My belated answers to this week's questions:
Question #1: Do "sneaker celebs" hold any weight to you? What place do they have in the community? What are your experiences with them, if any? Does their existence hurt the community at all? What are your thoughts on people that aspire to be them? Have you learned anything from them?
Question #2: What is the most underrated Nike SB?
Question #3: If you were Nike SB what one ( I'll allow up to 3 collabs, ONLY 3!) musical artist (ANY genre) would you collab with? Why? Describe what the Dunk SB would look like using the format I've provided.
FORMAT:
1.) Name of artist and dunk high or dunk low?
2.) Nickname of dunk?
3.) Brief description of materials used and coloring on side panels, toe cap, heel, tongue, laces, sole and insole. (I will accept Photoshop, but DON'T get too loose with it.)
4.) Explain the inspiration behind the Dunk SB.
5.) How would it be released?
(Question #3 disclaimer: AGAIN, THIS ISN'T THE MUSIC THREAD! I don't want to see this break off into album reviews. Any talk about the artist music should be brief and kept within the confines question #4 of the FORMAT section, if any.)
Question #4: If you could render ONE silhouette/model "useless" from the Nike SB brand and scrap them, what model would it be and why?
1. Actual celebs with true love for sneaks are cool beans in my book - AM (RIP), Chi McBride, Greg Street, and even Fat Joe. People who strive to emerge as a celebrity within the sneaker community because of their kicks - those people are a waste of time. Personally - and I've mentioned this before - I think Clark Kent really dropped the ball. Years ago, I would have placed him squarely in the former group - but now the way he shills (there's no way you can tell me he won't just post anything on his IG you pay him to) and all that have soured me on him. Personally, I don't exactly attempt to blend into the background on NT and stuff, but I want to be known for my knowledge, esteem for the culture, and that kind of stuff. I love when people tell me they consider me a resource, but I have no interest in being a "sneaker celeb." The best "sneaker celeb" is the anti-sneaker celeb - my homeboy, Corgi. The sneaker industry tries to make him a celeb and he actively refutes it. He's got a crazy deep Rolodex, but isn't the type to name drop. He's embodies a simpler time in the hobby - before the players started believing their own BS.
2. Underrated SB? I might go with Bucks. It's not that they aren't appreciated, but they are one of my favorites of all time and they seem to get lost among many of the more sought-after and "valuable" SBs released around the same time. Honorable mention to the Piet Mondrians - they were released after the heyday of SBs, but they were a really good idea and execution - they could have been released in silver box series and fit right in. In fact, if they released in the midst of the SB craze, they would have smoked!
3. Hmmm. I haven't actually thought of this before, so I'm just going to freestyle a concept here.
a. Mobb Deep. Dunk Low
b. The Infamous Dunk (no matter what you say about the CW, that's a dope freaking nickname for a shoe!)
c. I'm not sure this would be nice -but it would be distinct . So, if you take the classic Dunk colorblocking The toebox and side panels are army camo (they could use the material they used for the Supreme AF1s) and there's a gum sole. This is to represent the "strictly Tim boots and army certified suits" The heel and toe cap area are a royal-ish shade of blue and the swoosh is orange - this is to represent the NYCHA signs in front of every housing project in NYC. The insole would be white with a "The Infamous" written in the square project sign style as on the album cover.
d. I think I covered that in C.
e. The shoe would be released on the first Thursday of June in whatever year it drops - as that was what "Brooklyn-Queens" day used to be.
4. It wouldn't bother me if Nike SB was only Dunk highs and lows. I wouldn't want them to lose Blazer highs, but basically anything but the high and low dunk going away would not really impact me at all. That said, if others like the models, I see no reason to dump them.
