Blog 9

There are really too many songs from these genres to pick just one favorite, but one that I have always liked is 2PAc's Brenda's Got a Baby. This song tells the story of a young teenager living in the ghetto who is faced with the problem of having a baby while not having the necessary resources to take care of it.  Her situation is made even more dire because of the fact that she does not have family to support her.  Therefore, this situation sends Brenda spiraling into increasing poverty and destitution that leads her to sell drugs, prostitute herself, and eventually death.  In the end, Brenda's Got a Baby is a good example of how many hip hop artists have used their music to address the problems they see in parts of the African-American community.  As is seen in Brenda's Got a Baby, the problems discussed in many of these hip hop songs deal with issues affecting America's inner cities such as teen pregnancy, poverty, and drug use.  Ultimately, by addressing such issues, these artists hope to draw attention to these problems and, as a result, cause a reversal of such a situation. 

Lyrics: http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/2pac/brendasgotababy.html

Video: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_type=&search_query=brenda's+got+a+baby&aq=0&oq=brenda's