Photo Source: https://me.me/i/september-13-1996-tupac-shakur-died-this-day-at-age-18644883
Tupac Shakur was the most important Hip-Hop musician in 1990s. His mother, Afeni Shakur who was a member of the Black Panther Party since the 1960s, influenced on his childhood when he had experienced racial discrimination and violence many times. The legacy of his mother helped him capable to clearly express the reality of black ghetto and denounce injustices from which the black people suffered by white policemen through his lyrics. Even though he took criticism for the reason his songs can incite crime and violence, he has been renowned for his ability to combine music with a straightforwardness about the problems and the underside of both the black community and the whole society.
“He differs from other [gangsta rappers] by engaging in authentic activism, attempting develop solution-oriented ideas and motivating his listeners to also “do politics”” meaning political activism with no pay received for involvement (Karin L. Stanford, “Keepin’ It Real in Hip Hop Politics: A Political Perspective of Tupac Shakur, p. 9). His weapon is a rap music that is a part of Hip-Hop culture. “As a youth movement that crosses race, gender, class, and sexuality, rap music and Hip-Hop culture have the potential to bring people together” (Gwendolyn D. Pough, “Seeds and Legacies: Tapping the Potential in Hip-Hop,” p. 284). By using the ability “to get [people] moving in the same direction towards social change” (Pough, 284), he contributed efforts to denouncing social issues such as crimes between the blacks and women’s poverty in poor surroundings of black ghetto. In other words, his “music touched the lives of many on a daily basis” (Pough, 288). “Hip-Hop can give us the mirror to the ills of society and to tap that potential we need to look in that mirror and work to change the things we see” (Pough, 288). For example, in his song Brenda’s Got A Baby, he shows us the underside of society and makes people feel the necessity to resolve that problem. In specific, it seems that he as a human rights activist made this song for women’s human rights.
His song Brenda’s Got a Baby tells a story of a single mother, which shows the problem that many single mothers deal with in a slum area where they have hopeless lives or the whole society beyond a slum area. Because his lyrics is a story, I attach the entire lyrics below.
[Intro: Dave Hollister]
Brenda’s got a baby
[Verse: 2Pac]
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 really never knew her moms
And her dad was a junkie, puttin’ 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’s gettin’ bigger
But no one seems to notice any change in her figure
She’s twelve years old and she’s havin’ a baby
In love with a molester, who’s sexin’ 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, bawlin’
Momma can’t help her, but it hurt to hear her callin’
Brenda wants to run away
Momma say you makin’ me lose pay
There’s social workers here every day
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 gettin’ robbed
So now, what’s next? There ain’t nothin’ left to sell
So she sees sex as a way of leavin’ hell
It’s payin’ the rent, so she really can’t complain
Prostitute, found slain, and Brenda’s her name
She’s got a baby
Source: https://genius.com/2pac-brendas-got-a-baby-lyrics
References
Stanford, Karin L. “Keepin’ It Real in Hip Hop Politics: A Political Perspective of Tupac Shakur.” Journal of Black Studies, vol. 42, no. 1, 2010, pp. 3–22., doi:10.1177/0021934709355122.
Forman, M. (Ed.), Neal, M. (Ed.). (2004). That’s the Joint!. New York: Routledge.
“2Pac (Ft. Dave Hollister & Roniece) – Brenda’s Got a Baby.” Genius, 20 Dec. 1991, genius.com/2pac-brendas-got-a-baby-lyrics.
“September 13 1996 Tupac Shakur Died This Day at Age 25 Six Days After Being Shot Multiple Times in a Drive-By He Was a Rapper Actor Record Producer Poet Screenwriter Activist and Writer | Drive by Meme on Me.me.” Me.me, me.me/i/september-13-1996-tupac-shakur-died-this-day-at-age-18644883.
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