Eminem’s “Foolish Pride” (Racist Song)
“Foolish Pride” is a generally-unexceptional song Eminem recorded long before he became globally famous. In fact the only time it has received public notoriety is due to racist comments Slim Shady makes therein. And overall the whole situation is kind of topsy-turvy. We say this because in this song, Em also appears to be espousing a general ideology of racial unity.
Narrative of “Foolish Pride”
The reality of the matter is that the overall sentiment expressed is being relayed from someone who has been hurt by his romantic partner. Now anyone who has ever had his heart broken by a lady likely knows that sometimes the associated anger can extend outside of her personally. It can sometimes even extend to include all females like her or sometimes even all females, period. And this is the type of situation that we are dealing with in “Foolish Pride”.
Eminem is hurt by the girl’s betrayal
Eminem has been thoroughly hurt by a ‘black girl’ he was dating. And in response, he is basically attacking all Black women. And truthfully his reaction is indeed scathing, labeling the group using the B word. In doing so, he depicts them as the type who ‘only want the money’ of their boyfriends and by implication White-romantic interests in particular. And on the other side of the coin, he is espousing “White girls” as the “good chicks”. He basically see White girls as the more-ideal romantic partners.
Now as alluded to above, the song begins with Em actually preaching “unity” between the races and lamenting that such has yet to occur. But this quickly descends into the aforementioned tirade. And after that, he even starts to freestyle, admitting at times that he’s forgotten the chorus. So it’s hard to really take this track seriously. And if nothing else, he obviously never intended for the public to actually hear it. This is obvious because it’s not featured on his debut EP. Neither is it referenced on any of the songs which make up his standard catalog.
“Foolish Pride” is finally Unearthed!
After Eminem became a mega artist, prominent music publication The Source got wind of this song, exposed it to the masses and in the process accused Eminem of being a racist. Eminem apologized immediately and explained the racist comments stated in “Foolish Pride” as being the words of an upset, heartbroken, big-mouthed kid. It should be stated that Em would have been in his late teens when this song was recorded.
And all things considered, that is how this track comes off. All popular rappers have probably said things on mixtapes that they now regret. And we also know that even in his middle age, when Eminem gets emotional he tends to offend people in the process. But we also know that he isn’t, succinctly put, a racist. In fact Eminem has spent more of his career attacking his fellow Whites as opposed to Black people. Rather who he is someone who actually possesses the titular characteristic, which is “foolish pride”. And that sense of pride, if you will, has continually gotten him into controversy throughout the years, specifically in regards to some of the words which come out of his mouth.
When was “Foolish Pride” released?
The exact year of origin of “Foolish Pride” is unknown. However, it is said to be from either 1989 or 1993.
Nick Cannon reminds people of this racist song in 2019
Besides Eminem being put in the hot seat back in 2003, “Foolish Pride” reared its ugly head again in 2019. This was when his rival, Nick Cannon, heavily sampled it in a diss song aimed at Slim Shady called “Canceled: Invitation“.
“Foolish Pride” feature Manix
This track features an artist named Manix, who was actually Eminem’s early rap partner from the time he was 14-years old. The pair apparently worked together up until the time Em started blowing up on his own.
