Songfacts®:

• This song starts off with Rod Wave reflecting on his difficult early years on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida, his come-up, and compulsive hustling. He's getting stressed by all manner of things, including people close to him dying all the time, the police's interest in his previous illegal activities, and his neglect of his girlfriend. Wave feels he will only properly be able to rest and find peace when he dies.
  
  During the second half of the song, Wave continues to reflect on his death and the legacy he wants to leave behind. He wants his tombstone to say he was "the truest in the game."
• Rod Wave wrote the song with the track's producers. They are:
  
  Jai Beats, who also co-produced the Soulfly tracks "Shock da World" and "Calling."
  
  Saucii, for whom this is his first credit on a major artist's album.
  
  Eighty8, who also co-produced the Soulfly tracks "Pills & Billz" and "Believe Me."
• Wave released "Tombstone" as the second promotional single from SoulFly on March 23, 2021. The record continues his melancholic storytelling about his life and upbringing following his breakthrough singles "Heart On Ice" and "Rags2Riches."
• SoulFly debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200, becoming Wave's first album to top the chart.
• DaBaby's visual collaborators Reel Goats filmed the video, which tells the tear-jerking story of a deaf boy killed by police and laid to rest.
• Jai Beats was 16 years old and still in high school when he came up with the instrumentation. He recalled to Genius he'd "kept making melody after melody" trying to get his beats to Rod Wave. Eventually, Jai Beats sent some loops to Eighty8, and Rod Wave ended up picking a beat with his melody.
  
  Jai Beats recorded the "Tombstone" melody in July 2020 with his guitar, and that was one of his guitar packs that he sent to Eighty8.