Baby mama

A baby mama (also baby-mama and baby-mother) is a mother who is not married to her child's father, although the term is often infused with other meanings as well.

The term originated in Jamaican Creole as "baby-mother" (pronounced [ˈbebi ˈmada]), with the first printed usage appearing in the Kingston newspaper, The Daily Gleaner in 1966. Another Daily Gleaner use dates from November 21, 1989. Originally, the term was used by the fathers of illegitimate children to describe the mothers of their children, but 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". Since entering currency in U.S. tabloids, the terms baby mama and baby daddy have even begun to be applied to married and engaged celebrities.

Baby mother and baby mama had entered wide use in American hip-hop lyrics by the mid-1990s. 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." 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 black single mothers and to be a baby mama it should be a "badge of honor". She is able to make first hand acknowledgements as a single mother. she even empathizes on the thoughts of baby mamas and how they are "fed up with makin' beds up."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.

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