Released: October 7, 1997

Featuring: Outlawz

Songwriter: E.D.I. Mean Yaki Kadafi 2Pac

Producer: 2Pac Johnny J

[Intro: 2Pac]
Starin' at the world through my rearview
Just lookin' back at the world
From another level, you know what I mean? Starin'

[Verse 1: 2Pac]
Multiple gunshots clear the block, the fun stops
Snitches is callin' cops, people shot, nobody stops
I wonder when the world stopped carin'
Last night two kids shot while the whole block starin'
I will never understand this society
First they try to murder me, then they lie to me
Product of a dyin' breed; all my homies tryin' weed
Now the little babies crazed, raised off Hennessy
Tell me, will my enemies flee when they see me?
Believe me, even thugs gotta learn to take it easy
Listen, through intermissions, search your heart for a plan
And we turnin' bad boys to grown men, it's on again
I give a holla to my niggas in the darkest corners
Roll a perfect blunt, and let me spark it for ya
One love from a thug nigga
Rollin' with a posse full of paranoid drug dealers
To the end, my friend, I'm seein' nothin' but my dreams comin' true
While I'm starin' at the world through my rearview
See, I'm seein' nothin' but my dreams comin' true
While I'm starin' at the world through my rearview

[Hook: 2Pac]
They got me starin' at the world through my rearview
Go on, baby, scream to God, he can't hear you
I can feel your heart beatin' fast 'cause it's time to die
Gettin' high, watchin' time fly
And all my motherfuckers
Starin' at the world through my rearview
Go on, baby, scream to God, he can't hear you
I can feel your heart beatin' fast 'cause it's time to die
Gettin' high, watchin' time fly
And all my motherfuckers

[Verse 2: E.D.I. Mean]
Now you see him, now you don't
Some niggas be here for the moment, and then they gone
What happened to 'em?
Well, let's see, it seems to be a mystery
But all I know I never let the money get to me
Stay down like the truest
Thug Life until I check out this bitch, I thought you knew this
Who is gonna catch me when I fall or even care to?
While you thinkin' I see you lost up in my rearview
Hear you is down with them Outlawz
Outcast, left far, I'm through like southpaws
But still we keep mashin' until our dreams come through
Starin' at the world through my rearview

[Verse 3: 2Pac]
Now, I was raised as a young black male
In order to get paid, forced to make crack sales
Caught a nigga so they send me to these overpacked jails
In the cell, countin' days in this livin' black hell
Do you feel me? Keys to ignition, use at your discretion
Roll with a 12 gauge pump for protection
Niggas hate me in the section, from years of chin-checkin'
Turn to Smith & Wesson war weapons
Heavenly Father, I'm a soldier
I'm gettin' hotter 'cause the world's gettin' colder
Baby, let me hold ya: talk to my guns like they fly bitches
All you bustas best to run, look at my bitches!

[Bridge: 2Pac]
Now I know the answers to the question
“Do dreams come true?”
Still starin' at the world through my rearview
I said, now I know the answer
“Do dreams come true?”
Starin' at the world through my rearview

[Hook: 2Pac]
They got me starin' at the world through my rearview
Go on, baby, scream to God, he can't hear you
I can feel your heart beatin' fast 'cause it's time to die
Gettin' high, watchin' time fly
And all my motherfuckers
Starin' at the world through my rearview
Go on, baby, scream to God, he can't hear you
I can feel your heart beatin' fast 'cause it's time to die
Gettin' high, watchin' time fly

Nigga, Kadafi say!

[Verse 3: Kadafi]
Back in the days we hustled for sneakers and beepers
Nine-six for Glocks
'Cause fiends hittin' up blocks with street sweepers
Bless myself when knowin' rules to these streets
Somethin' I learned in school
On some Million Man March shit for the peace
True that, only one life to lead, a fast life of greed
Criminally addicted, infested since a seed
We all die, breed, bleed like humans
Towns run by young guns, Outlawz and truants
Shit's deep, turn eighteen, burn my will when I go
Burnt my body with my shotty, or choosin' my dough
So while you reminiscin' all nights out with the crew
Smoke a blunt for me too, I'm starin' through your rearview

[Outro: 2Pac]
Hahahaha, you ain't knowin' what we mean by starin' through the rearview
So, since you ain't knowin' what we mean, let me break it better understandin' the world…The world is behind us
Once a motherfucker get an understandin' on the game, and what the levels and the rules of the game is
Then the world ain't no trick no more, the world is a game to be played
So, now we lookin' at the world from, high watch, behind us
Niggas know what we gotta do: just gotta put our mind to it and do it, it's all about the papers, money rule the world
Bitches make the world go round
Real niggas do what they wanna do, bitch niggas do what they can

[Hook repeats until end]

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.