Released: November 12, 2002

Featuring: Dr. Dre Rakim Truth Hurts

Songwriter: Dr. Dre Scott Storch Ab-Liva Rakim JAY-Z

Producer: Scott Storch Dr. Dre

[Intro: Jay-Z]
The Watcher!
Jeah
Ugh
Shit I do for a livin', nigga
Shit I eat for a livin', nigga (The Watcher!)
That's how I live for a livin', nigga
Watching
'Kay, let's do this
The Watcher!

[Verse 1: Jay-Z]
Things just ain't the same for gangstas
But I'm a lil' too famous to shoot these pranksters
All of these rap singers, claiming they bangers
Doing all sorts of twisted shit with they fingers
Disrespectin' the game, no home training or manners
I was doing this shit when you was shitting in Pampers
I was moving them grams 'fore you knew what a hand-to-hand was
Ducking the vans, radars, and scanners
Before you knew what "hard white" or "tan" was
I was hitting the turnpike, aight with the bammers
I was nice with my hands, cuz, I'm hype with them hammers
I was pricking my finger 'fore you knew what a fam' was
I had it laid out 'fore you knew what a plan was
Three hundred mil' later—now you understand us
Y'all ain't see us coming through Vegas
You ever seen so much cham' bust in one night?
Grand, fucked up one fight
I was on the Peter Pan bus
You was putting Peter Pan up in your room
Y'all fuckin' with whom?
Allow me to retort:
You cowards is just now learnin' the shit that we taught
You niggas ain't know about a Robb Report
'Bout a high-speed Porsche
I.e., you niggas ain't know how to floss
'Til I came through the door, like "Eric B. for Prez"
Respect me in this bitch!
You can't disrespect us ‘cause you got a little check cut
You was sucking 'em so long, fucking your lil' neck up
Now, you too big for your britches
You got a few little bitches
You think you Hugh Hef', but you just ridiculous
I blew breath for you midgets, I gave life to the game
It's only right, I got the right to be king
Niggas that got life really like what I sing
‘Cause they know it's really like, niggas feel my pain
Know the shit I don't write
Be the illest shit that's ever been recited in the game
Word to the hyphen in my name!
J-A-Y, Dash, Hoffa
The past, present, nigga, the future, proper
The Holy Trinity in hip-hop is us
We give Dre his props, but that's where it stops
It's the Roc!

[Bridge: Truth Hurts]
I know
You got your eyes on me
I feel you watching me
But it ain't hard to see that you can't see me
You try
But what you think you saw
Ain't what you thought you saw
You better off not looking at all

[Hook: Terri]
Everywhere that I go
Ain't the same as before
People I used to know
Just don't know me no more
But everywhere that I go
I got people I know
Who got people they know
So I suggest you lay low

[Verse 2: Dr. Dre]
I'm still on top of the game
Still droppin' flames, still cock and aim
Still at the top, had to rock for the fame over setbacks
There's been a lot since I came
You seen it all, how I got, how I gained
The momentum when it dropped, how I got through the pain
When I roll and shock, they watched me reclaim the streets
They made a special spot for my name
Dre, haters want a stop to my reign
But the music lives in me, every drop in my veins
The pride and the pain
All the way back from the rise of my name
See the world clear through the eyes of the man
See the world cheer for the rhymes that I gave
When the beat bangs, it'll drive 'em insane
The odds that I played
The best to emerge in the game: It's The Watcher

[Bridge: Truth Hurts]
I know
You got your eyes on me
I feel you watching me
But it ain't hard to see that you can't see me
You try
But what you think you saw
Ain't what you thought you saw
You better off not looking at all

[Hook: Terri]
Everywhere that I go
Ain't the same as before
People I used to know
Just don't know me no more
But everywhere that I go
I got people I know
Who got people they know
So I suggest you lay low

[Verse 3: Rakim]
I'm rated R, my brain contains graphic things
It turn traumatic teens into addicts and fiends
It's like watching a movie through a panoramic screen
Which means I can see the whole planet in the scene
Cash is the topic—the object? A fatter pocket
Some take the crack and chop it
But those that haven't got it take away to add a profit
It's catastrophic, I take the gat and cock it
And I'll sit back and watch it
These New York streets is ugly, I keep it gully
The world is mine, and can't nobody keep it from me
Yo, my neighborhood is never sunny
In the place where the number one cause of death is money
You can try coping
I seen enough shit to leave your frame of mind broken
I'm still alive and scoping
Be another hundred years 'til my skies close in
And I'ma die with my eyes open—The Watcher

[Bridge: Truth Hurts]
I know
You got your eyes on me
I feel you watching me
But it ain't hard to see that you can't see me
You try
But what you think you saw
Ain't what you thought you saw
You better off not looking at all

[Hook: Terri]
Everywhere that I go
Ain't the same as before
People I used to know
Just don't know me no more
But everywhere that I go
I got people I know
Who got people they know
So I suggest you lay low

JAY-Z

Having sold over 100 million records worldwide, and holding the solo artist record of 14 Billboard 200 #1 albums, Shawn “JAY-Z” Carter is possibly the most talented, accomplished and respected rapper of all-time. He has released 13 studio albums and five collaborative albums over his 30-year career.

Three of his albums, Reasonable Doubt, The Blueprint, and The Black Album, are considered landmarks in the genre, with all of them featured in Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. Hov has won 21 Grammy Awards from sixty-four nominations, making him the 10th most awarded artist of all-time.

Legendary for never writing down his lyrics, JAY-Z’s flow is considered one of the greatest to grace the genre, his wordplay and metaphorical ability is unmatched, and his live shows push the envelope of what it means to be a hip hop artist. His MTV Unplugged appearance introduced the idea of having a full band (The Roots) backing up a hip hop artist at major concerts, and during his 2004 documentary Fade to Black he doubled down, selling out Madison Square Garden (in mere minutes) while featuring an enormous live band performance.