Superstar Pride is out. The Mississippi rapper posted his first selfie since 2023 on Instagram on Wednesday, August 26, grinning in a dentist's chair with the caption "You got to start somewhere. #firstdayout." He followed it with a song and video of the same name. XXL's Marisa Mendez reported the release on August 27.
The video is built on the obvious image: Pride getting what appears to be his first haircut since coming home. It is a well-worn format in rap, and one that only works when the time served behind it is real.
His was. Pride was arrested in 2023 and charged with first-degree murder over the shooting of a man in Panola County, Mississippi. Police were called to a home and found a 40-year-old man dead of gunshot wounds, named Pride as a suspect after an investigation, and the rapper reportedly turned himself in a few hours later. Later reports said the man who died was his barber.
The arrest interrupted a career that had just started moving. His 2022 song Painting Pictures had gone viral only months earlier, and the momentum from it disappeared into the case.
A month after the arrest, a bond hearing ended with a judge ordering him held. He stayed in custody for just over three years. What changed this week has not been explained: XXL said it was unclear what prompted the release and that it had contacted the Panola County Clerk's Office for comment.
A spokesperson gave the only account so far, saying Pride "is focused, grateful, and excited about this next chapter" and is already back in the studio working on new music, with family and fans as the stated priorities. Other rap videos this month have leaned on the same kind of personal reset, among them Future's clip for No Misery and Pusha T's appearance in YG's OMG video. New releases land in the release calendar, with more on the hip-hop hub.
The facts
- Pride posted his first selfie since 2023 on August 26
- He released a song and video called First Day Out
- He was arrested in 2023 and charged with first-degree murder
- The case involved a shooting in Panola County, Mississippi
- He had been held for just over three years
- His 2022 song Painting Pictures had gone viral months before the arrest
How this checks out
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