Truth Hurts: after paying her dues in the background, this rising L.A. powerhouse is in command of the mike

While most hip-hop crews and R&B ringleaders promise to keep things real, 30-year-old Shari Watson went one better and took the stage name Truth Hurts. The St. Louis native, who now resides in Los Angeles, has a BS detector so sharp that she could barely believe it when she was offered a deal on Aftermath by Dr. Dre himself. Now, with her debut album, Truthfully Speaking, she's the first lady of the label.

TEENA MARIE: You seem like an overnight sensation. Have you been at it for years?

TRUTH HURTS: Mmm-hmm. I have been grinding and hustling in the music game since '92. I was in a girl group on Giant, but the company folded. So from there, I just kept hustling as a songwriter and background artist.

TM: I heard Dre gave you your name.

TH: Yeah. Dre tried to put me in one of his groups, and then he was like, "I'm not using you for the group, but continue writing and stay on board." He watched how I did business. When he said he wanted someone to break into the R&B scene with, I was like, "Um, I don't know." [laughs] He was trippin' that I was laid back about it. So that's why he gave me the name Truth Hurts.

TM: That's really interesting. I kind of got the name Lady Tee for the same reason. I was working with almost every producer in L.A. and by the time Marie's one-time partner] came around, they were like, "We want you to work with this guy, it'll be the bomb." I'm like, "Yeah, yeah, whatever." But it was great.

TH: I bet he loved how relaxed you were about teaming up.

TM: Yeah, but I almost fought it. OK, so truth hurts--but what else does truth do? Give me three other words.

TN: OK. Truth loves. Truth believes. Truth makes a difference.

TM: Where do your writing skills come from?

TH: I tell everybody I didn't learn how to write until I was 23. But I wasn't a poet. I just got into what I felt. I wish I had that poet's skill, because listen to what Jill Scott does...

TM: But that's what makes you you. We don't need another Jill. We have a Jill. And now we have a Truth. I think that's the problem in a lot of music. We've got these record labels, saying things like--

TH:--"I've got the next so-and-so; I've got the next Whitney." Yeah. Music is getting lost in the. midst of all this mess. There's no more passion on records, and I hate that. And the fact that you have to be 12 to get into the music industry--the record company was like, "Well, we're not going to say she's 30." Why the hell not? What's wrong with my being 30? I think it should be a rule!

TM: So, what do you love about L.A.?

TH: There's a freedom in L.A. that I never felt in St. Louis--you feel like you can go as far as you can go and you can be who you want to be.

TM: OK. Well, I'll be talking to you soon. I want to sing with you.

TH: Oh, we're doing that. That's a given. [Teena Marie hangs up]

TH: [screams] Oh God! I can't believe it! I talked to Teena Marie!

Teena Marie is on tour this fall. Left: Top and shorts by MIU MIU. Boots by CESARE PACIOTTI. Styling: JOANNA JACOVINI. Hair: DERRICK KEITH. Makeup: VANESSA EVELYN. For fashion and photo details see page 195. Photographer: NICOLAS WAGNER.

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