"Feds Watching" is a song written and performed by American rapper

2 Chainz Tauheed K. Epps (born September 12, 1977), known professionally as 2 Chainz (or Tity Boi), is an American rapper. Born and raised in College Park, Georgia, he initially gained recognition as one-half of the Southern hip hop duo Playaz Circle, al ...

featuring fellow American musician

Pharrell Williams Pharrell Lanscilo Williams (; born April 5, 1973) is an American record producer, rapper, singer, and songwriter. Alongside close colleague Chad Hugo, he formed the hip hop and R&B production duo the Neptunes in the early 1990s, with whom he ...

. Produced by the latter, it released on June 4, 2013 as the

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release s ...

from the former's second studio album '' B.O.A.T.S. II: Me Time'' (2013). The song has since peaked at number 66 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100.

Background

On June 2, 2013, 2 Chainz premiered "Feds Watching" at the

Hot 97 WQHT (97.1 FM, ''Hot 97'') is a commercial radio station, licensed to New York, New York, which broadcasts an urban contemporary music format. The station is owned by Mediaco Holding and operated by Emmis Communications under a shared service ...

's Summer Jam, the first single from his second studio album. The song features

and was recorded on 2013 Grammy Awards night. The song was released to

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

two days later, on June 4, 2013.

Music video

The music video, released June 30, 2013 and was directed by Ryan Hope. A theme highly emphasized in the music video is that

featured many dark-skinned women as extras in the video. ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' gave the music video a positive review stating: "It should be illegal for this many attractive women to be in the same place at the same time. 'Feds Watching' serves a disproportional male to female ratio in an exotic, secluded bachelor pad.". ''

The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...

'' also gave the video a positive review stating: "2 Chainz' 'Feds Watching' video follows the luxury rap music video formula with one notable twist. In the song, 2 Chainz raps about sporting Commes des Garcons and Alexander Wang clothing because 'if the Fed's watching,' he'd like to be 'fresh as hell.' (It turns out, of course, that they are watching.) The visuals for the song are appropriately lavish, with most of the action taking place in a Los Angeles mansion perched above the city."

Critical reception

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' ranked the song at 81 on their list of the 100 best songs of 2013.

Pitchfork Media ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music publication (currently owned by Condé Nast) that was launched in 1995 by writer Ryan Schreiber as an independent music blog. Schreiber started Pitchfork while working ...

positioned it at number 69 on their list of the 100 best songs of 2013. It was ranked at number 23 on '' XXL''s list of the 25 best songs of the year.

Remixes

A remix was released on September 1, 2013 via

Lil Wayne Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September 27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. His career began in 1995, at the age of 12, when he was signed by rapper Birdman (rapper), ...

's mixtape, ''

Dedication 5 ''Dedication 5'' is a mixtape by American rapper Lil Wayne, hosted by DJ Drama. The mixtape was released on September 1, 2013. It is the fifth installment of Lil Wayne's "''Dedication''" series, following its predecessors '' The Dedication'', ''De ...

''. The remix features verses from Lil Wayne and T.I. All three artists were on tour together at the time of the recording.

Nelly Cornell Iral Haynes Jr. (born November 2, 1974), better known by his stage name Nelly, is an American rapper, singer, actor and entrepreneur. He embarked on his music career with the hip hop group St. Lunatics in 1993 and signed to Universal ...

also released a remix of the song.

Track listing

; Digital single

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

External links

{{authority control 2013 singles 2 Chainz songs Pharrell Williams songs Song recordings produced by Pharrell Williams Songs written by Pharrell Williams Def Jam Recordings singles 2013 songs Songs written by 2 Chainz