When they heard the beat in the studio, both vocalists, Roniece Levias and Dave Hollister, who has also worked with Underground Digital and E-40, happened to be hanging out with the singer from Chicago. They recorded with B Money that day. Before Deon Evans produced the track “Big D the Impossible,” Tupac wrote the whole song, including the line for B Money.
“During the recording, hip-hop records were being sung, but there was a unique element to the record. The first time it was sung, the manager, Gregory Atron, had a lightning bolt moment, which was captured in a memorable spot. It was a moment where Tupac’s former manager, Gregory, was in the spotlight with a bottle in hand. As they went back and forth, Pac and his crew caught the groove and said, ‘Go like they were Pac.’ According to Hollister and Levias, B Money, they were constantly moving forward and backward.”
Pacup (Tupac) wanted to tell a story about everything else that happened on the spot. He says, “It’s not just a hook, song, hook, song, verse one is like Baby’s Got a Brenda’s: B Money stands out as another distinguishing feature.”
Recalling the video shoot with great clarity, getting ready to commemorate her 49th birthday in Georgia, Ethel Love, the lady who played Brenda in the music video, is supervising her grandchildren while she joins the conversation. Radiating positivity and brimming with vitality, she speaks to us from a vehicle.
“I didn’t listen to the narrative for the initial occasion until after I completed the video,” expresses Love.
Love was instructed by the video’s directors, Allen and Albert Hughes, in every scene. They conveyed their desired actions to Love, taking guidance from the song’s lyrics. Love’s brother Deandre (also known as Papa Doc), a friend of Tupac’s, selected her to be the main actress when she was only 17 years old.
Love, who grew up in the church and was raised between Richmond Central and North, was never involved in anything of this magnitude but the Performing Arts Center through the arts in East Bay.
His question is about his real mother, whom Love portrays in the video with laughter all around. His mother attacked me and I was talking to her just like that because I wanted to hang out. It wasn’t long ago that I realized my real life wasn’t far off from the fictional mother I was arguing with. Love explains before laughing, “Yes, that is his real mother portrayed by Love in the video with laughter all around.”
She expresses, “It was simple since it resembled my own life,” while depicting the character of Brenda. Love, who was a mother of one at that point, drew inspiration from her personal experience. The girls’ narratives had unsettling resemblances, except for Brenda’s transition into prostitution. “All of it felt so authentic,” she states, “because I was actually living that lifestyle.”
During the phone call, as Love’s four grandchildren laugh in the background, one of them jokingly says, “Brenda still has a bunch of babies,” lightening the mood of the conversation.
Love discreetly desired to stay while she questioned why People didn’t tell them all. Love says this young popular man was on a popular video, so I thought I was different now because everyone was, I thought I was different now because everyone was, it was hard walking down the hallway at school. Life changed for love after the early ’90s video.
People would approach her, screaming and attempting to touch her and grab her, and they would exclaim, “Oh my god, aren’t you the girl from the video?!” Love describes this experience as really strange. She explains that even people she didn’t know treated her strangely. However, everything changed when she started appearing on TV. Even her childhood friends began to act differently towards her. Love reveals that she used to quietly drive to school since the age of 13, parking around the corner and not telling anyone. She shares this anecdote to highlight her naturally secretive nature. Love says, “There was a period of time when I couldn’t go outside like I used to, especially with my daughter. It used to frighten her.”
On social media, the girls continuously came across pictures of their mother. However, as the girls grew older, she also cautioned her children against disclosing her involvement in Tupac’s video, as she didn’t want them to face discrimination at school. As her children grew up, she revealed to them the narrative behind the music video, the song, and the prestigious award she received for her contribution. Love later had two additional daughters, and as her children matured, she passed down to them the story of the music video, the song, and the valuable plaque she obtained from her part in it all.
Love expresses, “The reason I’m on Instagram and Facebook is because of my kids, LisaRaye. You’re implying that you’re once again providing for them, Mom,” she mimics her children while speaking.
She portrayed an image that spoke to some of the largest issues facing society, revealing how she is clear and visible as a child. Love is not Brenda, nor is she LisaRaye. Love does not see herself as mixed in shade, despite appearing in a different video with Tupac (“Toss It Up”), where LisaRaye, another beautiful and successful Black woman, also appeared. Love has also heard the rumor that B Money and Atron laughed at.
Love recounts that she personally witnessed this, with one of her own relatives. Love further explains, “This situation is incredibly relatable for individuals who have children but struggle to inform their parents about their impending parenthood. Consequently, some individuals find themselves unexpectedly giving birth in unconventional locations such as a bathtub or a bathroom.” Love specifically mentions her fondness for the bathroom scene portrayed in the video during Brenda’s physical delivery of the baby.
One of Ethel’s grand-babies enters the screen as I ask about the issue of how hip-hop has addressed and added to the issue of reproductive rights overturning Wade v. Roe last year.
Love says that she now sees the significance of her role as a grandmother, but she didn’t understand it at that time. She is a firm believer and advocate of the concept of raising a child in a village and also volunteered as a babysitter. However, four decades ago, she was not just a character in a popular music video.
“I am a caregiver.” “I took care of other people’s children before I had my own. “I have always been that individual.” “He was aware that I would become that person.” Love says. “It’s as if he recognized me.” She acknowledges that, in various aspects, she still embodies that individual — the one Tupac noticed when he recommended her for the role. When she reflects on the music video and contemplates the progress she has made.”