Rappers are often criticized for exaggerating their stories in their rhymes, but that proclivity has apparently reunited a mother and son, thirty years after she gave him up for adoption, courtesy of Tupac Shakur. Buckle up, this is a ride.
New York Times Best Selling author Jeff Pearlman recently made the switch from sportswriting to music, choosing as his first subject the late West Coast rap icon. During an interview with his former colleague Rich Eisen to promote his new biography, Only God Can Judge Me: The Many Lives Of Tupac Shakur, Pearl recounted his own role(!) in the aforementioned reunion, and how it all pertained to ‘Pac’s seminal 1991 single, “Brenda’s Got A Baby.”
In the interview, Pearlman recalls how Tupac was inspired by a New York Daily News article about a 12-year-old girl in a New York housing project gave birth to a baby and sent it down the building trash chute. The baby was saved from the trash compactor by a passerby, the baby was given up for adoption, and the article inspired “Brenda’s Got A Baby” during the filming of Juice.
While Pearlman interviewed one of ‘Pac’s former managers, Leila Steinberg, for the book, an offhand comment she made about the veracity of the song sent the author down a rabbit hole. He contacted a genealogist, who found “the baby from ‘Brenda’s Got A Baby’,” Davonn Hodge. After Hodge had done an ancestry search of his own following the deaths of his adoptive parents, he’d reunited with family in New York after growing up in Las Vegas, learning his connection to the song.
Pearlman then employed his genealogist friend to find “Brenda,” and after reaching out, they were able to reunite her with her son… 30 years later. Here’s the kicker: She was in Vegas at the time, attending a Red Hot Chili Peppers concert. There’s a collaboration nobody ever thought of, with one incredible outcome. Check out the full interview above.
Only God Can Judge Me: The Many Lives Of Tupac Shakur is out now via Harper Collins. You can find more info here.