Watch Dem Niggas Lyrics

[Produced by Trackmasters]

[Verse 1: Nas]
They never realized how real Nas is, so decisive
It's just the likeness of Israelites mist that made me write this
A slight twist of lime rhyme, be chasing down your prime-time
Food for thought, or rather mind wine
The Don Juan features the freak shit
My thesis on how we creep quick
Fucking your wife, that ain't no secret
It's mandatory — see, that pussy, they hand it to me

I got no game, it's just some bitches understand my story
There ain't no drama that my niggas never handled for me
My gator brand is Mauri, walking through rough land before me
Where the snakes put a smile on they face
Hoping and praying I'm stuck
Scoping, they lay in the cut, weighing my luck
Player haters play this in cell blocks and rocked stages
Winking at some female cops with cocked gauges
Really, it's papers I'm addicted to
Wasn't for rap, then I'd be sticking you

The MAC inside the Triple Goose
Face down on the floor's the routine
Don't want hear nobody blow steam
Just C.R.E.A.M. or it's a smoke screen

Imagine that, that's why I hardly kick the bragging raps
I zone, to each his own in this ghetto inhabitant
[Verse 3: Nas, Foxy Brown]
Some niggas watch you (Uhh)
See you when you think you on the low
, ain't hard to spot you
You swore to keep it real after you blow
3 ki's, new V's, went to Anguilla with your ho
Stayed around the hood, smoothest cat getting the dough
Them old-timers advise you to them problems that's ahead
Drama with the Feds, not listening, just bobbing your head
Your Roley shining, thinking to yourself "Nobody's taking mine"
At the same time, your ho is getting snatched from behind
Put in a van, "Where's the hundred grand?!"
Stripping her hand from all the ice
Wouldn't you know? You knew these niggas all your life
What made them mark you victim?
You fucked up somewhere down the line
Now they had to target your Wisdom
She took 'em to your place, straight to your safe
You doubted it could happen, sick of yapping
Jump in your ride, headed to your side
Puffing ganja, get to your crib, can't find her, just a reminder:
Shouldn't have your stash house where you crash out

Could've passed out, your coke is gone, now you ass out
Dead bitches tell no lies, you should use your eyes!

[Chorus: Nas & Foxy Brown, Foxy Brown]
Gotta watch them niggas that's close to you (Uhh)
And make sure they do what they supposed to do (What, hah)
'Cause you know they be thinking 'bout smoking you (Uh)
Never personal, nowadays it's the ways
Watch them niggas that's close to you (Uhh)
And make sure they do what they supposed to do
'Cause you know they be thinking 'bout smoking you (Uh-huh)
Never personal, nowadays it's the ways (Uhh)

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About

Genius Annotation

A rare gem from Nas' It Was Written/ Mafioso phase which saw him jump on the mafioso bandwagon started by Kool G Rap, changing his persona from Nasty Nas/ Nas to Nas Escobar, Watch Dem Niggas is a song of betrayal, which sees an anonymous person addressed in the second person, perhaps the listener or even Nas himself, betrayed by his crew and his women. With a silky smooth bass and synth sample from Earl Klugh, as well as an excellent Foxy Brown hook, this song comes together as an excellent, though relatively unheralded post-Golden Age track. This is also an important track for The Firm, as Foxy Brown and Nas composed half of that hip-hop supergroup.

Nas: “Things were getting a little dangerous. I was hanging with a lot of dangerous people and I think my brother told me, ‘Watch them niggas that’s close to you.’ I just took it from there and made it a song. That’s the one foot still in the street album. They pulled me over and I got arrested at that time in a Lexus, I had no license and I had a gun on me. They took my car and they arrested me. That’s what was happening to me at the time.”

Q&A

Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning

What did Nas say about "Watch Dem Niggas"?
Genius Answer

Nas had this to say to Complex:

Nas: I was hanging with a lot of dangerous people & I think my brother told me, “Watch them niggas that’s close to you.” So I made it a song. I’d been pulled over & arrested at that time in a Lexus—I had no license & I had a gun on me. That’s what was happening to me at the time.

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