Released: September 26, 1996

Featuring: Bad Azz

Songwriter: Darryl Harper Bad Azz 2Pac

Producer: Darryl Harper

[Intro: 2Pac]
Throw me a cigarette, dawg!
They got me feelin' crazier than a motherfucker
I got Bad Azz in this motherfucker
Makaveli the Don, representin' the Outlawz
Bad Azz representin' the LBC Crew
So whatcha wanna do? Y'know how we do it

[Chorus: 2Pac]
Puffin' on loud
Hopin' that it gets me high
Got a nigga goin' crazy
Oh yeah, I feel crazy
Time goes by, puffin' on lye
Hopin' that it gets me high
Got a nigga goin' crazy
Oh yeah, I feel crazy
(Tell 'em about it!)

[Verse 1: 2Pac]
Last year was a hard one, but life goes on
Hold my head against the wall, learnin' right from wrong
They say my ghetto instrumental detrimental to kids
As if they can't see the misery in which they live
Blame me for the outcome, ban my records – check it
Don't have to bump this, but please respect it
I took a minus and now the hard times are behind us
Turned into a plus, now they stuck livin' blinded
Hennessy got me feelin' bad, time to stop drinkin'
Rollin' in my drop-top Jag, what's that cops thinkin'?
Sittin' in my car, watch the stars and smoke
I came a long way, but still I got so far to go
Dear Mama, don't worry, I'ma watch for snakes
Tell Setchu that I love her, but it's hard today
I got the letter that she sent me, and I cried for weeks
This what came out when I tried to speak – all I heard was…

[Chorus: 2Pac]
Time goes by, puffin' on lye
Hopin' that it gets me high
Got a nigga goin' crazy
I feel crazy
Time goes by, puffin' on lye
Hopin' that it gets me high
Got a nigga goin' crazy
I feel crazy
(One, two, three, four)

[Verse 2: 2Pac]
I see Bloods and Crips runnin' up the hill
Lookin' for a better wayyy
My brothers and sisters, it's time to bail
‘Cause even thug niggas prayyy
Hopin' God hear me, I entered the game
Look how much I changed
I'm no longer innocent – casualties of fame
Made a lot of money, seen a lot of places
And I swear I seen a peaceful smile on my mama's face
When I gave her the keys to her own house, this yo land
Your only son done became a man
Watchin' time fly, I love my people, do or die
But I wonder why we scared to let each other fly
June 1-6, '7-1, the day
Mama pushed me out her womb, told me, "Nigga, get paid!"
No one can understand me – the black sheep
Outcasted from my family, now packin' heat
I run the streets, a young runaway, live for today
When he died, I could hear him say… (Thug Life, baby!)

[Chorus: 2Pac]
Time goes by, puffin' on lye
Hopin' that it gets me high
Got a nigga goin' crazy
I feel crazy
Time goes by, puffin' on lye
Hopin' that it gets me high
Got a nigga goin' crazy
Crazy, crazy, crazy
I feel crazy (crazy)

[Verse 3: Bad Azz]
God, help me out here, ‘cause I'm possessed
I need the root of all evil for my stress
‘Cause money's like a strong prescription
Drug, it's got me addicted
To the pleasure and the pain it inflicted
Somethin' about the paper
With the pictures of the president's head
Damn, it's like a motherfuckin' plague that spread
It's epidemic; forgotten, forgotten it got worse
I keep my head on straight, makin' money ‘cause it's cursed
Makin' money makes a difference day by day
So I gotta stay paid, no doubt, day in and day out
This life is like a vicious cycle called fightin' to live
No matter how hard you try, it's in death, you gotta die
A lot of my peers didn't make it to the years to come
Did life do 'em right or did life leave 'em dumb?
Who has the answers? I wonder, I turn to my elders
They aged and experienced, but they can't even tell ya
Or tell me, that there'll be light at the end of the road
(Why?) ‘Cause they don't even know
A million things run through my mind
You ain't gotta be in jail to be doin' time
(You ain't gotta be in jail to be doin' time)

[Chorus: 2Pac]
Time goes by, puffin' on lye
Hopin' that it gets me high
Got a nigga goin' crazy
I feel crazy
Time goes by, puffin' on lye
Hopin' that it gets me high
Got a nigga goin' crazy

[Collision: 2Pac]
I feel fucked up in this bitch
I smoked half a ounce to the head
Chocolate Thai, indo, Hawaiian, lambsbread, buddha
All that shit!
I'm fucked up in this motherfucker
And Hennessy don't help
And Hennessy don't help
Thug Passion in this muh'fucker
Makaveli the Don puttin' it down to the fullest
Maximum overload
3 Day Theory, Killuminati to your body
With the impact of a 12 gauge shotty
Double-I slugs, no love, straight thugs

[Outro: 2Pac]
One time for my niggas in the jail cell
(One time for my niggas locked up)
One time for my niggas doin' life in Hell
(One time for my niggas and shit, one time)
One time for my niggas in the jail cell (One time)
One time for my niggas doin' life in Hell
(One time for my niggas locked down)
One time for my niggas on the Death Row
(One time for my niggas on the Row)
For my niggas on Death Row
One time for my niggas livin' broke
(Westside, California style, L.A.)
One time for my niggas livin' broke
(You know what time it is, no doubt)
One time for my niggas in the jail cell
(Get high, puffin' on lye)
Wonder if it get me high, yeah

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.