Released: February 16, 1993

Songwriter: 2Pac

Producer: 2Pac Stretch

[Verse 1]
Growing up as an inner city brotha
Where every other had a pops and a motha
I was the product of a heated lover
Nobody knew how deep it screwed me
And since my pops never knew me
My family didn't know what to do with me
Was I somebody they despised?
Curious look in they eyes
As if they wonder if I'm dead or alive
And poor momma can't control me
"Quit tryin' to save my soul, I wanna roll with my homies!"
A tickin' timebomb, can't nobody fade me
Packin' a 380 and fiendin' for Mercedes
Suckers scatter but it don't matter I'm a cool shot
Punks drop from all the buckshots the fools got
I'm tired of being a nice guy
I've been poor all my life, but don't know quite why
So they label me a lunatic
Could care less, death or success
Is what I quest 'cause I'm fearless
Now the streets are deathrow

[Hook]
('cause I'll beat you down like it ain't nothin')
The streets are deathrow
('cause I'll beat you down like it ain't nothin')
The streets are deathrow

[Verse 2]
I just murdered a man, I'm even more stressed, wearin' a vest
Hopin' that they're aimin' at my chest
Much too young to bite the bullet
Hand on the trigga
I see my life before my eyes each time I pull it
I hope I live to be a man
Must be part of some big plan to keep a brotha in the state pen
Counting pennies over the years I'd done stacked many
Proving wrong those
Who swore I'd wouldn't live till twenty
Now they gotta cope
Since it's the only thing I know
It's difficult to let it go
I'm startin' to lose my hair 'cause I worry
Hustlin' to keep from gettin' buried
But now I gotta move away now
'Cause these suckers love ta' spray where I lay down
My homie lost his family, he snapped;
Shot up half the block to bring them back
The streets are deathrow

[Hook]
('cause I'll beat you down like it ain't nothin')
The streets are deathrow
('cause I'll beat you down like it ain't nothin')
The streets are deathrow
('cause I'll beat you down like it ain't nothin')
The streets are deathrow
('cause I'll beat you down like it ain't nothin')

[Verse 3]
I'm dangerous when drunk I only drink beer
Gin makes me sin
Unable to think clear
Hennessy makes me think my enemy is getting close
BOOM BOOM BOOM
Got me shooting at a ghost
Some call me crazy but this is what you gave me
Amongst the babies who raised up from the slavery
I sport a vest and hit the sess to kill the stress
Moved out west and I invest in all the best
Those who test will find a bullet in they chest
Put to rest, by a brotha who was hopeless
Grow up broke, on the rope of insanity
How many pistols smoking comin' from a broken family?
I'm sick of being tired
Sick of the sirens, bodybags, and the guns firin'
Tell Bush, "Push the button!" 'cause I'm fed
Tired of hearin' these voices in my head
The streets are deathrow

[Hook]
('cause I'll beat you down like it ain't nothin')
The streets are deathrow
('cause I'll beat you down like it ain't nothin')
The streets are deathrow
('cause I'll beat you down like it ain't nothin')
The streets are deathrow
('cause I'll beat you down like it ain't nothin')
The streets are deathrow
('cause I'll beat you down like it ain't nothin')
The streets are deathrow
('cause I'll beat you down like it ain't nothin')
The streets are deathrow
('cause I'll beat you down like it ain't nothin')
The streets are deathrow

[Outro]
This go out to my partners in the Live Squad
(like it ain't nothin')
And all my homies out there involved in that 187
Watch your back
There's got to be a better way
There's too many of us in the cemetery
I love it when they fear me!
Come on, what we gonna do now?
I love it when they fear me!
The streets are deathrow *echoes*

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.