[Verse 1] 2Pac
Dear mama, I'm caught up in this sickness
I robbed my adversaries, but slipped and left a witness
Wonder if they'll catch me, or will this n***a snitch
Should I shoot his b**h, or make the n***a rich?
Don't wanna commit murder, but damn they got me trapped
Hawkin while I'm walkin, and talkin behind my back
I'm kind of schizophrenic, I'm in this sh** to win it
Cause life's a Wheel of, Fortune here's my chance to spin it
Got no time for cops, who trip and try to catch me
Too f**in trigger happy, to let them s**ers snatch me
n***as gettin jealous (jealous) tryin to find my stash
Whip out the nine, now I'ma dive and pump your a**
Peter picked a pepper, but I can pick a punk
Snatched him like a b**h, and threw him in the trunk
The punk thought I was bluffin, but swear I'm nothin nice
Before I take your life, first wrestle with these, mics
I listen to him scream, Tray Deee went insane
I guess the little, mites had finally found his brain
New Rovers pull me over, I'm sentenced to the pen
Remember that little, bird, he snitched and told a, friend
It's trouble on my mind, I'm with the old timers
And f** five-oh, blaow blaow. turn em into forty-niners
[Chrous]
Bye bye, I was never meant to live
Can't be positive, when the ghetto's where you live
Bye bye, I was never meant to be
Livin like a thief, runnin through the streets
Bye bye, and I got no place to go...
Where they find me? 16 on d**h Row
[Verse 2] 2Pac
Dear mama, these cops don't understand me
I turned to a life of crime, cause I came from a broken family
My uncle used to touch me, I never told you that
Scared what you might do, I couldn't hold you back
I kept it deep inside, I done let it fuel my anger
I'm down for all my homies, no mercy for a stranger
The brother in my cell, is 16 as well
It's hard to adapt, when you're black and you're trapped in a livin Hell
I shouldn'ta let him catch me
Instead of livin sad in jail I coulda died free and happy
And my cellmate's raped on the norm
And pa**ed around the dorm, you can hear his a**hole gettin torn
They made me an animal
Can't sleep, instead of countin sheep, n***as countin cannibals
And that's how it is in the pen
Turn old and cold, and your soul is your best friend
My mama prayed for me
Tell the Lord to make way for me, prepare any day for me (why?)
Cause when they come for me they find a struggler
To the d**h I take the breath from your jugular
The trick is to never lose hope
I found my buddy hangin dead from a rope, 16 on d**h Row
[Verse 3] Eminem
They think they're crazy, but they ain't crazy, let's face it
sh**, basically they're just playing sick
They ain't sh**, they ain't saying sh**, spray 'em 50
A to the K, get in the way I'll bring Dre and them with me
And turn this day into f**ing mayhem, you staying with me?
Don't let me lose you, I'm not trying to confuse you
When I let loose with this Uzi and just shoot through your Isuzu
You get the message? Am I getting through to you?
You know what's coming, you motherf**ers don't even know, do you?
Take some Big and some Pac and you mix em up in a pot
Sprinkle a little Big L on top, what the f** do you got?
You got the realest and illest k**ers tied up in a knot
The juggernauts of this rap sh**, like it or not
It's like a fight to the top just to see who'd die for the spot
You put ya life in this, nothing like surviving a shot
Y'all know what time it is, soon as 50 signs on this doc
sh** what you know about d**h threats, cause I get a lot
Shady Records was eighty seconds away from the towers
Some cowards f**ed with the wrong building, they meant to hit ours
Better evacuate all children, it's nuclear showers
There's nothing spookier
You now about to witness the power of d**h Row