[Intro - 2pac Talking]

[Chorus - Woman]


[2pac - Verse One]


I never had much, ran with a bad bunch
Little skinny kid sneakin weed in my bag lunch
And all through Junior High, we was just gettin by

And drivebys robbed my homies of their young lives
I never did cry, and even though I had
pain in my heart, I was hopeless from the start

They couldn't tell me nothin, they all tried to help to help me
The !@!@&& had my mind gone it wasn't healthy
I travelled places, caught cases, what a ill year

I felt the pain and the rain but I'm still here
Never did like the police, let the whole world know
Now I gets no peace, cause they chasin me down

And facin me now, what do I do?
These thangs that a Thug goes through
And still I rise so keep ya head up, and make ya mind strong

It's a struggle every day but you gotta hold on

[Chorus - Woman]


[2pac - Verse Two]


There's, never a good day, cause in my hood they
let they AK's pump strays where the kids play
And every Halloween, check out the murder scene

Can't help but duplicate the violence seen on the screen
My homies dyin 'fore they get to see they birthdays
These is the worst days, sometimes it hurts to pray

And even God turned his back on the ghetto youth
I know that ain't the truth, sometimes I look for proof
I wonder if heaven got a ghetto, and if it does

Does it matter if you blood or you cuz
Remember how it was, the picnics and the parties in the projects
Small time drinkin gettin high with them armies

Just another knucklehead kid from the gutter
I'm dealin with the madness, raised by a single mother
I'm tryin to tell you when it's on

You gotta keep your head to the sky and be strong, most of all hold on

[Chorus - Woman]