Cradle to the Grave

June 16, 1971 / Mama gave birth to a hell raisin’ heavenly son
[Chorus] (x2)
From tha cradle to the grave, life ain’t never been easy
Living in the ghetto

[2Pac]
June 16, 1971
Mama gave birth to a hell raisin’ heavenly son
See the doctor tried to smack me but I smacked him back
My first words were “Thug for life” and “Papa pass the Mac”
I’m bustin’ on these mothafuckas ballin’
Listen you can hear my mini 14 callin’
I’m out the window of my drop top
I got my glock cocked
Bustin’ at niggas, when will it stop?
Now tell me are you scared of the dark?
Can’t close my eyes I see visions
And even with this thug livin’
Will I escape in prison?
Penitentiary chances was an all day thing
The only way to advance and if you slang
Then you’d better have your Nikes on
Cause when we fight it’s in the middle of the night with no lights on
Hey! There must be a God cause I feel lucky,
Paranoid out my mind this mothafucka’s tryin’ to rush me
Am I goin’ to jail? Look at me bailin’
Commin’ out the court house all about mail and bank
Never die be a hustler mothafuckas
And makin’ thugs out you suckas
From the cradle to the grave

[Chorus]

[Mopreme]
From the cradle to the grave
Since a little bitty child
I’ve been known to get ill and kinda buck wild
Pop pop!
Just like the part that’s in my walk with street talk
I’m runin’ up the block in the dark with less spark
Surveillance on a nigga every day
Waitin’ on my daddy just to take his ass away
Now Mama always workin’ tryin’ to make ends meet
So now a young niggas bein’ raised by the streets
And then the only other one that ever showed me love
Was my dope fiend uncle strung out on drugs
A straight thug
Just me, my mama out here on our own
So I got two gatts, one black and one of chrome
Now I don’t wanna hurt nobody but I must defend mine
It’s all the fuck I got so stop and walk a thin line
Young niggas be brave
And keep on thuggin’ from the cradle to the grave,
From the cradle to the grave

[Chorus]

[The Rated R]
From the cradle to the grave, I’m glad to say
I made it this far
Many G’s died hard and all they got was their name here up on a wall
It’s sad thinkin’ about the times
Life goes on, I’m steady lost in this land
As the warzone I got no home
Don’t have no friends neither
It’s just me by my lonely so I married my nina
I keep her wherever I go, I love my ho
Never leave home with out my sugar
I’m hafta plug a nigga
Mama told me not to trust no punks,
And kick his ass if he lay a hand on me
Since then I been known
Sometimes I think my own self-stupid
Cause I stay shootin’ at marks,
Get twisted up in police reports
Since the cradle, I’ve been ungrateful
My first toy was a gun
I got sprung and learn to love weapons
But now I’m through with money
And through with street fame
Somebody peeled my cap and put me in my grave

[Chorus]

[Macadoshis]
March 18th, a rainy day my mama gave birth
To a baby boy trapped in Hell on Earth
From day one it wasn’t fun, I never had a crumb
Daddy worked two jobs and Mama won’t stop drinkin’ rum
I tried to cope, loc, but my family’s broke
And my pocket’s short, so now I got to slang dope
In the game filled with pain, it’s a fuckin’ shame
The white man got a motherfucker slangin’ ’caine
So now it’s on from dusk to dawn, I’m gettin’ my serve on
Always in the spot with my Glock, slingin’ rocks at the Rox
The shit don’t stop, I’m steady dodgin’ cops
I never flip-flop, hear my Glock cock, thug ’til I drop
And if I hit the pen, I gotta do my time
Sittin’ on my bunk, reminiscin’ ’bout the good times
It’s fucked up a nigga gotta grow up doin’ dirt
But from the cradle to the grave I’ma put in work

[Chorus]

[Big Syke]
Time’s movin’ fast; will I last another day?
So I pray and I lay with my A-K
Did I sell my soul as a young kid?
All the things I did 
Wishin’ someone held me but they never did
I can’t take it; will I make it to my older age?
Before I’m shot up or locked up in a fuckin’ cage
Lord help me, guide me, save me!
Cause that’s the way that Daddy raised me; crazy
Do or die  Nigga pull the trigger don’t give a fuck
You’d rather be in jail than get your ass bucked
Nobody cares; it’s me against the world
Keepin’ murder on my mind and my TEC-9
I got nothin’ to lose, payin’ dues, nigga you wanna die?
I get high then my mission is a walk-by
You’d better jet when I hit your set cause I’m commin’
Start runnin’ yellin’ “evil mind” as I’m gunnin’
One in the chamber for the anger that I build inside,
For the mothers that cried, for my homies that died
The beginning is an ending, am I just a slave?
So I got to be brave from the cradle to the grave

[Chorus] (to fade)