It's hard to believe that these guys began their career as a legitimate west coast hip hop trio rather than a pop friendly hip hop group that's best known for their female vocalist who wasn't originally part of the group, although they did score their first hit with a female vocalist as Macy Gray is on here to provide the trio with a chorus to connect their verses together that appealed to the kiwis this year.
#77 for 2001
I guess the kiwis weren't as on board with Eminem airing out his dirty laundry on this single like we Aussies were given how much less successful it was over there compared to what it achieved over here, although it was a decent success there which goes to show that they were willing to allow him to have a more serious hit as opposed to the comedy tracks from earlier in his career.
#78 for 2002
This was the third entry from Eminem's comeback album Relapse, it's a ballad that was meant to showcase his more sensitive side the same way that "Mockingbird" did from his earlier album. It appears the kiwis were touched by this track as it became a modest success for him over there, although it did nothing for us Aussies as it flopped over here.
#66 for 2009 (#40 website)
This narrowly missed out on appearing on the Australian side of my site due to how quickly it fell from our charts, I'm guessing it was pulled from shelves as it did rather poorly on our digital charts suggesting that its success was more due to its physical sales back in the day. It was a much bigger hit in NZ which means this collaboration between U2 and Green day was able to have a full chart run over there.
#80 for 2006
You would've thought this would've been an even bigger hit over in NZ than it was here in Australia due to how big his entries were both solo and with the Game from earlier on this list, I suppose the kiwis felt he was a tad overexposed over there this year which is why this was only as successful there as it was over here for 50 Cent.
#72 for 2005 (#44 website)
We looked at the first song that the Lonely Island released in their catalogue on the Australian side of my site, now let's look at the big hit that they had in NZ this year which was this track where they recruited T-Pain to sing about the luxuries of owning a boat they likely purchased with the royalties from their first single.
#69 for 2009
It appears the kiwis were just as intrigued by this collaboration between Fat Joe and Ashanti (and Ja Rule if you listen to the chorus closely enough) as we Aussies were that it manages to retain a similar position on this list as its Australian counterpart. Unlike here in Australia where he remains a one hit wonder, he did manage a second hit in NZ as the lead rapper for his group Terror squad later in the decade.
#75 for 2002
I guess the kiwis were thoroughly unimpressed with Ashanti back in the day given how her one and only international hit barely managed to make a reappearance on this side of my site despite how popular it was here in Australia and her native America. I would say it was because the kiwis didn't like her presence overall except all of her collaborations with Ja Rule managed to reappear on this side of my site.
#79 for 2002
Even though this was released on time in NZ as opposed to being delayed here in Australia (likely due to shenanigans when it came to streaming in both countries) this didn't achieve any more success over there than it did over here, suggesting that Rihanna's popularity was fleeting from the beginning and only became more sustainable as the decade went on.
#73 for 2006
This was the final hit to come from Vengaboy's debut album, although it was released on the deluxe edition of the album which perhaps explains why it managed to be a chart topper in NZ at the start of the decade despite having a rather low placement on this list of mine. Their next single would be their earlier entry on this list which no doubt overshadowed this song even throughout the year.
#63 for 2000
Given how this song has Akon on the chorus as well as Krayzie Bone having a huge hit the previous year on Chamillionaire's "Riding," it only makes sense that this track from Bone Thugs n Harmony would achieve massive success in NZ this year despite the group not having a hit over there since "Home" from four years prior.
#65 for 2007 (#23 website)
I guess the kiwis were more ashamed by this being a success this year than we Aussies were given how it was pulled from their shelves over there likely due to the sexist lyrics rubbing them the wrong way, admittedly this was also eventually pulled from shelves here in Australia, suggesting that even back then, there was a limit to how far you can go about objectifying women in pop culture.
#60 for 2000
We have another appearance from Nesian Mystik on this list, this time it's with the fourth single from their debut album which proved to be a moderate success for the band this year which goes to show how much they were on a roll during the first half of the decade with their brand of RNB and hip hop.
#76 for 2003
This proved to be equally as successful in NZ as it was here in Australia, I guess the kiwis were just as interested in listening to Beyonce reconcile her differences with Shakira over dating the same guy as we Aussies were given that this also managed to boost the popularity of the former's second solo album whilst giving the latter one final hit before she faded into obscurity in the southern hemisphere.
#70 for 2007 (#37 website)
This is the third version of the Rockwell classic I've now featured on this site, the other two being the original and the DJ Bobo version which I feel counts as that heavily relies on the nostalgia of the former track. This is a straight cover of the 80's hip hop track by Dutch group Beatfreakz, naturally it was a hit in NZ due to the unwritten rule of allowing Dutch artists to dominate their charts being in effect this year.
#75 for 2006
This would've been the last hit that Mariah Carey had anywhere in the world were it not for her 2013 effort "#beautiful" which became big that year due to having a # in its title, I guess it's safe to say that the 90's diva had to resort to meme culture to keep her relevancy going given how this song references YouTube among other things that made it a success in NZ but not here in Australia.
#55 for 2008
This proved to be equally as successful in NZ as it was here in Australia for Ciara, again likely due to Ludacris's guest verse which helped it stand out from the now obscure competition from many of her counterparts such as Keysha Cole and Fantasia back in the day. Whereas she wouldn't trouble our charts again until the end of the decade, Ciara would score two more hits in NZ in addition to her collaboration with JT.
#71 for 2005 (#43 website)
This was slightly more successful in NZ than it was here in Australia, or rather, it wasn't pulled from shelves over there despite it quickly falling off the charts given how families who went to see Rugrats in Paris eventually discovered the mature content of the lyrics which caused quite the outrage back in the day. This has since been used in sporting events, or rather the chorus has for teams that have a dog as a mascot.
#62 for 2000
Talk about a song that only saw a fraction of its success in NZ it achieved here in Australia, this barely managed to reappear on this side of my site despite it being one of the biggest hits of the decade down under proving just how the tides had turned for the Scissor sisters in the southern hemisphere. I guess the trade-off was that their second album was a success over there which wasn't the case for their debut.
#79 for 2006
This barely missed the cut from appearing on the Australian side of my site due to being too much of a sleeper hit to do so, however the opposite was the case for "Viva la Vida" in NZ as the kiwis were more interested in this lead single to their magnum opus named after that second single this year.
#64 for 2008
It's a bit strange that Bow wow failed to appear on this side of my site as a child star given how underage hip hop was all the rage in NZ over the years, however they seemed to be more interested in his work once he matured starting with this collaboration he made with RNB singer Omarion. This was a minor hit here in Australia, although it was too minor to make an appearance on that side of my site.
#75 for 2005
I guess the kiwis had a bit more of a soft spot for this lead single to Puddle of Mudd's breakthrough album than we Aussies did, the trade-off of course being that "She hates me" was a huge flop over there despite it being a massive success over here the following year. Still, they have the comfort of giving them a hit with this ballad about coping with domestic violence that people still have fond memories of.
#83 for 2002
Before they were members of the Cheetah Girls (a Disney girl group that I'm sure some would appreciate me referencing) 3 Little Ladies (3LW for short) were an RNB group who scored their one and only hit with this track about no putting up with a bad partner in a relationship. The song has sparked criticism for having the girls repeat the last word of a sentence in each of the verses.
#61 for 2000
#68 for 2001
Apparently, the kiwis weren't as interested in listening to Jay-Z and his future wife Beyonce declare themselves as the (then) modern (and white I suppose) Bonnie and Clyde on this track as we Aussies were, then again, Jay-Z was somehow even less popular over there than he was over here given how none of his singles managed to rank as high on these lists of mine over there as they did over here.
#73 for 2003
Honestly, I'm a bit surprised that this only charted for one Christmas season in NZ given how immensely popular the other two hits that the Crazy Frog had over there were, heck I'm even surprised that it didn't linger into the new year even if Christmas singles are traditionally pulled from shelves to prevent that from happening nowadays.
#68 for 2005 (#10 website)
Although this was released on time in NZ as opposed to three months late here in Australia, it appears that the punctuality of the songs release over there was a curse in disguise given how much less popular it was compared to what it would eventually become on our charts for the unknown RNB singer. This was a shockingly common trend for RNB artists of the early 00's as you've no doubt already noticed.
#79 for 2001
We have another entry from Timbaland's album as a lead artist to make it on this site, this time it's his collaboration with Keri Hilson and Nicole Scherzinger from the Pussycat dolls presumably as a follow up to Timbaland and Keri's collaboration from the previous year which connected with the kiwis.
#69 for 2008
Well at least the kiwis didn't seem to be as impressed with this cover of the Don McLean classic Madonna made for her film the Next best thing as we Aussies were this year, although the fact it was still a hit regardless proved that it was at least at the time seen as a worthy take on the timeless classic from nearly three decades prior.
#75 for 2000
This is the sequel track to a song where the two men have their roles reversed, that is, Ne-yo is the main artist and Plies was the featured rapper. I guess the kiwis wanted to hear Plies as the main artist with this song given how both songs are about wanting a girl to shake her groove thing and that Ne-yo wasn't particularly known for his strip club anthems.
#70 for 2008
This is the final hit that Stellar were able to achieve in their homeland, it was a decent success for the band in lieu of the album it came from which was a massive disappointment for them even though it spawned two of their bigger hits in their catalogue.
#82 for 2002
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.
#73 for 2004
These guys were on a roll this year when they released their second single from their comeback album, this time they've swapped out Akon for Mariah Carey and also recruited Bow Wow to provide an additional rap verse that helped this become a success over in NZ for the hip hop quartet. Sadly, this was the last hit they had anywhere in the world as their luck had run out after this.
#72 for 2007
Unlike in Australia where P!nk saw immediate success with her comeback album I'm not dead, it appears the rest of the world wasn't initially on board with the direction she would take as they felt this lead single and its message was a bit too on the nose for what she was trying to say about (then) modern society. Of course, the kiwis eventually saw the genius of the album when it became a success the following year.
#70 for 2006
This is the only other new entry from Ciara to appear on this site, this time she recruits 50 Cent who was still relatively popular at the time (as evidence by his earlier entry on this list) which was able to give the RNB star more success following the failure of her single "Like a boy" internationally. Said single is basically "If I were a boy" done in a way that's tongue in cheek rather than completely serious.
#69 for 2007
I guess the kiwis weren't as impressed with this posse cut from Ja rule, Ashanti and R Kelly compared to us Aussies given how this lasted much longer on our charts than it did on theirs, although at least this now means all of the former's "thugs need love too" tracks have reappeared on this side of my site, proving that he did indeed have a formular that helped him stand out from his contemporaries over there.
#67 for 2005
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