Good morning, family! Welcome back to the Kicks You Wear. Thank you so much for rocking with your boy this morning. I appreciate you.
Wednesday’s panel was a blast! If you were able to make it, thanks so much for attending. If not, I still love you. It’s OK.
Let’s jump in.
Sometimes a break is a right move
Nike made headlines this week by cancelling Travis Scott’s upcoming Air Max 1 collab in the wake of the disaster that was the Astroworld Festival.
Details for those of you who aren’t caught up:
The death total from the festival rose to 10 this week after 9-year-old Ezra Blount succumbed to his injuries and died.
Lawsuits are piling up against Scott and everyone affiliated with the festival, per Rolling Stone.
In the aftermath of it all, everyone is trying to figure out where they stand. That includes Nike. And their reaction was to take a pause with Travis.
That’s not surprising.
Nike hasn’t been shy about separating from folks before. Look at some of the huge names on this list.
This isn’t Nike dropping him, obviously. And they likely won’t. But it’s pretty clear they’re taking a step back to think on all this.
That was always the smart thing to do. Rushing forward and dropping the shoe would’ve been an absolute nightmare publicly. There’s still a very dark cloud hanging over all this and those shoes were part of it, no matter what way you want to cut it.
Let’s be clear: I’m not here to argue about what should’ve happened or what Travis should’ve done. The bottom line is it has happened. And it’s all tragic. Naturally, after a mistake like this happens, one has to consider what went wrong. That’s all this feels like to me.
Be smart: Some folks are saying that taking this pause does absolutely nothing. Some have said this will only work to increase the hype surrounding them. And, sure, that may be true. But, also, consider this.
People died. Lives were lost. And that included a child’s life. Those lives aren’t coming back.
Think about what it’d mean for those families to see this sneaker release. To see the same sort of hype machine that caused all this persist. That’s not OK.
And, ultimately, if it does nothing then the pause doesn’t hurt, anyway. So who cares?
What’s best here is for all sides to take a pause, figure out how to best accommodate these families, and then move forward. Until that happens, there should be no other movement. This isn’t just going away.
The MetaSwoosh is already here
Look how quickly things move, y’all.
It hasn’t even been a month since we found out Nike was filing trademarks for its logos in the metaverse. They’re already getting started.
What’s happening: Nike just created a virtual world on Roblox called NIKELAND.
It’s a world in Roblox based on Nike’s actual Headquarters.
It includes a bunch of minigames users can play like dodgeball and the floor is lava. They can also use a NIKELAND “tool kit” to design their own mini-games.
There’s also a space where you can show off your outfit based on real, actual Nike gear. Seriously. Here’s a Roblox character in the Air Max 2021.
The skinny: NIKELAND is free to play for now. But where the Swoosh will probably make its money here is through microtransactions for gear like this.
This is how games like Roblox make their money. They sell in-game upgrades for your characters through clothes, skins and specific animations.
For Nike, specifically, they can drop their latest collections and kicks on the game. The more rare and exclusive the drop, the more cash you can pay for it. That’s a possibility here.
There are plenty of directions Nike can take this thing in, ultimately. How it goes from here will be up to them. But, clearly, whatever is coming next is coming fast. Don’t blink. You might miss it.
You don’t have to live like this with the AJ11
Hey. I don’t know who needs to hear this, but you should absolutely not be out here paying $800 for the Cool Grey 11’s. Under no circumstances should you do this.
Just chill. This is a Holiday 11 release. Y’all know how these things go.
These joints have been hyped up for nearly a year now. Nike knows how badly you want them just like they knew with the Jubilee 11’s.
Like the Jubilee 11’s, they shocked dropped pairs early to give you a taste. And there were plenty of W’s to go around.
There will be plenty more. There will probably be hundreds of thousands of pairs of these going out then.
The secret here: This is the W that Nike wants you to have. They do it every single year — especially with the Jordan 11. It’s a tradition like no other. Is there a chance you still might not hit? Absolutely there is. The game is the game. Everyone can’t win.
But there’s no reason for you to not exercise any amount of patience here. You can wait. Trust me. Just wait. You’ll cop them in time.
Halloween shoes for Thanksgiving!??!?!?
Yes. Seriously. Nike sold us some Halloween shoes with Thanksgiving just a week away. This had me cackling for an entire hour.
The wildest part? They sold out. PEOPLE BOUGHT THESE, Y’ALL.
What are we, trick or treating in November or something? Somebody gotta explain this. Y’all bouta cut the turkey and crack the cranberry sauce open in Halloween kicks? Something ain’t right, bro. It just ain’t.
#TheKicksWeWear
Y’ALL KNOW THE VIBEZ. WE BYKE. Y’ALL BEEN WAITING. WE HERE.
First, the homie Tej got us popping with the Bron 16’s. Sweet colorway.
Then the homie Rick Dub popped out in the Nylon 12’s absolutely SMOKING these joints.
The homie Jody Joe popped out in these React Runners that he threatened to throw at me if I didn’t post them.
The homie Josh followed up in the Cool Grey 11’s and HOW DID THEY GET THERE THAT FAST!?!?!?
The homie Adrian went absolutely BONKERS in Philly with the rotation.
The homie Trey keeping the streets warm with these Dunks.
My guy Kyle came through with the Georgetowns in a size 18. FIRE.
The homie Avi pulled out this bomb lace swap for the Fire Reds.
My guy Stepfan came through with the CPFM Vapor Maxes and THESE ARE SO GOOD.
And Jess brought us home with the BRED 4’s which might be the greatest Jordan ever. EVERRRRR.
SMOKED THAT. Wow.
Thank you so much for rocking with your boy. I appreciate the love, family! Y’all are the absolute best.
Let’s chat again in a few days. Until then, peace and love. Be easy. Be safe. Be kind. And we out.
-Sykes 💯