Brenda's Got a Baby
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| "Brenda’s Got A Baby" | ||
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| Single by 2Pac | ||
| from the album 2Pacalypse Now | ||
| Released | 1991 | |
| Format | 12" single | |
| Recorded | 1991 | |
| Genre | Rap | |
| Length | 3:55 | |
| Label | Interscope | |
| Writer(s) | T. Shakur, D. Evans | |
| Producer(s) | The Underground Railroad | |
"Brenda's Got a Baby" is rapper Tupac Shakur's debut solo single, taken from his album 2Pacalypse Now. The song is about a fictional 12-year old girl named Brenda who lives in a ghetto, has a baby, and is incapable of supporting it. The song explores the issue of teen pregnancy and its effect on the young mothers and their families. Like many of Shakur's songs, "Brenda's Got a Baby" draws from the plight of the impoverished. Using Brenda as a metaphor for young mothers everywhere, Tupac criticises the low level of support from the babies' father, the government, and society in general.
[edit] Lyrics
The opening consists of a duet singing the song’s title repeatedly. Much of the rest of the song is one long verse performed by Tupac. The verse begins with him telling a group that he has heard about Brenda’s pregnancy. He also notes that the girl has had virtually no education in her life, having only barely obtained minimal skills in writing, and calls this a "damn shame", critcizing the lack of scholarship support. He also seemingly feels a connection between this and Brenda's current motherhood crisis, which can be viewed as an encouragement for sex education. At this point, Tupac is interrupted by another member of the group, who feels that this matter does not concern them and is the responsibility of the girl's parents. But Tupac insists that it does indeed affect the entire community, and then finally begins to reveal the entire story.
Brenda is a young girl who lives in a ghetto and obviously has little hope in life, thus suffering from clinical depression. Her family is very poor, and her father is a heroin addict. Brenda is suddenly impregnated by her unnamed boyfriend, but she is successfully able to hide her pregnancy. Tupac explains that it wouldn’t matter to her family if she gave birth, as long as they were still able to make enough money to survive.
Although she believes that her boyfriend will stay with her and help her raise the child, he turns out to merely be a molester, and abandons her right before she gives birth to her baby on the bathroom floor of her house. Brenda tries to dispose of it by throwing it in a trash bin, but the baby’s bawling leads to it being discovered. Her mother scolds her severely, and Brenda becomes so ashamed of herself that she runs away from home.
Brenda now begins a life on her own, and unsuccessfully seeks employment. Her attempt to illegally sell crack cocaine results in robbery, and eventually she views prostitution as her only way to make money. This lifestyle finally leads to her being murdered, but the lyrics never explain how (the music video reveals that she was shot in an alley by a mugger). What becomes of other characters, such as her family, her boyfriend, and the baby itself, is uncertain. The final minute or so of the song consists of a chorus singing “don’t you know she’s got a baby” repeatedly.
[edit] The video
The video of the song is black-and-white. It was made to visualise what Tupac narrates. The first part shows Tupac and Money-B talking about Brenda, and then the actual story starts.
The video begins with "based on a true story", since although the characters themselves are fictitious, the issues the song discusses are present in the modern world.
Parts of the video were included in Tupac: Resurrection, a 2003 documentary on 2Pac's life, and it appears as a bonus in its entirety on the film's DVD.
[edit] Popularity
The song has been praised by artists such as Nas, The Game and Mary J. Blige as being one of Tupac's most touching and poetic works. The Game refers to the song in his single "Hate It or Love It" in the line 'Pac is gone, and Brenda still throwing babies in the garbage'. Xplicit also refers to the song in his single "Thugz Life" in the line 'Yo Pac, may I ask, is Brenda still throwin' babies in the Trash?'
In 1998 it appeared on 2Pac's Greatest Hits.
