Released: February 13, 1996

Songwriter: Daz Dillinger 2Pac

Producer: Daz Dillinger

[Intro]
I won't deny it, I'm a straight ridah
You don't wanna fuck with me
Got the police bustin' at me
But they can't do nothin' to a G
Let's get ready to rumble!
Now, you know how we do it, like a G
What really go on in the mind of a nigga
That get down for theirs
Constantly, money over bitches
Not bitches over money
Stay on your grind, nigga
My ambitions as a ridah
My ambitions as a ridah

[Verse 1]
So many battlefield scars while driven in plush cars
This life as a rap star is nothin' without guard
Was born rough and rugged, addressin' the mass public
My attitude was "fuck it," 'cause motherfuckers love it
To be a soldier, must maintain composure at ease
Though life is complicated, only what you make it to be
Uh, and my ambitions as a ridah
To catch her while she hot and horny, go up inside her
Then I spit some game in her ear, "Go to the telly, ho!"
Equipped with money in a Benz 'cause, bitch, I'm barely broke
I'm smokin' bomb-ass weed, feelin' Crucial
From player to player, the game's tight, the feeling's mutual
From hustlin' and prayers to breakin' motherfuckers to pay up
I got no time for these bitches, 'cause these hoes try to play us
I'm on a meal ticket mission, want a mil' so I'm wishin'
Competition got me blitzed that bullshit they stressin' (Booyah)
I'ma rhyme though, clown hoes like it's mandatory
No guts, no glory, my nigga, bitch got the game distorted
Now it's on and it's on because I said so
Can't trust a bitch in the business so I got with Death Row
Now these money-hungry bitches gettin' suspicious
Started plottin' and plannin' on a scheme to come and twist us
But thug niggas be on point and game tight (Yeah)
Me, Syke and Bogart strapped up the same night
Got problems, then handle it, motherfuckers see me
These niggas is jealous
'Cause deep in the hearts they wanna be me
Uh, yeah, and now you got me right beside ya, hopin' you listen
I catch you payin' attention to my ambitions as a ridah

[Chorus]
I won't deny it, I'm a straight ridah
You don't wanna fuck with me
(My ambitions as a ridah)
Got the police bustin' at me
But they can't do nothin' to a G
(I won't deny it, I'm a straight ridah)

[Verse 2]
It was my only wish to rise
Above these jealous coward motherfuckers I despise
When it's time to ride, I was the first off this side, give me the .9
I'm ready to die right here tonight and motherfuck they life
That's what they screamin' as they drill me, but I'm hard to kill
So open fire, I see you kill me, witness my steel
(That's all you niggas got?)
Spittin' at adversaries, envious and after me
I'd rather die before they capture me, watch me bleed
Mama, come rescue me, I'm suicidal, thinkin' thoughts
I'm innocent so there'll be bullets flyin' when I'm caught (Shoot)
Fuck doin' jail time, better day, sacrifice
Won't get a chance to do me like they did my nigga Tys
Thuggin' for life, and if you right, then nigga die for it
Let them other brothers try, at least you tried for it
When it's time to die, to be a man and pick the way you leave
Fuck peace and the police, my ambitions as a ridah

[Chorus]
I won't deny it, I'm a straight ridah
You don't wanna fuck with me
(My ambitions as a ridah)
Got the police bustin' at me
But they can't do nothin' to a G

[Verse 3]
My murderous lyrics, equipped with spirits of the thugs before me
Pay off the block, evade the cops 'cause I know they comin' for me
I been hesitant to reappear, been away for years
Now I'm back, my adversaries been reduced to tears
Question my methods to switch up speeds
Sure as some bitches bleed
Niggas'll feel the fire of my mother's corrupted seed
Blast me but they didn't finish, didn't diminish my powers
(Buck-buck-buck-buck-buck)
So now I'm back to be a motherfuckin' menace
They cowards, that's why they tried to set me up
Had bitch-ass niggas on my team so indeed they wet me up
But I'm back reincarnated, incarcerated
At the time I contemplate the way that God made it
Lace 'em with lyrics that's legendary, musical mercenary
For money I'll have these motherfuckers buried
I been gettin' much mail in jail, niggas tellin' me to kill it
Knowin' when I get out they gon' feel it
Witness the realest, a hoo-ridah when I put the shit inside
The cry from all your people when they find ya
Just remind ya, my history'll prove authentic
Revenge on them niggas that played me
And all the cowards that was down with it
Now it's your nigga right beside ya, hopin' you listenin'
Catch you payin' attention to my ambitions as a ridah

[Chorus]
I won't deny it, I'm a straight ridah
You don't wanna fuck with me
(My ambitions as a ridah)
Got the police bustin' at me
But they can't do nothin' to a G
I won't deny it, I'm a straight ridah
You don't wanna fuck with me
Got the police bustin' at me
But they can't do nothin' to a G
I won't deny it, I'm a straight ridah
You don't wanna fuck with me

2Pac

Tupac Amaru Shakur (June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an actor and a highly influential rapper who is considered by many to be the greatest of all-time due to the revolutionary spirit and thug passion he mixed into his music. During his music career, he made appearances in movies such as his acclaimed debut in Juice (1992), Poetic Justice (1993), and Above the Rim (1994).

Born in Harlem, New York City to Black Panther Party members Billy Garland and Afeni Shakur, Tupac would later move to Baltimore before settling in the Bay Area cities of Oakland and Marin City in the late 1980s. There, he joined his first rap group Strictly Dope with Ray Luv before connecting with Shock G and Digital Underground. He was a roadie and backup dancer for the group before his breakthrough performance on their 1991 song “Same Song.”

2Pac released his debut album 2Pacalypse Now in 1991, which featured intense storytelling on singles such as “Trapped” and “Brenda’s Got a Baby.” His sophomore album Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z featured one of his signature songs, the Digital Underground-assisted “I Get Around.” After working on the Thug Life group album in 1994, 2Pac released Me Against the World the following year, which is considered by many to be his best album, peaking at #1 on the Billboard 200 and receiving a Grammy nomination—all while he sat in prison.