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The Future of Jordan Fusions with Chris Chance
71 Plays3 hours ago
This week I am joined by Chris Chance, you may know of this work as African American Artist. We get to hear about his journey with-in sneakers, how he and Ish connected. How one forum changed his life and connected him with Coral Studios. We get to hear about how the iconic Coral Studio's Air Max 95 came to be. What he is working towards and why we both love the Yu-Gi-Oh! 95's, plus a ton more!
Follow Chris:
X/Twitter: https://x.com/madeintheurl
IG: https://www.instagram.com/africanamericanartist
Linktree: https://linktr.ee/madeintheurl
Podcast Linktree: https://linktr.ee/myfirstkicks
Sign up for the Patreon: https://patreon.com/MyFirstKicks
Music by The DoppleGangaz: https://thedoppelgangaz.bandcamp.com/
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Transcript
Opening Remarks on Sneaker Fusion
00:00:00
Speaker
this This is the only time I would be like, and ah this is an ugly, the fusions were ugly. Which is the one that you think is the best in terms of like, if you had to wear a pair, if they had, and they were like, gunning your head, you gotta put a pair of fusions on.
00:00:16
Speaker
Probably like taxis. and Taxi. That's why I think everybody. And that was the first pair. If I'm not mistaken, maybe my mind has played with me. I remember seeing a fat Joe with them. Yeah, I think when I was a kid and I was like, oh, what the fuck? Oh, yeah.
Southern Influence on Sneaker Culture
00:00:31
Speaker
But yeah, the South definitely influenced my, um you know, big enough, you know, forces and blah, blah, blah. Like, you know, so down to where I'm at Virginia, they call forces flays. Flays. Yeah. brett friend brush ah Fresh new pair of flays. The fact that the accent comes out like the. I'm like a country sleeper cell agent.
Introducing Chris Chance
00:00:56
Speaker
What's good, everyone? Welcome back to My First Kicks. This episode 246, and this week I bring to you the man. Not only is he made in the URL, or made in the URL. Made in the URL. Made in the URL.
00:01:08
Speaker
An African-American artist. Yes. The man himself, Chris Chance. Hey, what's up, y'all? Happy to be here. I don't know which one are you, Woody or Saatchi? Saatchi. Saatchi. Yeah. Okay. I was going to try. it's all good. It's all good. It's all good.
00:01:24
Speaker
Thank you for having me. Nah, man, this is, you know, after running into you at Family Food Fest, it was like, it felt like we were like, it was like long lost cousins. yeah yeah yeah That's what's so fun about sneakers and in the in the community that you get to, you know, get online. Like my favorite thing is meeting the people online, offline. I'm like, yo, let's link together. We were part of the same tribe. So, yeah you know, happy to be here Hey man, I don't know if you've seen, there's a lot of hoopla around.
Resurgence of Sneaker Culture
00:01:50
Speaker
the inside outside stuff. it's a lot going on now. All I know is that I am an outsider. You know what I'm saying? I love being outside. Yeah. ah And I love the sneaker I'm just, I feel like there's like a renaissance going on. Oh, for sure.
00:02:05
Speaker
For real. I mean, like, yo, we all know we can get into it. Like, this is the best year in a long time for shoes. You know what I'm saying? So, don't know. It feels like a new class of like overall, not only czars, but you know what i'm saying? Up and coming people. like it it just feels like 2012 all over a year I agree with that. It's funny, i was I was thinking about that recently too, where, I mean, this the episode before this, I do talk about how like the people that have been grinding out past 2020, or like that that did come up in 2020, but they're like, i really love I really love this, and they've always shown how genuine they really are into sneakers. yeah are thriving in 2025. 100%. And so that's gonna carry on into the, you know, to 2030, hopefully. Shit, look, until the wheels fall off, this motherfucker.
Respecting Sneaker Culture Leaders
00:02:52
Speaker
Wait, can we curse on here? Yeah, yeah. Okay, okay. ah I think that like,
00:02:57
Speaker
So this is my thing. and I mean, you've been in sneakers for a long time too. So when I was doing this, I was like, got to honor the OGs. I got to make sure I get the OGs on. I get to talk to the OGs. Even just to have a conversation. I'm doing this out of respect and stuff like that. And i feel like that's such a lost art. But like, you know, when you do something, you're like, you also do that too. you you be look at And so it's tough to find other people in that. Because I think the internet bread has like it bred a bunch of people that are in this that are just like,
00:03:26
Speaker
nah, I don't care about no OGs. i don't know. ah na these people are giving the wrong cosites or whoever, but blah, blah. And i'm like I'm like, nah, man, like, you kind of, you really do have to earn it. And it becomes better that way. It does because you, a house can last forever when it has the right foundation. if you're not putting the right foundation down, it's going to crumble. So that's what it is. You start with the right people. You pay your homage. You pay your respects. And then from there, you know what saying? You learn, you know, to do it and keep it going. You can't make the future without knowing the history of the past, you
Chris's Early Sneaker Memories
00:03:55
Speaker
know, so.
00:03:55
Speaker
Man, i mean, it's crazy because, like, you know, when I was growing up on the forums and stuff like that and, like, being – seeing, like, the birth of Complex and the birth of, like, Hype Beasts and stuff like that. But, like, you know, Premium Pete and DJ Clark Kent and all these – like, being able to, like, actually pay homage these people because they did it out the out of just, like – It's not gatekeeping when you are the creator of this stuff. No, 100%. You know? And, you know, I think, like, you know, the stuff that you put out and, you know, your conversations with Ish on the podcast, like, I think it's just, I think that's all part of it. No, it is. It We've been doing that for so long, too. So, like, we started the day ASAP Yams die. Rest in peace, in Yams. That was the first day we did a podcast. And we had to start off this whole podcast. Yeah.
00:04:44
Speaker
Like, on a somber note, you know? But, you listen to our podcast, Woody Versace, I'm 27 now. Started this when I was 16. So you can kind of see my whole entire mind develop and grow up. And also on the flip side, you see Ish go from like you know young buck to like really being an OG. So it's a is one of the the the best pleasures I guess I have.
00:05:08
Speaker
And my favorite thing to do, I mean, that's just what me and my big bro do. We talk about sneakers. We talk about the culture. We have a very, very poignant opinion. Yeah, which is good. and And I think that like when you do that, you earn that like respect because you're not you're
Chris's Journey and Fashion Influence
00:05:24
Speaker
not just being like.
00:05:26
Speaker
brash to be brash. You're like, yo, I'm of the cloth, as Salehi would say. Like, I'm of the cloth. And because you are in it, you have, like you've been outside, you've been at the things, you go, like you, come on. Everybody's been posting about the freaking, Yeezys on Twitter, and you had to do the hashtag, the push, post the hashtag. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Hated everything. I hated all of that. Yo, it's funny too, cause All of that type of stuff, it builds you so much, man. Like, you got to go. I was laughing at that Twitter RSVP stuff. It sent back so many memories. yeah I was just like, I'm just striking out yeah or being so close. or But those type of experiences really, really shape you to when you finally get the ball, you know what to do with it. You know what I'm saying? it's It's a big, like, I think one of the things that me and Woody really a pride ourselves on is,
00:06:16
Speaker
Like you saying, we're in this. We're creators. yeah So we're giving people, you know, opinion, obviously, from ah a standpoint of like, you know, get to see behind the curtain like you know maybe my opinion may not be purely off of like you know throwing a tomato like I know actually what's going on with this actor and this is why I don't like that performance. Yeah. yeah Like that sucks. You know but just in ah but but it goes back to the forms. Yeah but it's also just like that's constructive criticism and I think people think that they're whatever if they're like yo this is whack I'm being constructive. Like no. No you gotta give what what what the what what the math teachers say you gotta show your work. Yeah you gotta show your work. Yeah, you explain it. And it's so funny too, because you talk about forums. I think forums really based, like that that built how I actually give my opinion. Because it was never like, this sucks. They're like, you know, like the forum I came from, KanyeTuda.com. Oh my God. Isn't that where Brockhampton got together? Yeah, where Brockhampton got together. That's where me and Ish, a lot of people from Choral Studios, like...
00:07:17
Speaker
um And on that website back in the day, it was about knowledge. Knowledge was power. If you knew things and you could actually explain yourself, and you could that's what got you know the clout versus how nowadays everything's rage bait and blah, blah, blah.
00:07:31
Speaker
You know, like that... I show my work. You what mean? I ain't saying no shit out the you know side of my neck. Yeah, exactly. You know, where I'm from. But hell yeah, man. ah You know, that's me, man. Yeah. But you're here to answer the question that I ask everybody each week. And that question is, what's your first kicks? What's that first pair sneakers you absolutely needed to have? Okay. there's like There's like three.
00:07:53
Speaker
Okay. But the definitive one, LeBron ate home. LeBron ate home. The first ones that came out. Yeah. That was when it snapped in my head. Yeah. I almost got a fight on the bus about those because somebody stepped on my sneakers. I ah turned up and I, that was the first time that I became it ever since LeBron. I've been overly, and I was, I was, LeBron eights came out in like 2010. Yeah. 2010. I was 12. Yeah. So before then I had sneakers and I love shoes. Like I think the first shoe I really remember that I lost my mind over was the twenties. I asked my mom for them.
00:08:26
Speaker
She was like, I think about it. You know how that is. you know Shout out mama shout on mama one time. Mama Chance. No, no, Mama Ziggler. Mama Ziggler. Yeah, yeah, yeah. so My bad. yeah yeah Shout out Papa Chance. You know i'm saying? He out there too. um but So I went out with my dad that day. You know how this dad come pick you up.
00:08:45
Speaker
all And I came home. My dad took me to a Yankee game. It was one of the best days of my life. yeah And I came home. My mom had the twenty s And I still got him to this day. You hit the home run there. Oh, I hit the home run. Yo. You're rounding the face. Those 20s was the first time that I was like, whoa. And then I'd probably say in between there.
00:09:05
Speaker
Clyde has its cap, either like Mellow's. Okay. 2.5s or? 2.5s. Yeah. Or, hey man, i'm ah I'm a fusion apologist. Oh, no.
00:09:16
Speaker
I'm a fusion apologist. Yo, the fusion, the fusion, the forces, the fives. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Masty work one. was the first time I really started paying attention to sneakers, though, like, you know, around that time. Yeah. LeBron 8. You know saying? Where originally? So I grew up in Virginia. Okay. I'm from bottom of Virginia. Martinsville, Virginia. Stand up. I was born in New York. My mom is from Harlem. My dad's from South Bronx.
00:09:44
Speaker
Grew up here for a little bit. But I was a New York kid in Virginia. So if y'all watched ATL, I was Brooklyn. Yeah. ah You know what I'm saying? Yeah, I grew up in a... And that's... I think that also what influences a lot of my opinions on sneakers because there's certain shoes that may be in a big market. It's like, nah. Yeah.
00:10:02
Speaker
But in the South, you're in Virginia. All those fusions. Yeah. Went... pla and No, no, no. But fusions went platinum out here too. It's... it's But it's like... it's like Like I said earlier, this this is the only time I would be like, and ah this is an ugly. The fusions were ugly. Which is the one that you think is the best in terms of like if you had to wear a pair, they had. and they might Like they took my mom. You got to put a pair of fusions on.
00:10:30
Speaker
Probably like. Taxis. Taxis. That's why I think everybody, and that was the first pair. If I'm not mistaken, maybe my mind has played with me. I remember seeing a fat Joe with them. Yeah, I think When I was a kid, and I was yo, what the fucker?
00:10:45
Speaker
But yeah, the South definitely influenced my, um you know, big enough, you know, forces and blah, blah, blah. Like, you know, so... Down to where I'm at Virginia, they call forces flays for some reason. Flays. Yeah. brett friend brush a Fresh new pair of flays. oh The fact that the accent comes out like the. know I'm like a ah country sleeper cell agent. Don't say don't say ah forces. Don't say a hybrid forces around. oh no no we go activate I hope you've been enjoying this week's episode with k Chris Chance. And if you've really been enjoying it, please hit that like.
00:11:21
Speaker
subscribe and leave a comment on this week's episode. Also, also new feature added to the channel this week. Please hit that hype button. That hype button will help me out tremendously, like greatly and get the the podcast on YouTube in front of a ton of people. And If you are listening to this on all any of any audio platforms, Apple, Spotify, just leave a five-star review.
00:11:47
Speaker
If you can leave an actual written review, you can put your My First Kick story in there. Whatever you want to put in there, I will read it at the end of an episode. haven't seen any new ones yet.
00:11:57
Speaker
I'm paying attention, and I will make sure to read them at the end of an episode. And of course... If you want to help out the podcast and go the extra, extra mile, please sign up for the patron at patron.com slash my first kicks.
00:12:12
Speaker
If you do got three, two tiers, I got a $3 tier and a $5 tier, $5 tier. You get all the extra content. got a ton of stuff coming in the pipelines. It's going to working once a month without a doubt. Once I get into, into some free time, I will make sure a ton of stuff is going on there.
00:12:30
Speaker
But, of course, back to the episode. Hell yeah. But, no, I'm from, you know, VA. Yeah. know what I'm saying? mean, and then how long were you out? So, I moved to Virginia when I was eight. Okay.
00:12:43
Speaker
And I grew up there. And I moved back when I was like... 20. Okay. Yeah,
Career Path and Fashion Industry Involvement
00:12:48
Speaker
so grew up in Virginia. Yeah, yeah. I would be back and forth, you know, all that other stuff, but yeah. no What was the, like, did you, because you I'm pretty sure, yeah, because you said you back and forth, so, like, were you bringing stuff from New York down? Like, were you going crazy? Hey, everybody know in the South, you went to New York for school shopping? You was that nigga. So, obviously, yeah, I would, every time, we would go out to go up to New York once a year. Go for the summer or whatever, you know, chill.
00:13:12
Speaker
And yeah, my mom would definitely go crazy at TJ Maxx, Marshalls. copped the Kooji. Back when it was fines. When it was fines. That was just basically 21, I mean, Century 21. Yeah, it was. You know what I'm saying? We getting all types of Ed Hardy. was an Ed Hardy fiend, Kooji fiend, Christian Artigay.
00:13:31
Speaker
Yeah, so we was definitely. You was all over shirts all day. was a fan. I was fresh. was fresh. Yes, yo that was definitely my middle school, like Panther with the bedazzle on it. Oh yeah, Von Dutch trucker hat. I was super in into all of that. yeah um But yeah, or what what how do we start that again? I got it. Were you bringing fashion trends down? Oh, hell yeah. And I was super, I'll say this right now, Magna Vista High School, it'll never be a fresher one. I was down there and I and i took the lashes for it. You know what I'm saying? My first day of school, ninth grade, Supreme Daniel Johnson t-shirt, Supreme five panel, Kobe elites okay from the elite pack. yeah That was the cheapest out the elite pack because everything was expensive as hell. Couldn't get the bronze. Was it 250 for the bronze? It was a lot. I think what the Kobe was 200, it was a price of my mom was like, all I ah can do this. You give me a little bit of bread with this and we can make it work. like um
00:14:34
Speaker
But from there, yeah, I was always little bit ahead. You know what I'm saying? APC jeans. Oh, wow. Bread one. And that was the big, like, when breads first came back out. You know what I'm saying? After the band. But that was Jordan on the logo? No, this was first Nike Air. That was? First Nike Air. So went crazy on those.
00:14:56
Speaker
Everybody would laugh at me when I was wearing the joggers for the first time. Roshi runs with the joggers. you was ahead on that. oh I was super Roshi game. When that first came out, ring him, ring him. so Oh yeah, let's cop fire.
00:15:09
Speaker
Give me three colors. Yeah, but that and then the sneakers in general, like yeah by the time it was senior though, I was longer. I was wearing Yeezy to school. They was like, yo, this kid looks like he's like homeless or something like that. whole while like But my whole shit was just, i was super into fashion. yeah All I cared about was clothes. like um sneakers and everything that went around it, you know? So I was a little bit, that's why I was so crazy on the internet, because I was in Martinsville, Virginia. So like, you know, there was only one other person, shout out Peanut.
00:15:38
Speaker
He was the only other person in the towns and knew anything about, you know what I'm saying? Like, so he had, remember he had Supreme, he had, ah he had Jeremy Scott, he had like De La Soul, it's like, you know, he was a sneaker head. Before it became like, right yeah may you know, the thing. Whatever. I don't i don't i wouldn't even call it mainstream. Would you consider it mainstream now?
00:16:00
Speaker
It's 1,000%. Sneaker culture went 100% mainstream when I knew when the StockX commercial happened. yeah And I saw the StockX commercial and I was like, whoa. True. You're right. You're right. Even just like the creation of StockX. Even that that and the eBay commercial too. When they when they did the the sneakers yes the sneaker eBay commercial, I was like, it's it's over. oh Everything's going to be real for real price now. fines. know when knew what was mainstream? When there was a sneaker reselling store in my town.
00:16:28
Speaker
In Virginia? That's when I knew it was like, oh, this is mainstream now. That's crazy. You know what saying? So shout out to Uptown Kicks. And ah there's a couple consignment shops down um back home or whatever now. But as you know, it's it's become a way of life. It's not like, you know, I'm not like speaking an alien language as some shit. But I missed that.
00:16:46
Speaker
It felt good. It felt so good. But I think that it still happens now. In sense. In a sense, but more or less it's like I feel like people like us stick out like a sore thumb at this point. For sure.
00:17:00
Speaker
And once we congregate and we hear the same language, it's, in my opinion, more fluent than it's ever been yeah because we see all of this other stuff. It's not like, you know, when I wear a preem shirt back in the day and you saw somebody else with a preem shirt, you're like,
00:17:13
Speaker
You get it. yeah You know what I'm saying? Opposing now, that's not a signifier yeah not for it anymore. I mean, I talked about this. I mean, I made a tweet. I don't know if you saw it, but I was like, you know, the internet really, this is me summarizing my my tweet, but the internet really like homogenized. like like yeah But like we don't get regional styles anymore. We showed up. And I called it out and I've been calling it out since I started this podcast because like you can't tell where anybody's from anymore.
00:17:45
Speaker
And like I like if you look at one, especially like because I was calling it out on the kids now, like the kids now, everybody's wearing whatever's hot. So everybody's on Hellstar. Like there's no like back in the day, you rock Echo, you rock Mecca, you rock Pele. You rock. Academics. Academics. Yeah, you from New York. Yeah. You know? And then, or you influenced by New York. Like, we don't got re don't really got that. Yo, the homie, Chamillion, he was like he's like, this is a narrative. And I was just like, I wish it was. Like, I wish it was a narrative. It's facts. And there's still certain things. Don't get me wrong. There's still certain shoes at a regional, i feel.
00:18:23
Speaker
But not like I think the perfect example is Fashion Week this year. New York Fashion Week this year was so weird. It was so weird in the sense of like, you know, because even though I'm into streetwear, sneakers and all this other stuff, I'm also really, i love fashion. yeah know what I'm saying? Like, so...
00:18:36
Speaker
I'm used to Fashion Week looking a certain way. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know what I'm saying? Lower East Side this year was... I'll say more like Delancey, Essex. Yeah. Around there, it was like, yo, what's going on? Orchard Street, in my opinion, was almost unrecognizable. Yeah. And all of these kids had come from all around the country to basically have their Fashion Week. they all dress the same because they all go on TikTok. Yeah. You know, obviously, not everybody's like that. There's always going to be cream of the crop. Yeah, for sure. But...
00:19:07
Speaker
It's definitely homogenized everything. you go on TikTok, it's like, oh, how to style. is in a different. yeah He's in a different. He's like, yo, let me show you the shit that you never could have thought of. Let me dress up as a Death Note Shinigami with a what a hundred thousand. yeah yeah it's like yo yeah I feel like Wisdom is like, he's showing us how fast the car can go. And for that I'm like Yo More props to you Gangster You know what did When he did the The monster joints Yeah The Halloween joints Even when you do The characters and all that I'm like Oh this is cool Like you actually like Are taking all of these Weird yeah Or not even weird Avant-garde Fashion pieces And you know I'm saying That's dope. but and You're putting it together. you're like That's when, like I missed that. you know I missed when like you'd pull up on Soho and you would walk around because you were doing the loops. andm I'm pretty sure you used to do the loops too. And then you walk through Supreme, but then you make that right and you go down. That damn that hallway. Everybody getting their fit picked off that Everybody getting that damn they fit picked. In that damn alleyway, man. And don't forget the other alleyway, the one behind Kif. Yes. When it was an atrium. When it was atrium, yeah. Ooh, damn.
00:20:24
Speaker
yeah I got me a good pick over that. Oh yeah, and the one between Michaels, right? Yes, yes. With the pebbles? Yeah, exactly. now it was It was a, you know, but it's just, it's different now and that's why I don't,
00:20:38
Speaker
I don't get mad at it. yeah I'm like, okay, this makes sense. Like, the kid that's going to end up pushing it, because I remember when I was coming up, there were phonies. and There were people that, i mean, like, yo, like, when I was 17 years old, somebody sold me 50 pounds of Supreme for $500 because they were just out of street. They didn't care about streetwear no more. And they wanted to get just weighed And it was just like, here? No, he was just like, yo, he was like, dude, I'm getting rid of all this stuff. I don't feel like selling it individually. I wanted to sell it to somebody that really would like it.
00:21:07
Speaker
And that He sent me 250 pounds, but I'm talking about Kermit tees. That's crazy. Like, bling logos. Like, crazy stuff in here. For $500. For $500. That was a come up. I don't even know his government name because his KTT username was Jason Dill. Yeah, yeah go shout out Jason Dill. Shout out Jason Dill. And it's like, yo, like...
00:21:29
Speaker
I've always seen that, of people just oh, I'm over this now. you know it was fun to to play around with it, but you know the kids that are gonna really strive and somebody like me that was a a consumer, a kid back in the day, but now I'm a creator, I'm pushing it. yeah That's still here now. It's just you know maybe a little bit harder to find. Yeah. Or maybe it's easier because they're to stick out. They're going to stick out like that. I think i think that's the, it's on to us. We're, you know, we're we're the people that are are trying to be the tastemakers or so exactly to to help usher in that new, that bridge that gap. Because if we, especially because like, ah like we are the people that have been in this for so long, right? We are the ones that are looking at it to take stock and be like, all right, yo, you should you should tap in with this person, you know? And
00:22:13
Speaker
I mean, you know, but I want to know about like your journey and how, like, how'd you get into it? Like, did you want to get into like fashion? Did you like, what was, what was your steps? So definitely got undiagnosed ADHD.
00:22:27
Speaker
Okay. ah Once I got to like, Once Jesus dropped, I knew what i wanted to do. But i didn't know what I wanted to do, but i knew that I wanted to do something over there. yeah I was going this way and I'm like, um I'm not fucking with that. If you would've asked me before I was when i was a kid, I'll be a forensic scientist or I'll go to school
Collaboration on Nike Air Max 95
00:22:45
Speaker
for marketing. yeah i mean i used to think that was I think it's so funny now cause that's my career. But that was just like a I don't know what I want to do. I'll just do that. well-weight career? I just i was so like,
00:22:58
Speaker
I had a ah math teacher, Mr. Bowen, he failed me in my 10th grade year in algebra because i just wasn't paying attention anymore. I was on Kanye T. I was on Hypeese, I was on all these websites and I was just like going to college essentially. You know, like those forms was my university. I didn't go to college. um By the time I graduated, i was in a community just smoking my brains where i had no idea what I was doing You know what I'm saying? its Just typical 18, 19 year old burnout shit. yeah um really sad that i didn't go to university because i graduated with a 2.8 and i couldn't go to i couldn't go to uh i wanted to go to a t i was gonna go to aggie pride um couldn't go there so i went to a community and uh during my time there me and woody i've known he's been my mentor since yeah since like was 16 years old and we're trying to figure out a way for me to come up to new york i didn't know what i was gonna do but i
00:23:53
Speaker
um One of his friends was a supermodel. And she was like I need an assistant. And I'm telling you, ah my cousin, McKeith, shout out McKeith, he could tell you this. We were sitting in his, ah we were sitting, me, him, my other homies. It was all just smoking Halloween. Like eighth backwoods. Like dumbass little kid shit. Jesus Christ. And I get the call. And I have to talk to this lady and basically interview over the phone to get this position.
00:24:23
Speaker
And I got it. And I dropped out a semester before I got my associates. And I moved to New York. And I lived up there. This is 2019. So this is before the quarantine. And I was essentially like her little Virgil. Like, oh, I have an idea.
00:24:37
Speaker
Can you execute this? you know what I'm saying? Oh, I think of this type of thing. Because she was trying to make a clothing brand. Yeah. ah Well, she wasn't trying. She was making a clothing brand. And I was just helping her actualize all these things and then also just playing like assistant. Like I'm running around the city for you You're always in another city. So I'm your surrogate here. So I lived in this fucking apartment in Harlem. Yeah. um For free. yeah Wow.
00:24:56
Speaker
ah And I was somehow figuring it out. And in in that time up there, I think in my first month in New York, I ended up walking in a fashion show, a B-Story fashion show that ah got...
00:25:08
Speaker
Literally, it was it was a lot of controversy in it. And it was so controversial that it got onto my hometown news. Wow. And my mom is at home a month after her son left Virginia like,
00:25:21
Speaker
It was on Telemundo, was on everything. Like yo, shout out Brick and Dew for giving me the opportunity. um And it was also just like, you know, kind of like figuring out like, oh, I really like the fashion world. This is super cool. Like like my boss was a supermodel. So I'm like backstage at Helmet Lane talking to Bella Hadid at 19. Like I didn't know what to do. I was so nervous, fresh out the country.
00:25:42
Speaker
Like, hey, what's up? I would have been sweating through everything. So, you know, and and during that time being her assistant, I got to do a lot of stuff. I'm delivering stuff to Peter Doe's studio and I got to go and drop off a camera to Nabil.
00:25:58
Speaker
And I'm doing all, like it was just like meeting all these people real like How To Make It In America. that is You were literally living ah a goddamn like HBO How To Make It In America episode. It's crazy. And then funny enough too, she was making a lot of jewelry. yeah And this was right before Uncut Gems came out. So I was living Uncut Gems too. I'm on, I'm in a diamond district damn near every day going down there like, yo, when they when they did the pop up and everything for the movie, like i was like, dude, I just got to go on my commute and I can go see this today.
00:26:27
Speaker
So quarantine hit ended up coming home. um And during that time, at the end of it, ah Woody had gotten to advertising. yeah ah He was doing really, really good at that point. And an agency reached out to him.
00:26:41
Speaker
um He was like, ah. you know I'm kind of happy where I'm at, but I know somebody as young as me and can do everything better. okay um That ended up turning into an internship at TBWA Chiat Day. ah Julia and Amy, shout out to them. at They were the ECDs at the time and gave me this opportunity. i was the first Youngblood, that's a program that they have there. It's kind of like a you know talent incubator, you know what I'm saying? Like they pair people up, yeah art directors, copywriters, and basically you're a junior with training wheels. wow So I went for an internship. Well, first of all, that's fire because like you really don't hear about programs like that. ever You don't. And it's and there's there's there's similar ones. There's like the Kennedys, Widen and Kennedy has
00:27:19
Speaker
But there's not a lot of, because it was it was beautiful because not only did we have the handheld in terms of learning everything, we had weekly, like you know basically like talks yeah where like we would learn things and this and the third. so That's sick. yeah So in that time, I touched a...
00:27:36
Speaker
I worked on Mountain Dew. You remember the La Samba when LeBron was ah doing the salsa dance? I worked on that. I ended up getting hired.
00:27:47
Speaker
Did a bunch of shit over at TVWA. Worked on like Lay's and Mountain Dew and stuff. And then after that, yeah ah basically I ended up moving back to New York because at that point they're like, yo, like we're back in office yeah was twenty twenty one at the come up here, work for a little bit, then hop over to jail. Johannes Leonardo is my agency.
00:28:08
Speaker
um And once I got there, that's when when shit started. yeah Started getting crazy. yeah the But like, I mean, did you work with Choral Studios during that time too? yes. So I've worked with Choral Studios since I was six. i was like the Choral Studios, like,
00:28:23
Speaker
ah and And you could probably see it as like I do a lot of things yeah because I was just young. I would fill in the cracks. I would, you know, whatever ish needs help with or anything like that. So yeah, the Air Max 95. So I kind of gloss over that because that's how I, that's really how I got the job. Yeah, yeah.
00:28:41
Speaker
i remember at the end of the internship, we had to all present to the president something that we worked on. And I presented to 95 and like, yo, I'm telling you, shout out to Nancy. don't know. I forgot what agency she's at right now, but she's amazing. She's eating up everybody.
00:28:56
Speaker
I'm the last person to go. yeah So she's kind of eating up everybody. I go up there, kill the presentation. first like in the first thing that she would say to everybody, she's like, you know okay, you need to do this. First thing she was like,
00:29:08
Speaker
working to buy these sneakers. And you are an amazing presenter in your go places. yeah ah The 95, bro. That 95 is iconic. And if you're not if you're not familiar, I mean, I hope you are, because this is basically a sneaker podcast. But but that 95, man, yeah, ish, Choral Studios. what Like, like...
00:29:30
Speaker
I still need a pair, but that's probably never going to happen. okay I'll give it because because the 95 was a group valiant effort. Yeah. But I'll always give Woody the microphone to give the full story because it's absolutely ridiculous how this all happened. Yeah. Yeah.
00:29:49
Speaker
But future future episode, future guests. Future episode, future episode. But with the 95, though, it was it was a life changing sneaker. Yeah. know we did a couple of versions. Shout out to Brian. Shout out to Brian at Lapstone. We ended up doing a release there in person ah in those pairs. If you got those pairs, you got a pair because the motherfuckers is going for a lot. on Oh, crazy. Especially in a size 13. Yes. And I'm a size 13. Oh, we 13 then. Come on. All right. Well, I'm glad we know we both 13.
00:30:19
Speaker
Oh, one. First of all, the the the shoe, the color, colorway on that shoe, super, super, super, super fire. But the box, yeah that box is also like Well, the whole thing about Coral Studios is that we are all about sustainability. You know I'm saying? Being that we base everything about you know the coral reef. and yeah you know We donated a lot of the sales from that. ah And then every other collaboration that we've done, we've partnered with you know Barrier Reef Foundation and raising money for it because we consider ourselves to be the coral reef of the industry. You know i'm saying? So it's something that you have to keep right because if it dies, it's gone forever. So yeah, the the number one thing we wanted to do is make a box you don't throw away. um something that can collapse, something that also looks equally as ill.
00:31:01
Speaker
ah So shout to Henrik, Matt, Mike, Ish, ah Matthew. If I'm forgetting anybody, please strike me down right now. But it was such an amazing...
00:31:15
Speaker
I guess collaborative effort between us all and now where we all sit respectively right is is it's so funny we can always look back at that sneaker and be like damn bro like we really turned this shit the fuck up. yeah And then yeah the color scheme obviously is based off you know Coral Reef 2 we like to keep it aquatic and shout out to Joe Joel Apuma, Joel Apuma really started, he was one of first, he did a billboard in him. He did a billboard in him. And it was just, it's super funny now that that was like kind of like the introduction because the 95 is like kind of my shoe at this point in my life. This is like, oh, I had to, before it was an acronym force if I had to describe myself as a sneaker, yeah, I'd say like,
00:31:57
Speaker
SB 95 at this point for me. So yeah when I look at the- I still need a pair. I still, I haven't gotten any of them. Bro, they going, they sitting. I know, but i I have way too many sneakers right now. know, I know. I don't know if you've, I mean, I've seen your stories. I don't, don't- You get, you get, you get blessed. I get blessed, I get blessed.
00:32:16
Speaker
But yeah, that was, the 95, bro, is something I'm always going to be so proud of. Um, And yeah, it's just still like also to, you know, shout out to also shout to Complex, but even though, you know, it couldn't be on the actual list, I'm giving, you know, the recognition. Shout out Brendan Dunn and Matt Walt, you know, all of them.
00:32:35
Speaker
ah But yeah, bro, that was like our our kind of like my little introduction to all of this. Right. Yeah. And then where did that like... I mean, the your creative your creativity, right? Obviously, you're doing a lot of things because you're part of Choral Studios, you've got your actual career, and then you also have african African-American artists.
Creative Process and Brand Development
00:32:56
Speaker
Yes. And i don't know, maybe I'm hiding. and i don't know. You got other things. Made in URL, too. Yeah, yeah. yeah Made in URL, too. That's the site. The site.
00:33:03
Speaker
Yeah. That shit is fire. I don't know how you put that shit together. ah man quarantine yeah boredom you know i'm saying we had nothing else to do was hungry too broke as a motherfucker we had to make something you know i'm saying yeah um but like where where does that creativity come from like do you really do you really ah attribute it to to being on easy on the easy board 1000 percent um and i think also too a lot of my creativity comes from like a I don't wanna out of spite, but I feel like a lot of the times, like especially you know like working in advertising really helps me out with my creativity and in sometimes of terms of outside of it. yeah I know exactly what to do because I'm always, you you can't do exactly what you wanna do, you know what I'm saying, in your job, but when I see all the, I'm like, okay, word, I want the inverse of this. I want this to hit exactly the opposite of that. yeah You know what I'm saying? so um And also, a lot of it comes from impulsivity.
00:34:01
Speaker
African-American art is now a clothing brand. and And, you know, we're doing all this shit now. We're prepping for a spring season. oh Wink, wink. Let's go. um And this was, at one point, I was just sitting out. I was sitting in Photoshop. And don't know if nobody knows this, like,
00:34:18
Speaker
Made RL was an album. I'm a rapper. Really? Because I don't talk about it no more. I use my pen you know for other for other things now. um But Made in RL was nigga of my album. And then was like, wait, hold on, wait, wait, wait. There's more than this. We can't just put this on the, blah, blah, blah. So with Made in the RL, I feel like at one point, was like, all right, what would the second album be called?
00:34:45
Speaker
African American Art. I like i'm I'm everything. Yeah. I'm the compass. Like I encompass everything that it it means to be an African-American artist. So that's what I would. And then I started typing it.
00:34:56
Speaker
was like, damn, that shit look kind of hard. Then I put the ist. Yeah. Yeah. African artists. And was oh, shit. Put it on a T-shirt and then ah upload it on the gram.
00:35:07
Speaker
And everybody was like oh like, we like that. yeah So started making more shit. And now, you know, that leads to where we are and now. Shout out to EZ. ah You know, shout out to the good. Damn, the Infinity Stones. Come on, Look, EZ, if you're watching this, if you have a 13 that's not for him. You're kidding me. Yo, bro, no. I'm... umm So yeah, now we're you know we're here. We got to you know do this amazing collaboration. i was on set a few days ago for you know doing a little modeling thing. yeah Somebody had the shirt on. I was like, oh, shit. I was like, yo, that's crazy. Yeah, it felt so good. is is is It's still like kind of like you know ah new to start seeing people wear it. But it is one of my favorite feelings. And a lot of times don't even like to say nothing. I'm just like, ooh, I just want to watch you be you. You know saying? Because I know i haven't been able to hit up your pop-ups at Denim Tears, but like how did that come together? So, shout out to Tremaine. I feel like as long as I've been pursuing
00:36:10
Speaker
you know ah this, yeah everything we're doing culturally, Tremaine's always been around. um This goes back all the way to 2016, so when Virgil did the Communiversity down in Miami for Art Basel, obviously No Wave was doing the podcast and Tremaine invited us to do a podcast. Yo, if somebody got that, we got clips of it. If somebody got that, it's lost media at this point. This is' a lost media. we Yo, I'm telling you, Tremaine's so real. I couldn't go because I was a kid. yeah So Woody's down there. They got me in that motherfucker on a like remote.
00:36:47
Speaker
So I'm doing a live podcast with these niggas remote. You what I'm saying? You want to dial in? Yeah, dial in. But that's also I respect Tremaine so much because he understood the dynamic. Like, yeah, at the time, Ish was, you know what I'm saying, like the coolest nigga on earth and I'm his little brother. You know what I'm saying? But he understand that, okay, this dynamic don't work.
00:37:09
Speaker
We don't got both of them. So if you're coming, you're coming too. Yeah. um So that that's, you know, and and Tremaine and Isha had like a very, you know, fruitful relationship throughout all the years.
00:37:20
Speaker
um Even when i I did that runway show, when I got casted, Tremaine was there. You know i'm saying? Like it's always, he's always been there. Even when we was coming up here, going to the, you know, the the original Denim Tears, Pro Sale pop-ups, you know I'm With the cake, yeah you know, and all of that. Like ah he's always been around. So when we started doing this,
00:37:38
Speaker
So he was like, yo, like, I'm really fucking with this. Like, you know, you want you want to put it in the store? um And then that got rolling. Now we starting to do, you know, the pop-ups with something, you know, there with their summer Fridays. um And yeah, we're the first brand stocked in African diaspora goods. so you know, it's really humbling because Dempsey is my favorite brand. So it's it's cool to be stocked in your favorite brand's, you know, store. Yeah, that's fire. um But yeah. Every time I pass, because I work by that area. Yeah.
00:38:04
Speaker
Never seen it in stock, so I Bro, it's gone, man. It be gone. Shout out everybody in the store holding it down, man. Yo, for real. But it's been awesome. It's been super. And then also, too, if you really go down to the history of it, that retail space is a streetwear historic place. You know what I'm saying? From Union to Stussy, you know, to Denim Tears. And to be sold in there, it's like, you know, I'm student, bro. Really a nerd about this shit. So, know, it really, really is. I understand... the weight of all of it and I appreciate it so much. You know what I'm saying? shout out T, man. He's a legend and really understands how to uplift, you know, people that are on the cusp. Yeah. You know saying? So, yeah, it's been really cool, bro. Expect more soon.
00:38:50
Speaker
I mean, look, you already know me. Exactly. I'm trying to wear it. appreciate appreciate I just think it's really dope, you know, like especially cause when I see the pictures, like the community really shows up like, and it's a community of people I've never, I've never seen. So it's like, that's good to see because you know, when you go, when you go to a lot of the same stuff, you see a lot of same people, you know, but I am noticing, and
Evolution of Sneaker Culture
00:39:14
Speaker
I don't know if you've seen this, like if you go to an awake event, you don't really see the same people that say like an extra butter event or like, yeah you know, i don't know. I live in Queens. So like all the right, like totally different crowds. But people are coming outside again. um
00:39:27
Speaker
You've got to see like the transitions of like, and I mean, you are, you, you, you've been outside. So it's just like, what have you seen? And like, like what has kept you like inspired to keep like feeding and building a community around that?
00:39:43
Speaker
The new faces. Yeah. You know, like it's, you know, you play a game forever and eventually new users stop coming to the video game and you just start seeing the same usernames. You know saying? It's like, oh, okay, we all on here Saturday night playing this Counter-Strike game some shit like that. Like that's obscure. Like this is our thing of ours.
00:40:02
Speaker
Whereas every time I'm seeing somebody new and I'm like, okay, like this is an ever growing, you know, community. And there's people that are always going to be super, super interested. I mean like, bro, those pop-ups that we do for, for AAA, like there's certain times I'm seeing people I've never seen before. And they're like, yo, I really fuck with everything. nadada That's why I'm going. Yeah.
00:40:21
Speaker
That's why I'm going. Cause it's just like, yo, like it's, it's a never ending thing. And, my my whole My whole thing is that I love um the analogy of like, yo, like the spot, you get it for a bit. What you do with the time with it is what you do with it. But eventually you're going to have to move because somebody else is coming. And when I see all these new kids, I'm like, all right, I got to make sure that when I'm in my spot and I get my time, I do everything I'm supposed to do for not only myself, but to also set up what, you what saying, the next generation is coming into because –
00:40:58
Speaker
You know, this is like ah I look at the seats that we we sit in as like, you know, almost like a Congress or something like that. Like, yo, the next person is gonna sit here. Let me make sure that, you know, i don't fuck up everything. You know what I'm saying? so those things really, really keep me going.
00:41:13
Speaker
And yeah, I love going to all these events, man. They got extra butter events. Shout out to, you know, ah all the things with Angelo and and Hugo doing with Awake. You know what saying? Like, it feels good. You know, Stussy. It all feels really fucking good right now. um And I think that's the part that I'm so happy about because I felt like I missed it. Yeah. You know, like when I, you know especially when you hit quarantine,
00:41:37
Speaker
It's like the best days are behind us. know what I'm saying? We're never going to get that feeling again. You think the world was over. Yeah, you know. I mean, because it didn't really look like it was. It was. It was. And I feel like it's so funny, and I feel like, keep saying it.
00:41:49
Speaker
I feel like that. I do think it's just like also with the way that some of these brands were were moving during that time too where they like yeah were just pulling everything to just make sure y'all come to the site and and that's it. yeah it it like And then then everybody flooded to like the socials to try to like make that the community now. And so now we're seeing the adverse effect of like, now the the brands are like, yo, we got to get people outside into the stores again. exactly And then now we're seeing like the the people online are coming out, coming outside. Everybody's learning how to be around people again. yeah that it's just like, yo, that was so weird for a little bit. yeah I mean, like, bro, I'm always been like,
00:42:32
Speaker
My whole thing is like name is made in the URL. I'm really a URLian, really internet nigga, but I'm the same exact way offline. And that was a big thing, especially on people that was some KTTers. The biggest thing was getting exposed on that website. If you, the chief that you said that you was when you was typing and niggas found that out, so it was always about keeping- We need that. We need that now. We need that. We need that now, bro. need it. We need that now, man.
00:43:02
Speaker
I feel like, yeah, it's just, you know, the the the things happening outside, it makes me super, super happy because like, yeah, bro, I thought it was over with, man. I was like, damn, we going, everything going to be online. You know, even like the idea of first come, first serve. Yeah. It don't got to be like that. You know what I'm saying? but did you get bread once?
00:43:24
Speaker
Nah, I didn't get invited. Bro, I got it. Yeah. And shout out to Woodstack. yeah what's that is I heard Woodstack hooked up. Everybody but me. huge stay they invited everybody I was like, damn, I got to do more. I got to be outside a little bit more. Listen, I did some work Woodstack. That's how did. I did ah me and my brother Christian. My brother Christian is the art director.
00:43:48
Speaker
I'm a copywriter. ah You know, I work and everything on on AE and all that. um Me and Christian I gotta bleep that? Nah you could You could We don't gotta You know what I'm saying We can talk about It's just like I can't get in about um um But ah Yeah so Christian Me and him have known each other As long as I've known Ish We also met on Kanye together Look van man Come on man love that this is my family love that I love that um Me a Christian and Ish through Coral Studios ah basically developed a clothing brand, only one for Woodstack, an in-house clothing brand. So we got to get a good relationship with Andy and all the good folks at Woodstack. Shout out to what they doing. I love what they doing at Brooklyn. they They keeping it right. um and I've only been there one time they the for the Air Max. That's where I met Dallas Penn. Which one you went, to the Broadway one? ah I don't know which one. it was the
00:44:39
Speaker
It was deep in Brooklyn. I had to walk. after the train. I remember, because he took us to all the stores one day. Yeah, yeah. was going through, yeah, no, they got Brooklyn. They're doing what Social Studies is doing in the South. Yeah.
00:44:53
Speaker
They doing that in Brooklyn, like the rest of Brooklyn. That's tough. Yeah. Nah, I fuck with, I fuck with them heavy. um But that, moment. yeah yeah yeah Right?
00:45:03
Speaker
I mean, y'all follow me on Twitter, you probably saw a hundred times, if I don't get bread ones. Cause y'all, I'm telling you like my personality, sneakers, everything, everybody knows bro, those bread ones, when I got those in 2013, that's when I knew I could do anything. because the release was the hardest thing on earth. I had to cop them off of a British website that was broken. You know when a website is broken, all you can just see is like the- It's a little bar and shit. Like you could type it. Eight and a half. I got an eight and a half, flipped it for 350, bought my pair. yeah And that was my definitive sneaker. That was my shoe. yeah You know, so like- ah
00:45:37
Speaker
When it came back out, I went crazy. where I remember when we went to the whole event and they had the whole, you know, all the people was in there. And it was it was funny because, like, there was lot of people in there that usually they get sand sneakers. Like, we almost –
00:45:51
Speaker
beside ourselves and shoes, you know, like seated, you know, all that, you know, but we was all like some kids on Christmas again. And we was all sitting there talking, I like, damn, like, all right, like, obviously we don't got to do it like this. Because that was kind of OD, you know saying? We need to let everybody get a red one, you know, but that experience. Everybody getting one soon. Everybody getting red one soon, right? Um,
00:46:15
Speaker
But that experience made me realize, i'm like, all right, where are we back? And then also, too, like, bro, sneakers, like, this is the best. This is the golden age. Yeah, it is. Go every sneaker that I want. I can get it probably. you know, there's a couple, you know, I'm trying to find them jellyfish. I'm trying to find them, you know, but...
00:46:34
Speaker
For the most part, you see a sneaker, you can get a Texas world. I'm pretty sure you could get you can get jellyfish. Hey, yo, listen. They got a size 13 their shoes. I will. Let's go. Come on. I'm an Aries from Virginia. Come on, for real. I'm surprised. You know, you didn't get the special box and everything. Nah, bro. It's just, you know, but for the most part, we even look at the complex top 10, You can get a lot of those shoes. Outside of the bricks. Them joints right there. Yeah. It's funny too. In the Yu-Gi-Oh's. Even though they only mentioned them. I'm going to say this right now. I was sitting here in the crib. I wore the Infinites because I'm repping home team. I had to put the swag on the tee. Yo.
00:47:24
Speaker
I'm going to fight for them U-G-O's. That's my sneaker to hear. That shit is like, oh. I was sitting in the crib with on. I'm like, should I do this? Should I do that? Oh.
00:47:36
Speaker
Like, can we talk about that real quick? Yeah. so I think the most interesting thing in my ninety five this year, right? and I got the neons. you know There's going to be some neon shit coming soon. Wink, wink. um I got the neons. I got what i got the Corteses. yeah I did the ah the SBs, yeah which I think are...
00:47:59
Speaker
undoubtedly like one of the greatest innovations. The cactus? Like bro. Or are talking, oh, you're talking about just the shoe itself. Yeah, just the shoe itself. I got both of them. Shout out to the Costin suit, Eric. I need those Costins. Bro, you can get them. That's the best part about this time. Even if they sell out. i The bank account won't let me get them. I understand. I understand. Shout out to Casper, a tenant. He held me down.
00:48:20
Speaker
um all I feel like between all the shoes I got, those Yu-Gi-Oh's, the eyelets. Yeah. The eyelets. I was like, yo, why didn't no one ever think, yo, shout out to the whole DotSwoosh team. Shout out to Logan. Shout out to Megan. Shout out to everybody. Yo, y'all are. Y'all crushed that shit. Crushed it. I'm telling, they sent they sent me and the team, they sent me and the team some shoes, I'm at work.
00:48:47
Speaker
you know My favorite thing, this is our receptionist, she'll slack me and be like, yo, there's package for you. I get all my shit shipped to the office because I'm not playing around with Brooklyn. yeah You know what I'm saying? I done got my shit stolen a lot of time.
00:48:58
Speaker
She said, yo, there's a box for you, it's really big. When I hear that, I'm like, hmm, what is it? What is it? We open that box. ain't going to lie. I was damn near at my desk crying. Yeah. I'm telling you, a real. The heart of the cards shined on you, bro.
00:49:11
Speaker
Bro, I love Dot Swoosh. I think what they're doing at Dot Swoosh is so cool. It reminds me of what the SB, when they would have like those random. The random stories. Yeah, like, oh, Mork and Mindy. Oh, yeah we're going to do like, oh. Dinosaur Jr. Yeah, like that type of shit. as My favorite though, my favorite is when they do the they do the Ode stuff. It's like, it looks like that, like Pee Wee. So that they don't get like they don't get sued by the shit. They'll be like, yo. even what wo was ah ah What was the one? ah Actually, if i if I go trying to think of every SB right now, I'm going sound crazy. ah But I feel like what with with Swoosh, what Swoosh is doing right now is so fucking ill. it The thing is, it's just like, there's a difference between like, um what brands are doing when they're playing on our childhood and then when they tap into legit our childhood. Like, yeah we get it, Jordan did his thing. Yeah, of course.
00:50:06
Speaker
But Yu-Gi-Oh did his thing. yeah And it's so cool because even when they did that, man, I felt, yo, that's why I was so hurt because I feel like a lot of times, so I think Trinidad said We love rollouts. Yeah, yeah, Rollouts matter. Oh, he talked about today. said it. Yeah, yeah. Whether it be music. marketing. Whether it be clothing. We love the rollout. Because that is a part of everything. Yeah, It's very part. You can't just drop some fire shit and expect people to, you know, go like miles to a flame.
00:50:30
Speaker
But when it comes to the actual product, the marketing material, The box. Yeah. they expect I'm like, nah, y'all did. They got the original Joey voice. sketch like yeah I'm like, yo, this is too much. And then the ja je does Japan release, yo. They went insane, look, this is what I was saying. Nobody talking about them black and white bears. The black and white bears look insane. what What I realized, was like, wait, why do you do a black and white bear?
00:50:55
Speaker
That's what it looked like on the manga. I was like, oh, no, this is not it. Y'all went crazy. So, I mean, I feel like there was so many cool, like, bro, this was Such an overloaded year, my God. like What was up what was ah the the people, that i think they were South Korean, and they did those wild 95. Oh yeah, with the big check on the side. Yeah, there was a a lot going on so I mean, yo, i can't I can't get mad at the cast. Yo, i I probably would have been shivering in my boots trying to put 10 together that the crowd and we would, you know, fuck with. But I got to just give my love to them Yu-Gi-Os, man. that's That's my baby right now.
Advice to Younger Self
00:51:32
Speaker
But we hear we're down to the ah the the towards the end of the podcast and he deals with, I got one last question that deals with a little visualization. i want you to think back to young Chris as he's about to open them box of the, damn, you said three shoes, but which one was the one that used? The leon is yeah LeBron 8s. Yeah, the LeBron Yeah. All right. now you're older. You behind your younger self. What would you tell younger Chris as he opens that box?
00:51:56
Speaker
Get ready. Get ready. Strap in. This is where it starts. It's never going stop. Listen, get ah one thing about me is that I'm real bad with it.
00:52:08
Speaker
I'm a box destroyer. Oh, yeah. I'll be getting rid of boxes. um And I've been trying not to do it no more because really it was like my mom would be like, yo, you have too many sneakers. yeah yeah You have to make room. yeah I'm only saving Braunface.
00:52:21
Speaker
I'm saving. I still got my eight boxes. I still got the Yu-Gi-Oh! box. The box for these is two. Those type of boxes going to keep. Orange box. like like that Yeah. If you got like a ton of them, yeah. good The all black Nike box, yeah and we gonna get rid of it. um But nah, I'm gonna tell them like, yo, this is never gonna stop. When you're 25 years old, you're gonna be sniping these shoes on eBay. I just got my Sprites. Lowe's. Tough. Brand new, basically. that not the Not the retro either. 45. Yeah, bro. Sniping. And they came with the box too. Braun on that bitch. So it's... I tell them that. Get ready. Yeah, bro. Because I'm...
00:53:00
Speaker
We get dressed from the toe up yeah You know? that' that's ah that's That's, we what it is. what it is. Bro, I've said this before. I think about the shoe like the night before and then the fit comes together after. I'll be like, yeah, I'm gonna rock those tomorrow. Yeah, no, the sneakers is, it's so important. So I remember one time, this I knew I was too far gone.
00:53:22
Speaker
I was at Carowinds with my friend, his mom. We was looking at everybody's sneakers. He's like, yo, look at those right there. Oh, he got those. She was like, y'all supposed to be looking at girls. And I was like, we are, but you know we we're looking at this too. yeah You know what I'm saying? But yeah, just letting them know. Because before that, I mean, like I liked sneakers, but it wasn't like I fight you over stepping on my shoes. You know, it's like this...
00:53:46
Speaker
mentality of just this love. This is like a car. At this point, you know I'm saying? You don't scratch a nigga car. Definitely don't scup his seat. yeah, that's what I'll tell him. Let everybody know where to find you.
00:53:58
Speaker
Made in URL on Twitter.
Online Presence and Future Projects
00:54:03
Speaker
African American artists on Instagram. African American art. Three A's. A-A African American art on Instagram. You're making it doesn't you make it this not easy to find you, bro. I'm fucking up. All right, wait. Let me start it. Twitter, made in URL. There you go. Instagram, my personal page, African American artists. The brand itself A. A. African American. Yeah, that that that's about it. Before we go, i got I got a shout out to my guys. Let me take a shout out to my guys at Ruckus.
00:54:36
Speaker
They blessed me with ah their Duck Hunt inspired numerics. These are the Mallard colorways. These are dropping the first week of December. I got them early off Accomplice Con. they So make sure you support my guys.
00:54:50
Speaker
These are very fire. that Boom. Shout out Devin. Shout out the homies. I know this whole yeah whole podcast. Came with mad laces and stuff inside. The box is crazy. I should have brought the whole thing but it's freezing outside. um And you know where to find me, WhoisHasen on social media. About to kick it to myself to ah do the Patreon shout outs. Hit up the Patreon, patreon.com slash myfirstkicks. Support the podcast. Support my boy Chris Copper Shirt.
00:55:19
Speaker
And peace. My brother. Oh, man. Appreciate you. Thank you for listening to this week's episode with Chris Chance. Yo, this was a real fun one. Me and Chris got like down to as much as we can because, you know,
00:55:36
Speaker
You will see him post about his work with Adidas and lot of the stuff that he's accomplished. But I wanted to really talk about his steps to get into where he is now. And his story is really dope. Like using the Internet to find a way to get to where he wants to be right now. And I think, you know, he's... He's a rising star, in my opinion. I think that like he's an African-American artist. He is selling out every single time he makes a block party. like He is cooking. He's a great person to talk to if you ever run into him in the street, if you're around New York.
00:56:12
Speaker
Definitely just you know tap in with him because he is super accepting, super inviting. And if you are in the area or any of these events that we all go to out here, it's really dope. And he's, I mean...
00:56:27
Speaker
He's going to Art Basel. I think he is. or That's pretty sure. Hopefully that's announced. but yeah doing some I think he said it in the episode. He's doing some cool stuff at Art Basel. um Very excited to see that I won't be out there. but I don't have any money. I don't have any money to go anywhere else. and Basel is probably the most expensive thing Besides complex con every year, so maybe one day we'll see and I and I don't know about all-star we'll see when we get we were cross that road and let's get the next year first right but as You know i did a live episode at West NYC the other day i was gonna say yesterday because it was yesterday. I'm recording this literally right before this goes up on Friday um this Thursday and
00:57:17
Speaker
Did a live episode at West NYC and we got to talk about these Clarks, these Clarks specifically. That's their recent collab with Clarks, Clarks Original, their Wallaby. We talk about their construction and and the story of West. This is my first time orna owning a Wallaby. If you ever listen to the Dante Ross episode, I talk about the MF Doom.
00:57:42
Speaker
ah Wallabies, which is the only ones that I ever really wanted because it's Doom, and I love Doom. So um I'm really appreciative to everybody that pulled up that Wednesday the 19th and stuck around.
00:57:58
Speaker
i Like, having a live episode of a podcast is always a big undertaking, especially for me. And this one was a lot more chill, a lot more relaxed in terms of just, like,
00:58:12
Speaker
Like, making sure people come and, you know, are they going to cop anything? Or, you know, like, ah when I did the live podcast in Cincinnati, everything was under my supervision. And at a certain point, it just, it just all fell apart. And yeah I was, I felt so bad because I thought I had it all under control. um I just was not familiar with like the camera, the the microphone, the sound system. And so I hope to, i mean, my next, the goal after that was to the next time I do a live show, it just goes off without a, without a hitch, no problems. you So brought in, i was able to bring in my studio.
00:58:59
Speaker
to my studio squad, shout out Connor, to record the episode. And that show, that that episode will be next week's episode. And i just wanted to really thank everybody that pulled up ah previous guest, people, i'm a new listener, hopefully. um Everybody was...
00:59:21
Speaker
Everybody said they liked it, so I hope when I put it out next week, y'all will like it too. I will also have to... Let me announce that this shoe will be on sale, I think, Saturday online.
00:59:34
Speaker
And there's only 300 pairs. And i wore it all today. Super comfortable. i'm I'm so shocked. Like, I don't know... i don't know if there's a ton of Wallaby wearers that watch the podcast, but...
00:59:48
Speaker
Yo, fire, please cop, please cop, because, you know, one, they gave me the opportunity to interview Lester, Adir and Lester gave me the opportunity a dearer and lesser gave me the ah opportunity to interview them And it was so fun to do that and hear the the history. And also Jordan hopped on stage or hopped into the seat and talked about the marketing and talking to people on West 72nd Street. And it's a real, look, it's a real regional episode, but it's it's cool to see how in a city that we were able to like taught like have like a little town. It's very interesting. And and I didn't mean to talk,
01:00:32
Speaker
about the live episode so much at the end of this episode with Chris Chines, but I'm, I definitely want to stress that.
Community Engagement and Achievements
01:00:41
Speaker
Please cop this. ah Please post some pictures, tag me in it. I will, I will repost every, I will repost them. I'll put the yellow laces on these. They come with three laces.
01:00:51
Speaker
Plus the, including gray one that that it's on there um when you first buy the shoe. And yes, please, please, please support. Sorry for making this super long.
01:01:03
Speaker
I really appreciate everyone that's been tapping in. also want to announce the podcast has gotten 50,000 listens combined all over just audio. And it's super cool because when I first started doing this, I never thought 50,000 listens like I'm averaging like I'm not averaging I was looking at something that was just like hey you somebody you've over you somebody's listened to this podcast like 200 times or something like that like there's craziness is just like you know
01:01:38
Speaker
I never thought that like doing this in my room where you see, I've cleaned it up a little bit, doing this in my room that I could even garner that many people wanting to check me out or check this out.
01:01:50
Speaker
You know, started this as kind of my way of giving back in terms of just conversations and having conversations. Cause what I really love about this is just learning about people. I'm a big, I'm a big a fan of just people and i want to hear their stories. And so,
01:02:08
Speaker
We're here. And I know you've probably heard me explain this a thousand times, but I'm going to always continue to explain this because this can be somebody's first episode.
01:02:18
Speaker
And they're wondering, why do we have 200 blank episodes? And some people I've never even heard of because I want to learn about them. And so if you made it to this part of that,
01:02:31
Speaker
intro, the outro, I mean, then appreciate you.
Patreon and Supporter Acknowledgments
01:02:36
Speaker
But, you know, Chris Chance, big shout out, like ran into him at Joe Freshgood's documentary ah showing that he had at the at the rec center out here in New York. and we hung out like such a good time.
01:02:54
Speaker
um This episode was such a good episode. And of course, because of that, it's all about community. And I have to bring up the Patreon. And you can be shouted out at the end of an episode by simply signing up for Patreon at patreon.com slash myfirstkicks. Become a patron.
01:03:13
Speaker
Got two tiers and both tiers you willll get shouted out in the episode, but five dollars here you get extra content. So I'm keeping it low for a little bit until I have more time to build more, build it out more. And hopefully in the future when we get sponsors and stuff like that, well, ah when I got sponsors for this, that you'll get ad free episodes that you could just tap in and and I could take them all out and then I'll just only have ad free on there. And you can just worry, worry. If you want to watch it with ads, you can put it on YouTube. You know what I mean?
01:03:48
Speaker
I appreciate every single one of y'all. So let let's do the Patreon shoutouts. So shoutout to Plox, who's been deep diving in the stuff. And giving me a ton of likes on Patreon. I really appreciate you. So i'm doing a real personal shoutout for you this week.
01:04:02
Speaker
Then we have Jesse. Jesse G. Shoutout you, Jesse. Shoutout Adam Butler, MSR. Check out his Shoutout shout out Ross Adams shout out Derek Lipkin aka Fresh Poetics shout out Adam Neustadter and and i think that's it as you can tell I've been doing this off of memory the past bunch of times I've been doing this and it I will say the patreon yes it's not perfect right now but it will be and every single dollar goes right back into the podcast
01:04:42
Speaker
You know, pay for the recordings, pay for hosting. It's all encompassing. And i appreciate every single one y'all because I never thought I'd be continuously doing this and putting my own money in this to elevate it as much as I can. And now with y'all help, I can keep doing that without stressing that myself out. All right.
Closing Call to Action
01:05:03
Speaker
Especially because the holiday season is coming up. So make sure you cop those Clarks.
01:05:08
Speaker
And of course, if you want to check out some new episodes or check out the rest of the catalog, check out these two videos up here. Subscribe to the podcast. And of course, you know what say each week, wear your kicks.
01:05:22
Speaker
Peace.