Source: Bernard Smalls / @PhotosByBeanz83
The Nike Air Force 1 didn’t become the culture’s favorite sneaker overnight. To hear Nelly tell it he is the reason for the shoe going up in price.
As per Vibe Magazine the St. Louis, Missouri native was a recent guest on Complex’s popular show Sneaker Shopping. The former St. Lunatic joined host Joe La Puma at A Ma Maniere in Atlanta. The two discussed his friendship with Michael Jordan and his “Dancing With The Stars” special shoes. Naturally the iconic white on white sneakers came up and he made it clear that the global sportswear company definitely cashed in on his hit song “Air Force Ones”.
“Everybody that got Nike shoe deals need to be thanking us right now,” he rationalized. “We opened Nike’s eyes to a lot of that. At that time, they weren’t doing it. They were basically on some ‘they’re going [to] win regardless.’” Nelly went on to detail that while Nike didn’t drop a bag on him they did support his Nellyville tour. A couple of minutes he spoke to the elephant in the room regarding the song’s influence and Nike’s response to it. “When we first started rocking Air Force 1’s, they were $59.99. We did the song. Eight months later, they were $100 […] and we ain’t get no residuals”.
You can see Nelly’s Sneaker Shopping episode below.
Photo: Bernard Smalls