What They Want Lyrics
[Intro]
Yeah (Ooh)
Yeah (Oh)
They let us in the rap game (Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)
I swear they let me in this motherfucking rap game (Mmm, yeah, yeah)
[Verse 1]
Got a chick, I call her Lola, she feel like the ocean
Like to drink and smoke some doja and I feel like smoking
Plus she good at charming cobras, I feel like I'm chosen
But she ain't the only one, no
Got a chick, I call her Katia, she be acting bougie
Then she came through and topped me off, now she just a groupie
Got the aura of the Mafia, her friends wish they knew me
But they ain't the only ones, no, no
[Chorus]
What they want, what they want, what they want
Dollar signs, yeah, I know it's what they want
What they want, what they want, what they want
Y'all ain't fooling me at all, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh
[Verse 2]
I been at this shit for nine years, now they start to call
I'm a DIY pioneer, they trying to get involved
Yippee ki-yay, ah yeah, 'bout to set it off
I'm probably the only one, yeah
Come correct when you approach me, I can size you up
Taking all the shots like Kobe, almost 81
Guess I got to play the goalie and go and save me some
I'm probably the only one, yeah
What they want, what they want, what they want
Dollar signs, yeah, I know it's what they want
What they want, what they want, what they want
Y'all ain't fooling me at all, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh
[Verse 3]
Who wants my money? I'll tell you who I don't fuck with
Who's pulling strings? I'm just pointing out all the puppets
What I'm demanding is fucking up all the budgets
I'm smart as fuck, they be talking like I'm the dumbest
But I know what they want from me, dollars, lot of stock in me
It ain't nothing personal, it's business and I'm a commodity
But honestly, Pop Pop would be turning in his grave
The day I let someone else become the boss of me
When there's a boss in me, I'll be damned
[Chorus]
What they want, what they want, what they want
Dollar signs, yeah, I know it's what they want
What they want, what they want, what they want
Y'all ain't fooling me at all
[Outro]
Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh
About
“What They Want” is Russ' 37th single. The song is a response to labels—Russ is saying he’s better off without them. On January 2, 2016, a little over four months after being released, “What They Want” reached its first million plays. People continued to listen and the song grew popularity, making it Russ' first song to reach 3 million plays.
On May 3, 2016, the official music video for “What They Want” was released via Russ' YouTube. The video was directed by Edgar Esteves with help from Juanma Sierra. It also gained a spot on World Star Hip Hop a day after its release.
After the release of the music video, the song got recycled and gained more attention. And now the song is quickly reaching 4 million plays on SoundCloud alone. It also got to the “Hot Tracks” section on iTunes on May 6th, among artists like Drake, Migos, Desiigner, and more.
On the 15th of July 2017, Russ posted a video on his twitter and facebook of how he made the beat :
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
A lot of times with me, what comes first—what I hope comes first—is the melody. And then I just fit the words into the melody, it’s like a puzzle. That first verse melody, that shit instantly came out, and the words kind of came out, too. This one, I made the beat in the studio and instantly did. It’s a minimal beat. I like minimal. It’s like four instruments. So it didn’t take long at all.
On how the song helped people discover his music catalogue:
“What They Want” is just the first one that went as far as it did, for whatever reason, and if you come to a show of mine I do 34 songs and “What They Want” is the last one; [it’s] helping people discover the catalog, which is super important to me.
-via Billboard (2016)
- 1.I’m Here
- 2.The Stakeout
- 3.Act Now
- 4.Cherry Hill
- 5.Me You
- 6.Ride Slow
- 7.Don’t Lie
- 8.Do It Myself
- 10.Family & Friends
- 11.What They Want
- 12.Got This
- 13.No Turning Back
- 14.Losin Control
- 15.Scared
- 16.Back To You
- 17.One More Shot
- 18.Emergency
- 19.Pull the Trigger
- 20.MVP
