2Pac

Released: December 20, 1991

Featuring: Dave Hollister

Songwriter: Big D The Impossible 2Pac

Producer: The Underground Railroad

[Intro: Dave Hollister]
Brenda's got a baby
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 hurts 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

Tupac Amaru Shakur (June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an actor and a highly influential rapper who is considered by many to be the greatest of all-time due to the revolutionary spirit and thug passion he mixed into his music. During his music career, he made appearances in movies such as his acclaimed debut in Juice (1992), Poetic Justice (1993), and Above the Rim (1994).

Born in Harlem, New York City to Black Panther Party members Billy Garland and Afeni Shakur, Tupac would later move to Baltimore before settling in the Bay Area cities of Oakland and Marin City in the late 1980s. There, he joined his first rap group Strictly Dope with Ray Luv before connecting with Shock G and Digital Underground. He was a roadie and backup dancer for the group before his breakthrough performance on their 1991 song “Same Song.”

2Pac released his debut album 2Pacalypse Now in 1991, which featured intense storytelling on singles such as “Trapped” and “Brenda’s Got a Baby.” His sophomore album Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z featured one of his signature songs, the Digital Underground-assisted “I Get Around.” After working on the Thug Life group album in 1994, 2Pac released Me Against the World the following year, which is considered by many to be his best album, peaking at #1 on the Billboard 200 and receiving a Grammy nomination—all while he sat in prison.

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