2Pac

Released: December 12, 2004

Featuring: Kastro Young Noble Eminem

Songwriter: Big D The Impossible Mouse Man 2Pac Eminem Luis Resto Outlawz Steve King Young Noble Kastro

Producer: Eminem

[Intro: 2Pac]
Black Cotton, Black Cotton
Black Cotton – a symbol for unrewarded struggle
Time for a little gospel tale
Ghetto gospel, that is, listen!
Rotten Black Cotton in God's eyes
Speak!

[Verse 1: 2Pac]
Black cotton, steady stressin', Smith & Wessons, count my blessings
Class is in session: the worst question is the first question
Why do we work like slaves sweatin' blades to an early grave?
Never got paid but still we slave (in the nine tre')
Answer that, then answer this too
Love's gonna get ya, you know it's true – life's a bitch, true?
You best to backtrack and try to act black and live
Not to be phony and positive but why be negative?
What's the matter, G? Black cat got your tongue?
Fat track got you sprung, now you're hung?
Do ya feel me? Dum dum diddy, is it me?
Attempt to reach each and every brother on the streets
If not peace, then at least let's get a piece
I'm tired of seein' bodies on the streets deceased
Lookin' through my highschool yearbook
Reminiscin' of the tears as the years took
One homie, two homie, three homies – POOF!
We used to have troops, but now there's no more youth to shoot
God, come save the misbegotten
Lost ghetto souls of Black Cotton (in God's eyes)

[Chorus: Eminem]
Nobody don't care (No matter how hard I try
Look to the sky, and I ask God why)
Nobody don't care (Seems like my dreams
Drowned in by screams, no answer to my questions)
Nobody don't care (Feels like I'm pressed
Why do I stress? It's like I'm bein' tested)
Nobody don't care (Seems like my prayers
Vanished in thin air, please answer my questions)
Nobody don't care

[Verse 2: Kastro]
In the belly of the beast I'm bubblin' up
Runnin' out of luck, about to self-destruct
Old heads say live your life like such
You're sure to catch her with your one-day boy
I wouldn't listen to 'em
Your power movement was cool, but it ain't fix nothin'
So I just go with what I know, I don't trust none
Look what the 80's did to us baby kids
And now we grown up, nobody ain't own us yet

[Verse 3: Young Noble]
Black cotton, I'm plottin' on what they owe me
I'm workin' without a profit, they shacklin' all my homies
I'm hurtin', but keep in mind, it ain't irkin'
And we ain't stop, it's curtains
You try to rise and certainly we survive with Outlaw Ridaz
What's the reward for a struggler?
If the law lovin' us, then why they hate to see us comin' up?
Runnin' up, gun cocked, black mask and gloves
If you ain't got a penny, mind the glove, no love
Waitin' for my 40 acres and a blunt to blaze
Biblical times, good hearts with milita minds
Black Cotton – I'm hoppin' over enemy lines
Black Cotton – I ain't stoppin' till they givin me mine
Black Cotton

[Chorus: Eminem]
Nobody don't care (No matter how hard I try
Look to the sky, and I ask God why)
Nobody don't care (Seems like my dreams
Drowned in by screams, no answer to my questions)
Nobody don't care (Feels like I'm pressed
Why do I stress? It's like I'm bein' tested)
Nobody don't care (Seems like my prayers
Vanished in thin air, please answer my questions)
Nobody don't care

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.

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