2Pac’s “Brenda’s Got a Baby”
Featuring
2Pac’s “Brenda’s Got a Baby” Lyrics
Brenda's got a baby
I hear Brenda's got a baby
But Brenda's barely got a brain
A damn shame, the girl can hardly spell her name
That's not our problem, that's up to Brenda's family
Well let me show you how it affects our whole community
Now Brenda never really knew her moms
And her dad was a junkie putting death into his arms
It's sad, cause I bet Brenda doesn't even know
Just cause you're in the ghetto doesn't mean you can't grow
But oh, that's a thought, my own revelation
Do whatever it takes to resist the temptation
Brenda got herself a boyfriend
Her boyfriend was her cousin, now let's watch the joy end
She tried to hide her pregnancy, from her family
Who really didn't care to see, or give a damn if she
Went out and had a church of kids
As long as when the check came they got first dibs
Now Brenda's belly is getting bigger
But no one seems to notice any change in her figure
She's twelve years old and she's having a baby
In love with a molester, who's sexing her crazy
And yet and she thinks that he'll be with her forever
And dreams of a world where the two of them are together, whatever
He left her and she had the baby solo
She had it on the bathroom floor and didn't know so
She didn't know, what to throw away and what to keep
She wrapped the baby up and threw him in a trash heap
I guess she thought she'd get away, wouldn't hear the cries
She didn't realize how much the little baby had her eyes
Now the baby's in the trash heap bawling
Momma can't help her, but it hurts to hear her calling
Brenda wants to run away
Momma say, you making me lose pay
The social workers here everyday
Now Brenda's gotta make her own way
Can't go to her family, they won't let her stay
No money no babysitter, she couldn't keep a job
She tried to sell crack but end up getting robbed
So now what's next, there ain't nothing left to sell
So she sees sex as a way of leaving hell
It's paying the rent, so she really can't complain
Prostitute, found slain and Brenda's her name, she's got a baby
About
Not the jocular subject matter Rap Genius is used to dealing with; from his debut album 2Pacalypse Now, “Brenda’s Got a Baby” was 2Pac’s first single as a solo artist.
Through the narrative lens of an abused preteen, 2Pac addresses pregnancy, ineffective welfare, and the weak family structure rotting the ghetto.
Via a 1997 New Yorker article:
Tupac said he had written the song after reading a newspaper story about a twelve-year-old girl who became impregnated by her cousin and threw her newborn baby down an incinerator. Asked by his lawyer whether he considered the song a political statement, Tupac said, ‘Yes….When this song came out, no male rappers at all anywhere were talking about problems that females were having, number one. Number two, it talked about child molestation, it talked about families taking advantages of families, it talked about the effects of poverty, it talked about how one person’s problems can affect a whole community of people. It talked about how the innocent are the ones that get hurt. It talked about drugs, the abuse of drugs, broken families…how she couldn’t leave the baby, you know, the bond that a mother has with her baby and how…women need to be able to make a choice.’
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
- 2Pac’s “Brenda’s Got a Baby”
