed, it's far easier to take this song seriously given that it's about her no longer falling for her partner's infidelity.

I wasn't expecting to feature another track from Ma$e on this site given how even his fellow American had grown tired of his music by the start of the decade, it appears the kiwis had room to give him one more hit this year which came in the form of this track about coming back home to a place the narrator felt the person didn't welcome at.

This proved to be slightly more popular in NZ than it was here in Australia, likely because the album it was pulled from was always massively popular in both countries by the time it came out which of course affected its sales here in a way that it did over there. While it had nothing to do with its success in either country, the song is nowadays best known for its inclusion in the Garfield movie from this year.

It looked like NZ Idol was about to take the kiwis by storm given how the runner up to its first season Michael Murphy also managed to achieve a huge hit from the series similar to how Shannon Noll scored a massive hit in Australia despite losing out to Guy Sebastian from earlier on this list. Alas, Michael also failed to retain his popularity in his homeland as he remains a one hit wonder with this track.

While the placement on this list from Chingy's third single suggests it was equally as successful in NZ as it was here in Australia, I should remind my readers of the stiffer competition every song reappearing on here had over there which makes this a much bigger hit for him over there than it was over here. This was to be expected given how much more popular he was with the kiwis than with us Aussies at the time.

This was about as equally successful in NZ as it was here in Australia for BEP, I'm guessing because we Aussies appreciated the lyric change to the album track known as "Let's get retarded" much more than the kiwis did who likely felt that censoring the track defeated the purpose of the lyrics. Admittedly it does, but in that case, you probably should've gone with a different track to release as a single.

This was equally as successful in NZ as it was here in Australia, although again we have the stiffer competition it had over here to factor into its ranking which once again means that this was actually slightly more popular over there than it was over here for the (then) underage rapper J Kwon.

This was the second and final hit that Mareko managed to achieve in his homeland, I'm guessing he wanted to be the king of NZ hip hop but had that ambition taken away from him by Scribe who achieved infinitely more success over there than he did. Still, having two massive hits to open your career wasn't bad, he just had the bad luck of having stiff competition in the NZ hip hop game.

You may be forgiven into thinking that Nina Sky was a solo project, it's actually comprised of twin sisters who present themselves as a single person in a similar vein to the Veronicas from later in the decade. This was a massive worldwide hit for the girls and one I remember hearing quite a bit back in the day, making its failure in Australia all the stranger to me as the song did chart over here this year.

Even though this was released on time over in NZ, it appears that didn't do the song's popularity any favours over there it didn't become as popular as it was here in Australia where it was delayed in order to allow Guy Sebastian's earlier entry on this list to dominate our charts during the holiday season of 2003/2004. I guess the kiwis didn't find this haunting ballad as beautiful as we Aussies did.

Their big international hit from earlier in the decade might have been far less successful in NZ than it was everywhere else in the world, however at least the kiwis made up for that blunder by giving Alien Ant Farm a second hit over there with this track which wasn't the case anywhere else in the world including their native America. I guess this made it big this year due to the sudden interest in rock music over there.

While this proved to be equally as successful in NZ as it was here in Australia, I have to bring up once more that due to having stiffer competition over there, it technically means that it was more popular over there given how it was able to retain an impressive chart run without having an advantage like it did here this year. It's easy to see why this was a hit in both countries given the Enya sample it uses.

I actually feel this songs placement on this list is a bit inaccurate to how popular it was given how it was overplayed to hell and back here in Australia back in the day, at least it's a far more respectable placement on this list than it was on the Australian equivalent. Much like the rest of the world, Hoobastank remain a one hit wonder in NZ with this rock ballad about a failed relationship.

Given how Talk Talk managed to achieve minor success in NZ throughout the 80's, I guess it makes sense that this cover of one of their most iconic tracks from No doubt would see more success over in NZ even if that success came a bit late over there compared to over here where it was a hit upon its initial release. This is likely what eased the kiwis into accepting Gwen's solo career from earlier on this list.

Although the placement of this song would have you believe this was equally as successful in NZ as it was here in Australia, I should remind my readers that this was pulled from shelves over here which means that this was still more successful over there as it was able to have a full chart run even if it was more popular here in Australia given that it had its success taken away from it by record executives.

Brooke Fraser was on a roll with her debut album as she managed to score a second hit from it which no doubt helped it become a massive success in her homeland thanks to how wise she sounded on each of her singles from the album. It's little wonder she was able to keep finding success throughout the decade over there whilst the likes of Avril Lavigne and Michelle Branch struggled.

Given how Australian idol had a song like this the previous year that was a hit here in Australia, it only makes sense that the NZ equivalent would follow suit where it also became a massive success in its homeland. A part of why this was more popular over there than "Rise up" was over here is that this is a cover of Mark Williams debut single from 1975, meaning this was seen as a tribute to the former teen idol.

Unlike in Australia where this was released specifically as the second single from Nelly's two albums Suit and Sweat, in NZ it was released simultaneously with "Over and over" which means the kiwis preferred this collaboration with Christina Aguilera than they did with his collaboration with Tim McGraw, showing the kind of music they wanted from the rapper/RNB singer from around this time.

It feels weird that the one hit that Christina Milian has in NZ and her native America would be one that wasn't as such here in Australia, although at least it was a hit for her in the UK like the rest of her discography this decade. Here we have a sex jam from the RNB singer similar to Beyonce's "Naughty girl" which was far less popular over there than it was over here (we'll still be looking at it in a bit.)

Sandwiched between their two earlier entries was this second single from Adeaze, it was a cover of the Bee Gees classic making this the second cover to be a success over there following Portrait's take on the ballad from nine years prior. It wasn't quite as big over there as their earlier entries likely because of the lack of originality this song had compared to the rest of their album.

It turns out that these guys managed to score more than one hit in NZ this decade, I guess the kiwis were really into the alternative rock scene this year given how I don't even remember hearing this on the radio back in the day like several other entries from international artists on this list. I guess the success of this track over there meant that their big breakthrough here in Australia wasn't as impressive to them.

This is the only song that Blink 182 released in their catalogue to find massive success over in NZ, certainly more so than what it achieved here in Australia despite it not being affected by Sony on our charts like so many entries on this list were. This means that the song was organically more popular over there than it was over here, likely for it displaying a more mature side of the trio than the rest of their catalogue.

I would say that the kiwis were more on board with this endorsement of the Holiday in hotel chain except that the more likely explanation for this song's success over there was due to it coming from Chingy, Ludacris and Snoop Dogg who were all on a roll this year with their respective careers. Sadly, for Chingy himself, his popularity would die out once "Balla baby" fell off the charts worldwide.

Given the success of their debut single "I got" these guys already received, it only makes sense that their second single would not only become a hit in their homeland but also chart here in Australia, proving how interested we Aussies were in NZ hip hop which likely inspired us to check out our own hip hop scene later in the decade.

This is the final hit that Atomic Kitten had over in NZ, they would have a few more hits in their native UK before even their fellow Brits became bored of their music in favour of the likes of the Sugababes and Girls aloud. I guess there are worse songs you could end your winning streak on given how this was a minor hit in Australia around this time for the trio.

Brooke Fraser was on a roll this year as she managed to score a third hit from her debut album (well actually this was the fourth but "Saving the world" won't be appearing on this list) proving how well loved the NZ singer/songwriter was in her homeland with her album. She would come back two years later with her second album that while not as successful, still kept her in the A-leagues of the NZ music scene.

Well, it appears the kiwis weren't as amused by this track from Kelis as we Aussies and her fellow Americans were this year, indeed they preferred it when they were able to take her seriously as evidence by how much better her earlier entry did over there back in the day. It's a shame she didn't have more hits in either country in the southern hemisphere given how interesting she was as an artist.

I guess the kiwis were more willing to hear a serious song from D12 than us Aussies were given how there wasn't any signs of this song being pulled from shelves over here like so many other entries on this list that saw a massive improvement in the rankings. Indeed, this serious tone that the track takes is the complete opposite of their other two hits down under which were far more juvenile.

Even though this was released on time in NZ as opposed to here where it was heavily delayed for 3 Doors down, it manages to have a lower placement on this list due to it only becoming a success over there once it was released over here where it nearly topped our charts upon its initial release. I guess it goes to show that a delay can work to its songs favour provided it has the hype from a band's fans.

Well, it appears the kiwis found this surprisingly juvenile side of Andre 3000 to be equally as amusing as we Aussies did this year given how it retains roughly the same position on this side of my site as it does on the Australian equivalent. It's interesting that none of the singles from their double album managed to see more success over there than they did over here save for the second single.

This was too minor of a hit to appear on the Australian side of my site; indeed, it only manages to appear on this side of my site due to it becoming a hit twice in NZ as it rebounded on their charts when Ciara released her second single "1 2 step" with Missy Elliot for some reason. This song has become infamous for the production, specifically due to it sounding like a screeching siren throughout its runtime.

This is the only hit that the Darkness were able to achieve outside of their native UK, it happens to be their most recognisable song given how it was their big breakthrough in America this year thanks to its over-the-top music video that easily would've qualified for my weird video list had it been a hit here in Australia. Speaking of, I have no idea why this flopped down under even taking into account Australian Idol's monopoly of our charts.

It appears that Scribe's top entry from this list was so inescapably popular that a remix was commissioned which became an instant success for him during the summer period of 2003/2004 in his homeland. As it turns out, this was the version that charted here in Australia when it came time to him crossing over into our music scene.

Well at least this second single from Outkast's double album managed to be more successful in NZ than it was here in Australia if only because it wasn't pulled from shelves over there like it was over here, although it still wasn't among the biggest hits of the year over there suggesting that it wasn't as popular in the southern hemisphere overall as it was in their native America.

I honestly would've thought this would be one of the biggest hits of the year in NZ given how this was inescapable on our airwaves here in Australia and that a combination of strong album sales plus Australian idol taking over our charts was why it wasn't any bigger down under. I guess the kiwis didn't find this as titillating as we Aussies did, although this was also the case for the song this samples back in the 70's.

Here's that hit that Fat Joe had with Terror squad that I mentioned when we revisited his one and only solo hit from a few lists back, it's a posse cut he made with the other members of the group and a female rapper by the name of Remy who scored her one and only notable hit with this entry. Apparently, he was credited as Joey Crack on this track, a name that I feel is very inappropriate even for gangster hip hop.

This proved to be far less popular in NZ than it was here in Australia, I guess the kiwis weren't as impressed with this frenetic lead single to the trio's final album as we Aussies were if it barely managed to scrap by on this list and was unable to appear on the list for the following year.

If you ever wanted to know what Pharrell Williams was up to prior to becoming an in-demand producer, he was a member of this funk rock group who managed to score their one and only hit this year with this jam throughout the world. This was another minor hit here in Australia that was likely the victim of the Australian idol phenomenon, however it was at least enough of a success in NZ to make it on this site.

You'd think that if I were to mention a song from Bubba Sparxxx (another bad hip hop name) I'd be mentioning "Ms new booty" given how that was the big hit he had in his native America, alas we're instead looking at a song from his debut album that became a surprise hit in NZ despite it flopping on the Billboard charts when it came out.