Released: February 29, 2000
Featuring: N.O.R.E. Eminem
Songwriter: B-Real DJ Muggs Eminem N.O.R.E.
Producer: DJ Muggs
[Intro: Eminem speaking]
"You know, people just don't...
People just don't see
How much work is really involved in this rap shit
I didn't know it, I didn't see it
I never saw it until I was actually in it
You really gotta be in it
To understand what it's like
But you always gotta
People always gotta see you smile
You always gotta put on that fake...
You know what I'm sayin'?
No matter what you just been through
Shit has gotta be right"
[Chorus: B-Real]
So you wanna be a rap superstar
And live large
A big house, five cars, you're in charge
Comin' up in the world
Don't trust nobody
Gotta look over your shoulder constantly
[Verse 1: B-Real]
I remember the days when I was a young kid growin' up
Lookin' in the mirror dreamin' about blowin' up
To rock crowds, make money
Chill with the honeys
Sign autographs and whatever the people want from me
Shit's funny
How impossible dreams manifest
And the games that be comin' with it
Never the less you got to go for the gusto
But you don't know about the blood sweat and tears
And losin' some of your peers
And losin' some of your self
Through the years past, gone by
Hopefully it don't manifest for the wrong guy
Egomaniac and the brainiac
Don't know how to act
Shit's deep
48 tracks
Studio gangsta mack
Signed a deal, thinks he's gonna make a mil'
But never will
'Til he crosses over, still
Fillin' your head with fantasies
Come with me
Show the sacrifice it takes to make the cheese
You wanna be a rap superstar in the biz
And take shit from people who don't know what it is
I wish it was all fun and games
But the price of fame is high
And some can't pay to play
Feelin' trapped in
What you rappin' about
Tell me what happened when you lost clout
The route you took started collapsin'
No fans, no fame
No respect, no change
No women
And everybody shits on your name
[Chorus: B-Real]
So you wanna be a rap superstar
And live large
A big house, five cars, you're in charge
Comin' up in the world
Don't trust nobody
Gotta look over your shoulder constantly
To be a rap superstar
And live large
A big house, five cars, you're in charge
Comin' up in the world
Don't trust nobody
Gotta look over your shoulder constantly
[Interlude: Noreaga speaking]
When you sign to a record label
You don't know you sign your life over
And these white boys don't care about you
'Cause the minute you fall off
They'll find another Noreaga
And they'll find another Capone-N-Noreaga
And they'll find another B-Real
So you need to just keep
Stack your chips up
Do what you gotta do while you hot
And motherfuckin' get out the game
Just stick to the drug game
It's even worse because in the drug game
If somebody jerk you
You can shoot 'em and kill 'em and
If you, in this game if somebody jerk you
You gotta be humble
[Eminem Speaking]
No matter what you just been through
Shit has gotta be right
You gotta approach people
You gotta be on the up and up
And everything's gotta be all good
When you see someone, slap hands with 'em
You know what I'm sayin'
Give 'em a pound or whatever it is, you know
But you always gotta act like it ain't shit
[Chorus: B-Real]
So you wanna be a rap superstar
And live large
A big house, five cars, you're in charge
Comin' up in the world
Don't trust nobody
Gotta look over your shoulder constantly
To be a rap superstar
And live large
A big house, five cars, you're in charge
Comin' up in the world
Don't trust nobody
Gotta look over your shoulder constantly
[Verse 2: B-Real]
My own son don't know me
Sittin up in the hotel room lonely
But I thank God I'm wit my homies
But sometimes I wish I was back home
But only no radio or videos
Cuz they show me no love
The phony gotta hit the road slowly
So the record gets pushed by Sony
I'm in the middle like Monie
And the press say that
My own people disown me
And the best way back
Is to keep your head straight
Never inflate the cranium
Your crew worried about them honies at The Palladium
Who just wanna cling on and swing on
And so on and go on and fall off
The hoes fall off
To the next rap superstar
Wit no shame give him a year
And they'll be right out the game
The same as the last one
Who came before him
Gained fame
Started gettin ignored
I warned him
Assured him
This ain't easy take it from Weezy
Sleezy people wanna be cheesey
They talkin evil
[Chorus: B-Real]
So you wanna be a rap superstar
And live large
A big house, five cars, you're in charge
Comin' up in the world
Don't trust nobody
Gotta look over your shoulder constantly
To be a rap superstar
And live large
A big house, five cars, you're in charge
Comin' up in the world
Don't trust nobody
Gotta look over your shoulder constantly
"You know, people just don't...
People just don't see
How much work is really involved in this rap shit
I didn't know it, I didn't see it
I never saw it until I was actually in it
You really gotta be in it
To understand what it's like
But you always gotta
People always gotta see you smile
You always gotta put on that fake...
You know what I'm sayin'?
No matter what you just been through
Shit has gotta be right"
[Chorus: B-Real]
So you wanna be a rap superstar
And live large
A big house, five cars, you're in charge
Comin' up in the world
Don't trust nobody
Gotta look over your shoulder constantly
[Verse 1: B-Real]
I remember the days when I was a young kid growin' up
Lookin' in the mirror dreamin' about blowin' up
To rock crowds, make money
Chill with the honeys
Sign autographs and whatever the people want from me
Shit's funny
How impossible dreams manifest
And the games that be comin' with it
Never the less you got to go for the gusto
But you don't know about the blood sweat and tears
And losin' some of your peers
And losin' some of your self
Through the years past, gone by
Hopefully it don't manifest for the wrong guy
Egomaniac and the brainiac
Don't know how to act
Shit's deep
48 tracks
Studio gangsta mack
Signed a deal, thinks he's gonna make a mil'
But never will
'Til he crosses over, still
Fillin' your head with fantasies
Come with me
Show the sacrifice it takes to make the cheese
You wanna be a rap superstar in the biz
And take shit from people who don't know what it is
I wish it was all fun and games
But the price of fame is high
And some can't pay to play
Feelin' trapped in
What you rappin' about
Tell me what happened when you lost clout
The route you took started collapsin'
No fans, no fame
No respect, no change
No women
And everybody shits on your name
[Chorus: B-Real]
So you wanna be a rap superstar
And live large
A big house, five cars, you're in charge
Comin' up in the world
Don't trust nobody
Gotta look over your shoulder constantly
To be a rap superstar
And live large
A big house, five cars, you're in charge
Comin' up in the world
Don't trust nobody
Gotta look over your shoulder constantly
[Interlude: Noreaga speaking]
When you sign to a record label
You don't know you sign your life over
And these white boys don't care about you
'Cause the minute you fall off
They'll find another Noreaga
And they'll find another Capone-N-Noreaga
And they'll find another B-Real
So you need to just keep
Stack your chips up
Do what you gotta do while you hot
And motherfuckin' get out the game
Just stick to the drug game
It's even worse because in the drug game
If somebody jerk you
You can shoot 'em and kill 'em and
If you, in this game if somebody jerk you
You gotta be humble
[Eminem Speaking]
No matter what you just been through
Shit has gotta be right
You gotta approach people
You gotta be on the up and up
And everything's gotta be all good
When you see someone, slap hands with 'em
You know what I'm sayin'
Give 'em a pound or whatever it is, you know
But you always gotta act like it ain't shit
[Chorus: B-Real]
So you wanna be a rap superstar
And live large
A big house, five cars, you're in charge
Comin' up in the world
Don't trust nobody
Gotta look over your shoulder constantly
To be a rap superstar
And live large
A big house, five cars, you're in charge
Comin' up in the world
Don't trust nobody
Gotta look over your shoulder constantly
[Verse 2: B-Real]
My own son don't know me
Sittin up in the hotel room lonely
But I thank God I'm wit my homies
But sometimes I wish I was back home
But only no radio or videos
Cuz they show me no love
The phony gotta hit the road slowly
So the record gets pushed by Sony
I'm in the middle like Monie
And the press say that
My own people disown me
And the best way back
Is to keep your head straight
Never inflate the cranium
Your crew worried about them honies at The Palladium
Who just wanna cling on and swing on
And so on and go on and fall off
The hoes fall off
To the next rap superstar
Wit no shame give him a year
And they'll be right out the game
The same as the last one
Who came before him
Gained fame
Started gettin ignored
I warned him
Assured him
This ain't easy take it from Weezy
Sleezy people wanna be cheesey
They talkin evil
[Chorus: B-Real]
So you wanna be a rap superstar
And live large
A big house, five cars, you're in charge
Comin' up in the world
Don't trust nobody
Gotta look over your shoulder constantly
To be a rap superstar
And live large
A big house, five cars, you're in charge
Comin' up in the world
Don't trust nobody
Gotta look over your shoulder constantly