"And in my mind I’m a blind man doin’ time Look to my future, ’cause my past is all behind me" - 2Pac

"And in my mind I’m a blind man doin’ time Look to my future, ’cause my past is all behind me"

• 2Pac, Only God Can Judge Me (Released: February 13, 1996)

Genius Annotation:

“Doing time” refers to spending time in prison or jail. ‘Pac served nine months in a correctional facility for sexual abuse allegations prior to the release of his fourth studio album. Although 'Pac was convicted, he denied the charges. The interesting wordplay in the first line plays into this conflict, as 'Pac was very vocal about the situation, disagreeing with the claims completely. The idea of being a “blind man in prison” is a metaphor; just like a blind person can’t see, 'Pac tells us he can’t see what he has done wrong. Shakur gave a similar comment on the case in a court interview:

I just had to listen to the prosecution’s closing argument and it was just so far from the truth that it really just has me drained at the end of the day, but I’m leaving it in the hands of the jury.

Following the nine months incarcerated, 2Pac was bailed out for $1.4 million by former CEO of Death Row Records, Suge Knight. ‘Pac’s freedom resulted in a contractual agreement between him and Suge, which stated that he had to finish three albums for the label. At the release of “Only God Can Judge Me,” 2Pac’s notorious rape case was “behind him.”

This post was generated by the Truth2Power bot, a project for MIT's CMS.614 created to archive and discuss hip-hop lyrics that speak truth to power.