The Watcher 2 by JAY-Z (Ft. Dr. Dre, Rakim & Truth Hurts)
The Watcher 2 by JAY-Z (Ft. Dr. Dre, Rakim & Truth Hurts)

The Watcher 2

JAY-Z & Dr. Dre & Rakim & Truth Hurts * Track #3 On The Blueprint² The Gift & The Curse

Download "The Watcher 2"

The Watcher 2 by JAY-Z (Ft. Dr. Dre, Rakim & Truth Hurts)

Release Date
Tue Nov 12 2002
Performed by
JAY-ZDr. Dre & Rakim & Truth Hurts
Produced by
Dr. Dre & Scott Storch
Writed by
JAY-Z & Dr. Dre & Rakim & Scott Storch & Ab-Liva
About

This is Dre’s sequel to “The Watcher” from his album 2001 : a sign of Jay’s respect for Dre

Featuring a rare guest verse by Rakim, the song has a decidedly old-head tone. The three are “The Watchers” watching the ghetto, like thug angels

The Watcher 2 Lyrics

[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
I'm 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 cause 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

[Chorus: 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

[Chorus: 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

[Chorus: 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

[Outro]
The Watcher
The Watcher
I'm watching, The Watcher
Bah, bah, The Watcher
The Watcher

The Watcher 2 Q&A

Who wrote The Watcher 2's ?

The Watcher 2 was written by JAY-Z & Dr. Dre & Rakim & Scott Storch & Ab-Liva.

Who produced The Watcher 2's ?

The Watcher 2 was produced by Dr. Dre & Scott Storch.

When did JAY-Z release The Watcher 2?

JAY-Z released The Watcher 2 on Tue Nov 12 2002.

Does Dre spit a different verse to the original?

Dre’s verse is entirely different to the two he spat on the original, and Eminem isn’t present during the hook.

Jay does take Dre’s opening bar and spins his own version of that verse, which is ironic, because it’s claimed Dre’s verses were ghostwritten by Nas.

Was a follow-up ever recorded?

No, but in 2014 Rakim said he’d like to do a follow-up record:

It was definitely a good, little get together with me and Dre. You know what I mean? And hopefully we’ll do it again, man. 2014. Ya heard Jay? Ya heard Dre? Let’s do it, man. 2015, the new ‘Watcher.’ Keep watching.

What did JAY-Z say about "The Watcher 2"?

Rakim told Who? Mag TV that the song was originally recorded for Dr. Dre, and that Jay heard it and wanted it:

That was a Dre project, man. A joint that I did for Dre. Jay Z heard it and the rest is history, man.

Is this the first collaboration between Jay and Dre?

Dre appeared on Jay’s 1999 track “Watch Me”, performing the intro and the hook. Jay was listed as a writer on Dre’s 2001, on “Still D.R.E.” The two would later appear on “Under Pressure” and “Syllables,” and Dre would produce a large portion of Jay’s 2007 album American Gangster.

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