Released: March 14, 1995

Songwriter: 2Pac Moe ZMD Nathan Leftenant Tomi Jenkins Charles Singleton Le-morrious Tyler Cameo Larry Blackmon

Producer: Le-morrious Tyler Moe ZMD

[Intro]
I wanna dedicate this one to Robert "Yummy" Sandifer
And all other lil' Young Niggas that's in a rush to be gangstas

[Verse 1]
As a Young nigga, I'm almost runnin' in the wind
Give anything, to be that innocent again, when I was ten
I didn't bang but I was hangin' with the homies
'Til them niggas started slangin', now they don't know me
I got my hustle on, learned to ignore what couldn't pay me
Lately I've been tryin' to make a million, can you blame me?
With that jealousy they need to miss me, don't sweat me
If them cowards really want me, come get me, and even I
Someday will die but I'm cautious, I'm fin' to ride
Put down the top, now we flossin'
Hit the freeway, let the wind blow, drop the window
Workin' with a twenty sack of indo, feelin' good
Stop through the hood, grab the young thugs
And I can't help but reminisce back when we slung drugs, though it's bad
But all we had was our hopes and dreams
Couldn't see unless we learned to slang dope to fiends
As young niggas

[Hook]
He's the kind of G like everybody knows
(As a young nigga)
He's always G'd up, from head to toe
(My memories as a young nigga)
Always got it blown like Al Capone
(Strung nigga)
He's the downest G I've ever known

[Verse 2]
Back in Junior High, when we was barely gettin' by, when daddy died
That's when my momma started gettin' high
My neighborhood was full of drive-bys, couldn't survive
All our homies livin' short lives, I couldn't cry
Told my momma if I did die, just put a blunt in my casket
Let me get my dead homies high
Come follow me throughout my history, it's just
Me against the world stuck in misery; as a young nigga
My only thing was to be paid
Life full of riches avoid snitches 'cause they shady, back in the days
We always found the time to play
But that's before they taught them gangbangers how to spray
Not just L.A., but in the Bay and in Chicago and even St. Louis
Every stadium that I go, when will they change?
Stuck in the game like a dumb nigga
Remember how it was, to be a young nigga

[Hook]
He's the kind of G that everybody knows
(As a young nigga)
He's always G'd up, from head to toe
(My memories as a young nigga)
Always got it blown like Al Capone
(young nigga)
He's the downest G I've ever known

[Ad-lib]
I'm tellin' you—to be young, have your brains and have every limb and all that—yo, y'all niggas don't know how good you really do got it
Muh'fuckers need to just calm down
And peep what the fuck they wanna do for the rest of the life
'Fore you end your life before you begin your life
You dumb nigga

[Verse 3]
Now that I'm grown, I got my mind on bein' somethin'
Don't wanna be another statistic, out here doin' nuttin
Tryin' to maintain in this dirty game, keep it real
And I will even if it kills me, my Young Niggas
Break away from these dumb niggas
Put down the guns and have some fun nigga, the rest'll come figure
Fame is a fast thang, that gangbangin'
Puttin' niggas in a casket, murdered for hangin'
At the wrong place at the wrong time, no longer livin'
'Cause he threw up the wrong sign, and every day
I watch the murder rate increases, and even worse
The epidemic and diseases, what is the future?
The projects lookin' hopeless, where
More and more brothers givin' up and don't care
Sometimes I hate when brothers act up, I hit the weed
And I proceed to blow the track up, for young niggas

[Hook]
He's the kind of G like everybody knows
(for the young niggas)
He's always G'd up, from head to toe
(My memories as a young nigga)
Always got it blown like Al Capone
(this for nigga.., this for the young nigga)
He's the downest G I've ever known
He's the kind of G like everybody knows
He's always G'd up, from head to toe
He always got it blown like Al Capone
He's the downest G I've ever known

[Collision over the last 4 lines]
This go out to the young thugs, the have-nots (you know)
Little bad motherfuckers from the block (that's right)
Them niggas that's thirteen and fourteen
Drivin' Cadillacs, Benzes and shit (I see you boy)
Young motherfuckin' hustlers (make that money boy)
Stay strong nigga
You could be a fuckin' accountant, not a dope dealer
You know what I'm sayin'? (Go to school nigga, go to school)
Fuck around and, you pimpin' out here
You could be a lawyer (really doe)
Niggas gotta get they priorities straight
(Don't see Johnny Cochran out in this motherfucker)
Really doe.. Young Niggas.. little RahRah
(sup nigga) Especially my little cousins don't be no dumb guy
(Don't be a dumb nigga, listen, young niggas)

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.