"Just Don't Give a Fuck" (known as "Just Don't Give" in the clean version) is the debut single by American rapper
Eminem
Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem (; often stylized as EMINƎM), is an American rapper and record producer. He is credited with popularizing hip hop in middle America and is critically acclai ...
. The original version appears as the only single on his only EP, the ''
Slim Shady EP''. A re-recorded version appears on his major-label debut album, ''
The Slim Shady LP''. According to the book ''
Angry Blonde
''Angry Blonde'' is a 2000 non-fiction book by American rapper Eminem. The book was first published on November 21, 2000 by HarperEntertainment and features Eminem's commentary of his songs as well as several pictures that had not been previously p ...
'', this was Eminem's first "real" song, and was when he first came up with the "Slim Shady" theme. The song samples the song "
I Don't Give a Fuck
"I Don't Give a Fuck" is a protest song by American rapper Tupac Shakur, 2Pac and the fourth track of his debut studio album ''2Pacalypse Now'' (1991). The song, which features rapper Pogo, deals overtly with police brutality and racism. In the ...
" by
Tupac Shakur.
Disses
The second verse implies that Eminem is superior to several white rappers, notably
Everlast
Erik Francis Schrody (born August 18, 1969), known by his stage name Everlast, is an American musician, singer, rapper, and songwriter, who was the frontman for hip hop group House of Pain. He was also part of the hip hop supergroup La Coka ...
,
Miilkbone
Thomas Wlodarczyk (born March 4, 1974), better known by his stage name Miilkbone, is an American rapper and songwriter.
Career
Miilkbone began his career by recording cassettes with Biz Markie, eventually becoming an affiliate of Naughty by Nat ...
and
Vanilla Ice, each of whom later released
diss tracks against Eminem. Miilkbone released "Dear Slim" and "
Presenting Miilkbone" and Vanilla Ice released "Exhale" and "Hip Hop Rules" in 2001 on his album ''
Bi-Polar''. Everlast had a long-lasting feud with Eminem. Although Eminem dissed Vanilla Ice in other tracks (such as "Marshall Mathers" and "
Role Model
A role model is a person whose behaviour, example, or success is or can be emulated by others, especially by younger people. The term ''role model'' is credited to sociologist Robert K. Merton, who hypothesized that individuals compare themselves ...
"), he did not reply to either him or Miilkbone after their respective disses.
Critical reception
Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic marked it as a stand out on LP. RapReviews described the beat of the song as "head nodding" but he also noted that the remix is subpar: the "new one (remix) is lifeless and oddly out of place among an album full of mostly dope cuts" in comparison to the original.
Music video
The
black-and-white video, interspersed with some color, is set in a trailer park in the summer. A variety of scenes, unrelated to each other, are shown, starting with a boy being stopped by a woman from taking food off a table. The boy returns as Eminem and strangles her. In one version, the video shows him beating her and throwing her on a bed. The video also includes scenes of people drinking and swimming in a pool. Additional scenes include
aliens
Alien primarily refers to:
* Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country
** Enemy alien, the above in times of war
* Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth
** Specifically, intelligent extrate ...
, a
clown
A clown is a person who performs comedy and arts in a state of open-mindedness using physical comedy, typically while wearing distinct makeup or costuming and reversing folkway-norms.
History
The most ancient clowns have been found in ...
, and people eating
watermelons.
The clean version of the accompanying music video for this single is known as "I Just Don't Give A".
Track listing
;US 12" Vinyl Single ''(''Slim Shady EP'')''
;US CD Promo
;US CD Single / US Cassette Single
;US CD Maxi Single / US Cassette Maxi Single / US 12" Vinyl Promo
;US 12" Vinyl Single
;Notes
* signifies a co-
producer
Producer or producers may refer to:
Occupations
*Producer (agriculture), a farm operator
*A stakeholder of economic production
*Film producer, supervises the making of films
**Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...
.
Charts
Weekly charts
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Just Don't Give a Fuck
1998 debut singles
Eminem songs
Song recordings produced by Eminem
Aftermath Entertainment singles
Interscope Records singles
Hardcore hip hop songs
Horrorcore songs
Songs written by Jeff Bass
Songs written by Eminem
1997 songs
Songs about fictional male characters