Language and style

Here, we address the language and the style of the song “Brenda’s Got A Baby” by Tupac Shakur, which can help you better understand its message and its impact on the listeners. “Brenda’s Got A Baby” is a rap song, with lyrics that use a lot of figurative language, vulgar and colloquial expressions. However, its message is deeply social.

Playing with the language

The author of the lyrics plays with language in the song, using figurative speech and irony. One example of figurative speech is “barely got a brain” (p. 167, l. 4) used to show that Brenda is only a child, lacking education and the experience of reasoning. Another example is “went in debt to his arms” (p. 167, l. 10), showing the dangerous effects of drug use. Equally, the “church of kids” (p. 167, l. 19) is an exaggeration, used to show the indifference of Brenda’s parents to her pregnancy.

When it comes to irony, the speaker uses it to depict Brenda’s naivety and her sad story. Here is...