[Hook: Amel Larrieux] From pyramid top to bottom of bowl From whips and locks to fist and afro We dug too deep to give up this gold Don't be bought, and you won't be sold Running on empty, you ain't gon' go Running on empty, lead you to nowhere We fact, nobody can lie So resist the temptation
[Verse 2: 2Pac] Gamble for your soul with the devil You wonder how low, can you go, before you finally reach the lowest level As everybody sit and stares There's no use looking in your eyes cause there isn't anybody there And though it may make you wanna cry Got you stealing from your family and you don't even know why I guess you think they'll understand You feel cold, cause you sold your soul to the dopeman Oh now there's no turning back, in fact It's decided, that would live and die for the crack You got no friends cause you cheated 'em all Feel lonely, low, defeated and small No one was there when I took the wrong path And nobody'd care if I died in a blood bath But is this my destiny? Tell the lord they got my mind, but he can have the rest of me Cause I'm ready to end it all One bullet to the brain, forgive my sins and all I didn't mean to be a bother A failure as a son, a husband and a father I wish I could turn back the time Go back and find, why I let it crack my mind And my only explanation, it came to this Resist the temptation
[Hook: Amel Larrieux] From pyramid top to bottom of bowl From whips and locks to fist and afro We dug too deep to give up this gold Don't be bought, and you won't be sold Running on empty, you ain't gon' go Running on empty, lead you to nowhere We fact, nobody can lie So resist the temptation
[Verse 3: 2Pac] Your death left family behind Your wife and your son find a gun, and pieces of daddy's mind On the door and on the floor Now her husband is dead, what else is she living for? So now she picks up the gun Now son is the only one Grows up in adoption homes Gets older, bolder, and cold cause he's left alone To him, nothing is funny Mind set on one thing, making his money Since I was left with no hope I want money and gold ropes and so I slang dope Now I'm the neighborhood dopeman And as long cause they smoking I'll never be broke man I live the life of a trifle Following a cycle, so I'm just a psycho But if I had a better life I would have lived a good life and did more things right Hard to resist temptation With all the aggravation and the frustration Of living in the ghetto Your mind gets twisted, just like a pretzel So it's time that I check out But one nosy cop, just won't let me get out They got me trapped once again With a choice: shoot the cop, or live life in the pen I can't stand the frustration Resist the temptation
[Hook: Amel Larrieux] From pyramid top to bottom of bowl From whips and locks to fist and afro We dug too deep to give up this gold Don't be bought, and you won't be sold Running on empty, you ain't gon' go Running on empty, lead you to nowhere We fact, nobody can lie So resist the temptation
An unlikely posthumous collaborative pairing, the beautiful, soulful voice of Amel Larrieux, formerly of the R&B duo Groove Theory and Tupac’s socially conscious lyrics work perfectly to deliver the message of resistance against oppressive institutions and struggle to escape the harsh realities of ghetto life.
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