Released: February 13, 1996

Featuring: Rappin’ 4-Tay

Songwriter: 2Pac Rappin’ 4-Tay Doug Rasheed Harold Scrap Freddie

Producer: Harold Scrap Freddie Doug Rasheed

[Intro: 2Pac]
Only God can judge me (that right?)
Only God can judge me now
Nobody else (nobody else)
All you other motherfuckers get out my business (really)
Only God can judge me now

[Verse 1: 2Pac]
Perhaps I was blind to the facts, stabbed in the back
I couldn't trust my own homies, just a bunch of dirty rats
Will I succeed? Paranoid from the weed
And hocus pocus, try to focus, but I can't see
And in my mind I'm a blind man doin' time
Look to my future, ‘cause my past is all behind me
Is it a crime to fight for what is mine?
Everybody's dyin', tell me what's the use of tryin'
I've been trapped since birth, cautious ‘cause I'm cursed
And fantasies of my family in a hearse
And they say it's the White man I should fear
But it's my own kind doin' all the killin' here
I can't lie, ain't no love for the other side
Jealousy inside, make 'em wish I died
Oh my Lord, tell me what I'm livin' for
Everybody's droppin', got me knockin' on Heaven's door
And all my memories of seein' brothers bleed
And everybody grieves, but still nobody sees
Recollect your thoughts, don't get caught up in the mix
‘Cause the media is full of dirty tricks

[Chorus: 2Pac]
Only God can judge me
Only God can judge me, only God
Only God can judge me
Only God can judge me
Only God can judge me, only God
Only God can judge me now
Only God can judge me, only God
Only God can judge me
Only God can judge me, only God
Only God can judge me

[Flatline]

[Verse 2: 2Pac]
I hear the doctor standin' over me, screamin' I can make it
Got a body full of bullet holes, layin' here naked
Still I can't breathe, something's evil in my IV
‘Cause everytime I breathe I think they killin' me
I'm havin' nightmares, homicidal fantasies
I wake up strangled, entangled in my bed sheets
I call the nurse ‘cause it hurts to reminisce
How did it come to this? I wish they didn't miss
Somebody help me, tell me where to go from here
‘Cause even thugs cry, but do the Lord care?
Try to remember but it hurts
I'm walkin' through the cemetery, talkin' to the dirt
I'd rather die like a man than live like a coward
There's a ghetto up in Heaven and it's ours
"Black Power!" is what we scream
As we dream in a paranoid state
And our fate is a lifetime of hate
Dear Mama, can you save me? And fuck peace
‘Cause the streets got our babies, we gotta eat
No more hesitation, each and every black male's trapped
And they wonder why we suicidal running 'round strapped
Mr. Police, please try to see
That there's a million motherfuckers stressin' just like me

[Chorus: 2Pac]
Only God can judge me
Only God can judge me, only God
Only God can judge me
Only God can judge me
Only God can judge me, only God
Only God can judge me now
Only God can judge me, only God
Only God can judge me
Only God can judge me, only God
Only God can judge me

[Interlude: 2Pac]
That which does not kill me can only make me stronger
That's for real
And I don't see why everybody feel as though
That they gotta tell me how to live my life
You know?
Let me live, baby, let me live

[Verse 3: Rappin' 4-Tay]
Pac, I feel ya, keep servin' it on the reala
For instance, say a playa-hatin' mark is out to kill ya
Would you be wrong for buckin' a nigga to the pavement?
He gon' get me first, if I don't get him fool start prayin'
Ain't no such thing as self-defense in the court of law
So judge us when we get to where we're goin wearin' a cross
That's real, got him, lurked him, crept the fuck up on him
Sold a half a million tapes, now everybody want him
After talkin' behind my back like a bitch would
Tellin' them niggas, "You can fade him"
Punk, I wish you would
It be them same motherfuckers in your face
That'll rush up in your place to get your safe
Knowin' you on that paper chase
Grass, glass, big screen and leather couch
My new shit is so fetti, already sold a ki or ounce
Bitch, remember 2Pac and 4-Tay
The same two brothers dodgin' bullets, representin' the Bay
Pac, when you was locked down, that's when "I'll Be Around"
Start climbin' up the charts, so sick, but they tried to clown
That's why they ride the bandwagon
Still be draggin', sellin' lies
Don't think I don't see you haters, I know y'all in disguise

[Verse 4: 2Pac]
Guess you figure you know me, ‘cause I'm a thug
That love to hit the late night clubs drink them Buds
Been livin' lavish like a player all day
Now I'm 'bout to floss some boss player shit with 4-Tay

[Chorus: 2Pac]
Only God can judge me
Only God can judge me, only God
Only God can judge me
Only God can judge me
Only God can judge me, only God
Only God can judge me now
Only God can judge me, only God
Only God can judge me
Only God can judge me, only God
Only God can judge me

[Outro: 2Pac & Rappin 4-Tay]
Only God man
That right?
That’s real
Hahahahahaha
Fuck everybody else, you know what I’m sayin'?
Man, look here, man
My only fear of death
Is comin' back to this bitch reincarnated, man
That’s for the homie mental
Hehehehe
We up out

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.