16 on Death Row

[Intro] Death Row That's where motherfuckers is endin' up [Verse 1] Dear Mama, I'm caught up in this sickness I robbed my adversaries but slipped and left a witness Wonder if they'll catch me or will this nigga snitch? Should I shoot his bitch or make the nigga rich? Don't wanna commit murder, but damn, they got me trapped Hawkin' while I'm walkin' and talkin' behind my back I'm kind of schizophrenic, I'm in this shit to win it ‘Cause life's a Wheel of Fortune, here's my chance to spin it Got no time for cops who trip and try to catch me Too fuckin' trigger-happy to let them suckers snatch me Niggas gettin' jealous, tryna find my stash Whip out the nine, now I'ma dime off your ass Peter picked a pepper, but I can pick a punk Snatched him like a bitch and threw him in the trunk The punk thought I was bluffin', but swear I'm nothin' nice Before I take your life, first wrestle with these mites I listened to his screams until he went insane I guess the little mites had finally found his brain New Rovers pull me over, I'm sentenced to the pen Remember that little bird? He snitched and told a friend It's trouble on my mind, I'm with the old-timers And fuck five-0! (Blaow, blaow!) Turn 'em into forty-niners [Chorus] Bye bye, I was never meant to live Can't be positive when the ghetto's where you live Bye bye, I was never meant to be Livin' like a thief, runnin' through the streets Bye bye, and I got no place to go Where they find me; sixteen on Death Row [Verse 2] Dear Mama, these cops don't understand me I turned to a life of crime ‘cause I came from a broken family My uncle used to touch me, I never told you that Scared what you might do, I couldn't hold you back I kept it deep inside, I done let it fuel my anger I'm down for all my homies, no mercy for a stranger The brother in my cell is sixteen as well It's hard to adapt when you're Black and you're trapped in a living hell I shouldn't have let him catch me Instead of livin' sad in jail I coulda died free and happy And my cellmate's raped on the norm and passed around the dorm You can hear his asshole gettin' torn They made me an animal Can't sleep, instead of countin' sheep, niggas countin' cannibals And that's how it is in the pen Turn old and cold and your soul is your best friend My mama, pray for me Tell the Lord to make way for me, prepare any day for me (Why?) ‘Cause when they come for me they find a struggler To the death I take the breath from your jugular The trick is to never lose hope I found my buddy hangin' dead from a rope; sixteen on Death Row [Chorus] Bye bye, I was never meant to live Can't be positive when the ghetto's where you live Bye bye, I was never meant to be Livin' like a thief, runnin' through the streets Bye bye, and I got no place to go Where they find me; 16 on Death Row [Verse 3] Dear Mama, they sentenced me to death Today's my final day, I'm countin' every breath I'm bitter ‘cause I'm dyin', so much I haven't seen I know you never dreamed your baby would be dead at sixteen I got beef with a sick society That doesn't give a shit and they too quick to say goodbye to me They tell me the preacher's there for me He's a crook with a book, that motherfucker never cared for me He's only here to be sure I don't drop a dime to God 'bout the crimes he's committin' on the poor And how can these people judge me? They ain't my peers and in all these years they ain't never love me I never got to be a man Must be part of some big plan to keep a nigga in the state pen And to my homies out buryin' motherfuckers Steer clear of these Aryan motherfuckers ‘Cause once they got you locked up They got you trapped, you're better off gettin' shot up I'm convinced, self-defense is the way Please stay strapped, pack a gat everyday (Everyday) I wish I woulda known while I was out there Now I'm straight headin' for the chair [Chorus] Bye bye, I was never meant to live Can't be positive when the ghetto's where you live Bye bye, I was never meant to be Livin' like a thief, runnin' through the streets Bye bye, and I got no place to go Where they find me; sixteen on Death Row [Outro] Sixteen on Death Row, Death Row Death Row, Death Row Sixteen on Death Row, Death Row, Death Row It's to all my partners in the penitentiaries Uh, sixteen on Death Row