Death Row   That's where motherfuckers is endin' up      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   Niggaz gettin' jealous, tryin' to find my stash   Whip out the nine, now I'ma dive and pump 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, mics      I listen to him scream, Tray Deee 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-oh, blaow blaow, turn 'em into forty-niners      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      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 16 as well   It's hard to adapt, when you're black and you're trapped in a livin' Hell      I shouldn'ta 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, niggaz countin' cannibals   And that's how it is in the pen   Turn old and cold, and your soul is your best friend      My mama prayed for me   Tell the Lord to make way for me, prepare any day for me   '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, 16 on Death Row      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 you find me? 16 on Death Row      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 16      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 commitin'   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 every day   I wish I woulda known while I was out there   Now I'm straight headin' for the chair      Bye bye, I was never meant to live   Can't be positive, when the ghetto's where we 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 you find me? 16 on Death Row      16 on Death Row   It's to all my partners in the penitentiaries   16 on Death Row