🎵 Hold on Be Strong // by 2Pac

34 ContributorsHold on Be Strong Lyrics The song was released after Tupac’s death. It’s basically a song about holding your own when life is at its toughest. [Intro] Hold on... *lighter flicks up* Yeah, it's gonna be alright Don't trip, baby *inhales* It'll get better... *coughing* Aye, do this thug style, man, thug style When this whole beat drop We just gon' run it to 'em Bet, it's all good, uhh [Verse 1] I never had much, ran with a bad bunch Little skinny kid sneakin' weed in my bag lunch And all through Junior High, we was just gettin' by And drive-by's robbed my homies of their young lives I never did cry, and even though I had pain in my heart I was hopeless from the start They couldn't tell me nothin', they all tried to help me The marijuana had my mind gone, it wasn't healthy I traveled places, caught cases, what a ill year I felt the pain and the rain, but I'm still here Never did like the police Let the whole world know, now I gets no peace ‘Cause they chasin' me down And facin' me now, what do I do? These things that a thug goes through And still I rise, so keep your head up And make your mind strong It's a struggle every day, but you gotta hold on [Chorus] Hold on, be strong! Hold on, be strong! Hold on, be strong! When it's on, it's on [Verse 2] There's never a good day, ‘cause in my hood they Let they AK's pump strays where the kids play And every Halloween, check out the murder scene Can't help but duplicate the violence seen on the screen My homies dyin' before they get to see they birthdays These is the worst days, sometimes it hurts to pray And even God turned his back on the ghetto youth I know that ain't the truth, sometimes I look for proof I wonder if Heaven got a ghetto, and if it does Does it matter if you Blood or you Cuz? Remember how it was? The picnics and the parties in the projects Small time drinkin', gettin' high with them armies Just another knucklehead kid from the gutter I'm dealin' with the madness, raised by a single mother I'm tryin' to tell you when it's on You gotta keep your head to the sky And be strong, most of all, hold on [Chorus] Hold on, be strong! Hold on, be strong! Hold on, be strong! When it's on, it's on [Outro] (Hold on, be strong *repeats in background*) I know them ain't tears comin' down your face Wipe your eyes In this world, only the strong survive, you know? Hehe, I know it's hard out there Welfare, AIDS, earthquakes, muggings, car-jackings Yeah, we got problems But believe me when I tell you things always get better God don't like ugly, and God don't like no quitters You know what Billie Holiday said? Bay-bee, God bless the child that can hold his own You know? You got to stand strong And when these bustas try to knock you out your place You stand there to they face Tell 'em "Hold on!", and be strong The game don't stop, huh This here is black, man If you don't never learn nothin', learn one thing It don't stop, 'til the casket drop Thug for life... feel me? All my homeboys and my homegirls, stay strong When things get bad Especially come the first and the fifteenth Stay strong, and stay ballin', hold on I'll catch y'all at the next life, we in traffic