"Just Don't Give a Fuck" (known as "Just Don't Give" in the clean version) is the debut single by American rapper Eminem. The original version appears as the only single on his debut EP, Slim Shady EP. A re-recorded version appeared on his major-label debut album, The Slim Shady LP. According to the book Angry Blonde, 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" by Tupac Shakur.
The second verse name-drops several white rappers, namely Pete Nice and MC Serch from 3rd Bass, Everlast, Miilkbone and Vanilla Ice. The latter three artists later released diss tracks against Eminem. Miilkbone released "Dear Slim" and "Presenting Miilkbone" and Vanilla Ice released "Exhale" and "Hip Hop Rules" (both from his album Bi-Polar released in 2001), while Everlast had a long-lasting feud with Eminem. Although Eminem dissed Vanilla Ice in other tracks (such as "Marshall Mathers" and "Role Model"), he did not reply to either him or Miilkbone after their respective disses.[1]
The version of the song on The Slim Shady LP is one of a small number of Eminem tracks which has selective censorship on the uncensored version of the album. In the third verse, the word raped is reversed and replaced by a woman screaming.[2]
Critical reception[]
Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic marked it as a stand out on LP.[3] 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.[4]
Music video[]
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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 chokes the woman. 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, a clown, and people eating watermelons.
The clean version of the accompanying music video for this single is known as "I Just Don't Give A".
