Pharrell received the Shoe of the Year award at the 2025 Footwear News Achievement Awards in NYC on Wednesday, an honor presented to him by Pusha T. During his acceptance speech, he reflected on his humble upbringing in Virginia and the instability of his childhood.
“You don’t know what I know. You ain’t seen what I saw. No, you ain’t been where I go. I’m from the mud,” he said. “As a child, nobody’s been evicted more times than me. Lights turned off, water turned off, and at times, had to pump the water. And I didn’t have a name-brand sneaker until I was 16, when I could afford them for my first paycheck from McDonald’s.”
Pharrell then connected his journey and the collective experiences of Black and brown people in America, explaining that the history inspired his Black Ambition initiative, which has now awarded $85 million to start-ups launched by Black and brown entrepreneurs.
“I’m proletariat,” he said. “In fact, I’m lumpenproletariat,” a reference to the Marxist theory of societal classes.
He continued, “I had to stay on my feet. … But I could never walk in the shoes of my parents’ parents’ parents … all they had to endure while staying on their feet. Or my ancestors, who arrived as captives, enslaved, who had no shoes, yet had to stay on their feet as they landed on the shores of Virginia.”
Pharrell also addressed past headlines about his frustration with politics, clarifying that his remarks were a reaction to DEI backlash. “Yes, I got frustrated, and the sound biters, they caught me lacking,” he said. “I will never stop fighting. I will never stop raising money to help level the playing field. Never.”
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