A baby mama (or baby momma, also baby mother) is a slang term for a mother who is not married to her child's father, although the term often carries other connotations as well. This term is associated with African Americans originally, coming from Jamaican Creole and finding its way into hip-hop music.
The equivalent term for a male is baby daddy (or baby father), but it is not used as frequently.
The term originated in Jamaican Creole as "baby-mother" (pronounced [ˈbebiˈmada] ), with the first printed usage appearing in the Kingston newspaper, The Daily Gleaner in 1966. [1] [2] Another Daily Gleaner use dates from November 21, 1989. [2] Originally, the term was used by the fathers of illegitimate children to describe the mothers of their children.
The term is now in general use to describe any single mother. Peter L. Patrick, a linguistics professor who studies Jamaican English, has said (of the terms baby mother and baby father), "[they] definitely imply there is not a marriage—not even a common-law marriage, but rather that the child is an 'outside' child". [1] Since entering currency in U.S. tabloids, the terms have even begun to be applied to married and engaged celebrities. [1]
Linguist John McWhorter states "baby mama" is typical Black English, removing the "'s" possessive marker. [3]
Baby mother and baby mama had entered widespread use in American hip-hop lyrics by the mid-1990s. [1] One of the first representations of baby mamas in hip-hop lyrics was by southern rapper Krazy, from Tampa, Florida. One of his songs was titled "I Hate My Baby Mama." [4] The Outkast song "Ms. Jackson", released in 2000, was dedicated to "all the baby mamas' mamas". American Idol winner Fantasia Barrino released a song entitled "Baby Mama" in 2004. In this song she is writing an ode to single mothers and how to be a baby mama should be a "badge of honor". She makes firsthand acknowledgements as a single mother and empathizes on the thoughts of baby mamas and how they are "fed up with makin' beds up." [4] Planet Earth , an album by Prince released in 2007, features a song called "Future Baby Mama". Three 6 Mafia had a song called "Baby Mama" on Choices: The Album . Tupac's "Dear Mama", and "Brenda's got a Baby" are two hip hop songs that show a strong Black woman/mothering trope. [5]
All My Babies' Mamas was an unaired reality show starring rapper Shawty Lo, showcasing his lifestyle as the father of 11 children, mothered by 10 different women. The show was cancelled due to it stereotyping black families and polygamy. [6] [7] A sitcom titled Baby Daddy premiered in 2012.
In 2008, Universal Pictures released a comedy film entitled Baby Mama starring Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, in which Poehler plays a woman Fey hires to be her surrogate.
In many films, including some like Tyler Perry's "Meet the Browns", that was released in 2008, there are many stereotypical representations of black baby mamas. Brenda, who is played by Angela Bassett, is one of the main characters in the film that is portrayed as a stereotypical Black single mother who is caught in an endless cycle of poverty and struggle. She has three children from three different men, none of which have a presence in their child's life. Throughout the film there is not indication that Brenda is on welfare but nevertheless, she is a clear representation of a contemporary "baby mama". In stereotypical fashion, her character is powerless. [8]
Stephen Robert Nesta Marley is a Jamaican-American musician. The son of Bob Marley, Marley is an eight-time Grammy Award winner, three times as a solo artist, twice as a producer of his younger paternal half-brother Damian Marley's Halfway Tree and Welcome to Jamrock albums, and a further three times as a member of his older brother Ziggy Marley's group Ziggy Marley & The Melody Makers.
"Brenda's Got a Baby" is a song by American rapper 2Pac from his debut album, 2Pacalypse Now (1991). The song was first released as a promotional CD single a month prior to album's release and then, in February 1992, it was re-released as a double A-side single with the song "If My Homie Calls". The song, which features R&B singer Dave Hollister singing background vocals with Roniece Levias, is about a 12-year-old girl named Brenda who lives in a ghetto and has a baby she can't support. The song explores the issue of teen pregnancy and its effect on young mothers and their families. Like many of Shakur's songs, "Brenda's Got a Baby" draws from the plight of the impoverished. Using Brenda to represent young mothers in general, Shakur criticises the low level of support from the baby's father, the government, and society in general. Shakur wrote the song while filming the feature film Juice, after reading a newspaper article about a 12-year-old girl who became pregnant by her cousin and threw the baby into a trash heap.
D4L was an American hip hop group formed in 2003, composed of Atlanta-based rappers Fabo, Mook-B, Stoney, and Shawty Lo. They are best known for their 2005 hit single "Laffy Taffy", which peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in January 2006.
Faheem Rashad Najm, known professionally as T-Pain, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is known for popularizing creative use of Auto-Tune pitch correction, often used with extreme parameter settings to create electronic-styled vocal performances. Blending its use with R&B and hip hop sensibilities, T-Pain became a prominent figure in both genres throughout the 2000s. Other music industry artists, such as Lil Wayne, Kanye West, Future, and Travis Scott, have since utilized Auto-Tune to a similar effect.
"Dear Mama" is a song by American rapper 2Pac from his third studio album, Me Against the World (1995). It was released on February 21, 1995, as the lead single from the album. The song is a tribute to his mother, Afeni Shakur. In the song, Shakur details his childhood poverty and his mother's addiction to crack cocaine, but argues that his love and deep respect for his mother supersede bad memories. The song became his first top ten on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number nine. It also topped the Hot Rap Singles chart for five weeks. As of March 2021, the song is certified 3× Platinum by the RIAA.
Bachatón is a fusion genre of reggaeton from Panama and Puerto Rico as well as bachata from the Dominican Republic. Bachaton combines bachata melodies and reggaeton style beats, lyrics, rapping, and disc jockeying. The word "bachatón" is a portmanteau of "bachata" and "reggaeton". "Bachatón" was coined and widely accepted in 2005. It is a subgenre of reggaeton and bachata.
Algernod Lanier Washington, better known by his stage name Plies, is an American rapper. Born in Fort Myers, Florida, Plies was a wide receiver on the Miami Redskins football team of Miami University in Ohio for two years in 1995 before embarking on a musical career. After a brief transfer to University of Central Florida, he dropped out and signed with the South Florida-based record label Slip-n-Slide Records in 2004; after four mixtapes, he signed a joint venture with Atlantic Records two years later.
"Shawty" is a song by American rapper Plies featuring American singer T-Pain. Released in July 2007, it is Plies' lead single from his debut studio album The Real Testament and samples "Fantasy" by Earth, Wind & Fire. The song won an award at the 2007 Ozone Awards for Best Rap/R&B Collaboration.
Niatia Jessica Kirkland, better known by her stage name Lil Mama, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and dancer. She experienced top 10 Billboard placements at 17 with her debut album VYP (2008), which debuted at number 25 on the Billboard 200. The album spawned her four major singles including her staple song and dance anthem "Lip Gloss", earning her two Teen Choice Awards and Monster Single of the Year nominations at the MTV Video Music Awards. Kirkland gained further attention in pop music after a collaboration with Avril Lavigne for the remix of her hit single "Girlfriend".
Baby Mama is a 2008 American romantic comedy film written and directed by Michael McCullers in his directorial debut and starring Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Greg Kinnear, Dax Shepard, Romany Malco, Maura Tierney, Holland Taylor, with Steve Martin, and Sigourney Weaver.
B-Rock & the Bizz was a hip-hop and rap group consisting of producer and rapper/ singer, Baron "B-Rock" Agee, his brother Leevirt Agee from New York City, Paul Costict, and Thaddeus "T-Bird" Maye from Mobile, Alabama. Leevirt Agee and T-Bird Maye were known as the Bizz.
Baby mama is a slang term for an unmarried mother.
"Dey Know" is a song by American hip hop recording artist Shawty Lo, released on December 4, 2007, as his commercial debut single. The song also serves as the lead single from Shawty Lo's debut solo album, Units in the City. The track was produced by Balis Beats and Born Immaculate, who sampled Mandrill's "Children of the Sun".
The discography of Shawty Lo, an American hip hop recording artist from Atlanta, Georgia. Shawty Lo embarked on his career with the Southern hip hop group D4L. The discography consists of one studio album, one posthumous album, 15 mixtapes and 20 singles.
Carlos Rico Walker, better known as Shawty Lo, was an American rapper from Atlanta, Georgia.
"Haters" is the second single from Tony Yayo's second studio album. The song features fellow rapper 50 Cent, Shawty Lo and Roscoe Dash. The song was released as a digital download on March 23, 2011.
Shawty, shorty, shauty or shortie is a slang term from African American Vernacular English used generally as a nonspecific term of endearment. In specific settings, it can be interpreted as a catcall. Since the 1990s, the term has also been used to refer to young and attractive women, mostly in hip hop tracks from that decade and those from the early 2000s. Shawty is a Southern and African American variant of shorty, and can also refer to someone of any gender who is shorter in stature compared to a taller person. It is also frequently used to amicably address newcomers, children, and good friends.
All My Babies' Mamas is an unaired American reality television special planned for broadcast by Oxygen. A one-hour special was set to premiere in the spring of 2013, although the special was shelved less than a month after its announcement. The special starred rapper Shawty Lo, in which he showcased his lifestyle as the father of 11 children fathered by 10 different women.
Iliana Eve is an American singer-songwriter who was born in Houston, Texas and raised in Louisville, Kentucky. She got her professional start in the music industry with a single that was released through Snoop Dogg's record label Doggy Style Records. TMZ released "Kylie's Daddy", Iliana's collaboration with 22 Savage and it went viral. She performed a rendition of Elvis Presley's "Can't Help Falling in Love" for the album, Jazz (Deluxe) by Smith and Hay that hit No. 1 on the Billboard Jazz Charts. DJ Whoo Kid and Ranna Royce remixed Iliana's "Can't Help Falling in Love" and some of her other songs and included them on the album The Whoodlum Ball that hit No. 1 on the Billboard Top Heatseekers Chart and No. 156 on the Billboard Top 200.
Ratchet feminism emerged in the United States from hip hop culture in the early 2000s, largely as a critique of, and a response to, respectability politics. It is distinct from black feminism, womanism, and hip hop feminism. Ratchet feminism coopts the derogatory term (ratchet). Other terms used to describe this concept include ratchet womanism as used by Georgia Tech professor Joycelyn Wilson or ratchet radicalism used by Rutgers professor Brittney Cooper. Ratchet is an identity embraced by many millennials and Gen Z black women and girls. The idea of ratchetness as empowering, or of ratchet feminism, has been articulated by artists and celebrities like Nicki Minaj, City Girls, Amber Rose, and Junglepussy, scholars like Brittney Cooper and Mikki Kendall, and through events like Amber Rose's SlutWalk. Many view ratchet feminism as a form of female empowerment that doesn't adhere to respectability politics.