1. Home
  2. 2Pac
  3. 2Pac Songs
  4. To Live and Die in L.A.

To Live and Die in L.A.2Pac

Released: September 26, 1996

Featuring: Val Young

Songwriter: QDIII Val Young 2Pac

Producer: QDIII

[Intro]
“Street Science, you’re on the air. What do you feel when you hear a record like 2Pac’s new one?”
“I love 2Pac’s new record.”
“Right, but don’t you feel like that creates tension between East and West? I mean, he’s talking about killing people, ‘I had sex with your wife’ — and not in those words. But he’s talking about, ‘I wanna see you deceased’…"

[Intro: 2Pac]
I love L.A
No Doubt
To live and die in L.A. (California)
No matter what you say about Los Angeles
It's still the only place for me
It never rains in Southern California

[Verse 1: 2Pac]
To live and die in L.A
Where everyday we try to fatten our pockets
Us niggas hustle for the cash, so it's hard to knock it
Everybody got they own thing, currency chasin'
Worldwide through the hard times, worrying faces
Shed tears as we bury niggas close to heart
Who was a friend, now a ghost in the dark
Cold-hearted 'bout it, nigga got smoked by a fiend
Tryin' to floss on him, blind to a broken man's dream
A hard lesson, court cases keep me guessin'
Plea bargain ain't an option now, so I'm stressin'
Cost me more to be free than a life in the pen'
Makin' money off of cuss words, writin' again
Learn how to think ahead, so I fight with my pen
Late night down sunset, likin' the scene
What's the worst they can do to a nigga?
Got me lost in Hell, to live and die in L.A. on bail

[Chorus: Val Young & 2Pac]
My angel sing
To live and die in L.A., it's the place to be
And the angels go
You've got to be there to know it
When everybody wanna see
To live and die in L.A
To live and die in L.A., it's the place to be
You've got to be there to know it
When everybody wanna see

[Verse 2: 2Pac]
It's the city of angels and constant danger
South Central L.A. can't get no stranger
Full of drama like a soap opera, on the curb
Watchin' the ghetto bird helicopters, I observe
So many niggas gettin' three strikes, tossed in jail
I swear, the pen' right across from hell
I can't cry, ‘cause it's on now
I'm just a nigga on his own now
Livin' life thug style, so I can't smile
Writing to my peoples when they ask for pictures
Thinkin' Cali just fun and bitches
Better learn about the dress code, B's and C's
All them other niggas copycats, these is G's
I love Cali like I love women
‘Cause every nigga in L.A. got a little bit of thug in him
We might fight amongst each other
But I promise you this: we'll burn this bitch down
Get us pissed, to live and die in L.A

[Chorus: Val Young & 2Pac]
To live and die in L.A., it's the place to be
Let my angels sing
You've got to be there to know it
When everybody wanna see
And my angels go
To live and die in L.A., it's the place to be
To live and die in L.A
You've got to be there to know it
When everybody wanna see

[Verse 3: 2Pac]
It wouldn't be L.A. without Mexicans
Black love, Brown Pride in the sets again
Pete Wilson tryin' to see us all broke
I'm on some bullshit out for everything they owe
Remember KDAY? Weekends, Crenshaw, MLK?
Automatics rang free, niggas lost they way
Gang signs being shown, nigga, love your hood
But recognize and it's all good
Where the weed at? Niggas gettin' shermed out
Snoop Dogg in this mothafucka permed out
M.O.B., Big Suge in the Lo-Lo, bounce and turn
Dogg Pound in the Lex with a ounce to burn
Got them Watts niggas with me, O.F.T.B
They got some hash, took the stash, left the rest for me
Neckbone, Tray, Heron, Buntry too
Big Rock got knocked, but this one's for you
I hit the studio and drop a jewel, hopin' it pay
Gettin' high, watchin' time fly; to live and die in L.A

[Chorus: Val Young & 2Pac]
To live and die in L.A., it's the place to be
Let my angel sing
You've got to be there to know it
When everybody wanna see
And my angels go
To live and die in L.A., it's the place to be
To live and die in L.A
You've got to be there to know it
When everybody wanna see
Let my angel sing

[Outro: 2Pac]
This go out for 92.3 and 106
All the radio stations that be bumpin' my shit
Makin' my shit sells quadruple quintuple platinum
(To live and die in L.A., mhmmm)
This go out to all the magazines that support a nigga
All the real motherfuckers
(To live and die in L.A., mhmmm)
All the stores, the mom and pop spots
A&R people, all y'all mothafuckers
(To live and die in L.A., mhmmm)
L.A., "California Love" part mothafuckin' two
Without gay ass Dre
(To live and die in L.A., mhmmm)
(To live and die in L.A., mhmmm)

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.

more tracks from the album

Greatest Hits

From the albums
2Pac popular songs

2021 © gotlyric.com