Pharrell honoured with Shoe of the Year award

Pharrell Williams was honoured with the Shoe of the Year award at the 2025 Footwear News Achievement Awards (FNAA) on Wednesday.

The 52-year-old musician delivered a powerful speech at the ceremony in New York as he looked back on his humble beginnings and paid tribute to his ancestors when he picked up the accolade for the Adidas Virginia Adistar Jellyfish.

According to WWD, he said: “Sound bite this. Since most people don’t like to read or do research anymore, sound bite this.

“God is the greatest. Sound bite this. I’m from Virginia. Sound bite this.”

He spoke of his tough upbringing. “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. 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,” he said.

Pharrell shared that he was not able to purchase name-brand sneakers until he was a teenager.

“And I didn’t have a name-brand sneaker until I was 16, when I could afford them for my first paycheque from McDonald’s. Sound bite this,” he shared. They were also Adidas, low-top Instincts, he added.

“I’m proletariat. In fact, I’m lumpenproletariat. Sound bite this. I had to stay on my feet. Sound bite this.”

He harkened to the history of enslavement and the challenges faced by his ancestors.

“But I could never walk in the shoes of my parents, parents, parents, etc, 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,” said Pharrell.

“As black and brown people on this Earth, we have to stay on our feet. We have never had a choice. Sound bite this.”

Black Ambition

Pharrell highlighted his Black Ambition initiatives – which is allocating US$85 million to support and mentor black and brown start-ups – and addressed backlash over comments he made last month, which were portrayed as him saying he “hated politics”.

The Happy hitmaker insisted he only made the comment in response to DEI support and donations slowing down due to new policies.

He added, “So yes, I got frustrated, and the sound biters, they caught me lacking. But sound bite this: I will never stop fighting. I will never stop raising money to help level the playing field. Never.”

Pharrell urged the audience to “be the master of your reality”.

He added, “Be the master of the algorithm. At least a couple times a day, put down your phone and think on your own.”

The Virginia Adistar Jellyfish was released in August in orange, before being released in green, grey and blue versions since then.