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The Release Date With Jae Tips
132 Plays3 months ago
This week I welcome Jae Tips to the podcast we talk about growing up in the Bronx. His music career and the places it took him. His love for sneakers and what sparked his curiosity! How sneaker culture embraced him and what it means to him. His time in France and how much love he received out there. Also we touch on the article that catapulted hat culture in New York and much much more!
Where to find Jae Tips:
Socials: @Jaetips
Website: https://www.shopjaetips.com/
Podcast Linktree: https://linktr.ee/myfirstkicks
Intro Music by The DoppleGangaz: https://thedoppelgangaz.bandcamp.com/
Outro Music by Gordon Bombay: https://thegordonbombay.bandcamp.com/
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Transcript
Introduction and Guest Welcome
00:00:15
Speaker
What's good, everyone? Welcome back to my first kicks. I stopped saying episode numbers because I'm behind one episode that I recorded in the studio. But we're back in the studio, and I got a special guest. Jay Tips, welcome to the podcast. Thank you thank you for having me. You know, of Uptown Savior, you know, I had to bless the podcast. You already know. Yeah, I mean, look, you've been making the rounds, and I was like, yo, what about me?
00:00:35
Speaker
you know we We had to do it, man. There's certain things that make you sanctioned in the sneaker community, so I had to be here with you. Oh, man. I appreciate that. That's high praise Jesus.
Sneaker Sizing and Community Impact
00:00:45
Speaker
I've never heard that. um But you know first of all, you got to say, you know look, I'm wearing i'm wearing them. yeah you know You were right, half size. I should have went half size up. and ah They hurt. yeah yeah you know um it's it's funny It's funny how when you like work on shoes, it's just certain things like you don't even know until you kind of get into it. And that's like the running through the sides, half sides up. like Usually from a consumer point, like you can tell people that, but from like the person where it's my shoe, it's like that was that was a tough one to kind of deal with telling everybody, yo, don't buy your size, buy the next size up.
00:01:24
Speaker
I messed up because I guess I missed it when I was in line at complex con and that was like our second time meeting. I posted the video of us, me asking a couple of questions out there. And then, I mean, I feel like we kind of connected for real out there. So it was dope to, when I won, I was like, I'm a cop and I wanted to give both. And I pulled up and I did not know about the half size. So I was just like, yo, they still fired. So I was just like, forget it. Man, you got an old school, man, pull an insulin out of something. Nah, yeah, Mikey was telling me I gotta pull the insulin out, I was just like, nah, fuck it, I'ma just do it. But, yo, you know, you've been making the rounds, like I said, and I've been wanting to talk to you for a good minute because your journey has, one, been inspiring and...
Journey from Retail to Influence
00:02:10
Speaker
Appreciate it.
00:02:10
Speaker
you know, every single time I go into like a Twitter space or anything that deals with with sneakers, you are always brought up because of your impact on the current game and the way that when I when i talk to you at CompassCon about like, you know, bringing community back. And that's one of my big things about starting this podcast of just like, let's have these conversations, not let's just be always about what's the new shit coming out, you know, so.
00:02:36
Speaker
I've always wanted to talk to you like in full length about that and come in, like, what where'd you come from? Because, you know, we both from New York, but and we've made and we were we're making lines all the time, you know, back in the day. So, yeah. Yeah, no, I'm i'm a i'm a student of the game. Speaking of Twitter spaces, I was listening to one the other day on Anonymous just to see like how people speak about certain things and stuff like I'm definitely not an ego guy. So sometimes I try to stay away from stuff just so I get tunnel vision. But It's like you mentioned, when it comes to community, man, I've i've come from working retail, I've come from collecting, I've come from conventions, I've come from being online, I've come from working in the store, I've come from resale, I've come from like even just notoriety when it comes to just the sneaker community. I've
Inspiration and Perseverance
00:03:24
Speaker
been featured for like my collection and like books and nice kicks and stuff like that. so And then even with my music, I've made, like
00:03:32
Speaker
songs about being a collector and stuff like that. So to be honest... I think that the reason why a lot of people like resonate with my story and my journey is because usually the sneaker head loves sneakers. And I think that you can see somebody with an opportunity that you know comes from the same cloth that most likely you come from is is something ah to be honorable. And that's why like I hold myself in high regard of being responsible because it's not only am I trying to make good product and tell good stories, it's also like,
00:04:05
Speaker
I'm not just selling to this community. I represent this community. So if I went on this level, maybe people realize and this company realizes more diamonds in the rough and there's more people that can be able to win this way. Yeah, that that's something that I always look up to. You know, I mean.
00:04:22
Speaker
looking up to you seems very weird, being like, yeah, we're the same age, and be like, yeah, yeah, we look up to each other. But the um but yeah, I mean, the the way that the community comes around it where, and then your path of just like, I think, I mean, it it makes it gives everybody hope. It gives somebody who's just, you know, just starting again in the sneakers, like somebody that goes to Brother D's school sneaker ah yeah things where he breaks down the Kobe's and stuff like that, like where, you know, that little kid can be like, look at you and be like,
00:04:50
Speaker
i I can put out my own shoes too, you know, so. No, trust me, man. I didn't i didn't have it all figured out. um And I think that's something that I like to really like make sure that's clear. I think a lot of people just try to tell you only the the upside of their story, but I didn't have it all figured out. Like even for you to say like we connected at Complex Common, it was there was years where it was like we figured out when we get there. Like, but I need to be around people in this industry because I don't know what I necessarily can do, but I know that that's where they're going to be. And that's like the same people I'm trying to DM or same like stores that I'm trying to get shoes from. That's when like the owners and stuff is going to be in the right spot. And maybe I could wait on a line for six hours, five hours and make a connection. And people remember me for just shopping. So I didn't even, to be honest, man, half a decade ago,
00:05:43
Speaker
I didn't even have it like figured out as far as even my direction. So I don't think anybody should like trip up on, like am I doing the right thing? am i just just like Just constant progress.
First Must-Have Sneaker
00:05:53
Speaker
ki yeah Keep working on stuff because, like man, it's it's been days where I didn't even know how I was going to get back from Soho unless I got a size and I could go drop it off at round two or I can go you know sell it quick at somewhere just because it was like, yo, it's it's rough right now. like You know what I'm saying? and um So it's like, I just think that my journey is just one of this overcoming and just figuring it out, man. And I feel like everybody, no matter what you're doing, figure it out. Oh yeah, for sure. But you're here to answer the question. yeah Hard pivot. I'm known for these hard pivot. Here to ask a question that I ask everybody each week, and you may have answered already, what's your first
Bronx Influence on Style
00:06:30
Speaker
kiss? What's that first person you guys you absolutely needed to have?
00:06:33
Speaker
The first shoe I absolutely needed to have, I would say would be the, I don't even know the nickname of them, but they're the white and red 13s with the black, with the black outsole, like the black, white and red. I don't even know the nickname of them. Not that he got games. No, they're not that he got games. They're white, red, and then the outsole is black. White, red, outsole is black.
00:06:59
Speaker
They might, I don't even remember which one it was. I'm also, maybe I'm confusing for thirteens. Thirteens are. Yeah, thirteens are. I could probably show you a picture. Yeah, I should probably just show you a picture. But I was like, is it the, I have like weird nicknames for all the Jordans. So I don't know if I'm like, oh, is that the vampire shoe? No, they're like, I should have just said, I should have just lied and said something more easy for us to go through. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So white red.
00:07:25
Speaker
white red with black household. Yeah, I just remember being in school and in I was in second grade when the Jordan 13s came out. And I just remember just that was around the time that I was seeing these, OG Chicago. Yeah, OG Chicago. Yeah, so I just remember seeing another kid in the hallway and I just remember like, yo, I need those. like And I remember going home and kind of, it's funny because I probably, that's my muscle memory. I probably described them the way I just described them to you, to my mom. And I was like, yo, they came out it white and red. And um at that age, it's all about sustainability. So your mom is like, you know you're going to get them dirty. You're not going to wear them all the time. But I was like, no, I need those.
00:08:06
Speaker
And i just that was probably the first year I really needed to have. That was crazy. And you always lived in the Bronx the whole entire life? Yeah, man, I lived in the Bronx my whole life, um mostly in the same section, too. I moved to the North Bronx when I was nine. um I was living in, before that, I was living in Soundview. My family was there for 20 plus years. and Yeah, my boy, I'm friends with my boy, Hooley. He said used to run with you and teammate Team Mark all the time. Oh, where? Yeah. I used to, man, I was all around the Bronx, but like just from Soundview to North Bronx, and then just like then my dad moved to like by Allerton, and then I went to like high school in Truman and Co-op City. yeah I recorded like my first album in Eat a Wall Projects. like Man, I'm Bronx through and through, man. It's really not too many parts of the Bronx that I can't really say that I've explored throughout my life. way So what got you into
Music Beginnings and Battles
00:09:05
Speaker
actually rapping? I feel like you don't you don't get a chance to really talk about yeah you know your journey into actually becoming ah a rapper. Yeah, man, it was peer pressure, to be honest. i I love music. Music may be the only thing that I loved.
00:09:19
Speaker
as long as I've loved shoes. I just remember being very young and, you know, my mom was young. My mom was early 20s and just very soulful house, like very like music soul child, Darnell Jones, John B. You play some music soul child singing every single literary. I've heard like Jesse Powell, just a lot of like people that was really like crooning on records. She she was really, really like a font. She was playing everything and I just, I think through that I kind of learned like what I liked about music and what I was enjoying about music. And from that point on, and just like my friends was
00:09:57
Speaker
started rapping and they was going to the studio and I just wanted to give it a shot. I wanted to to write like a 16 or something like that because some of my boys used to be in the lunchroom and they would like just diss each other and rap styles and talk about how you don't get no girls and how your clothes is whacking. I just wanted to to be able to say something back one day and I just realized that it was like just a shot of adrenaline and I enjoyed it. I just wanted to see what it was about and I just kept chasing that high and and just trying to figure out, just trying to figure out what I could do with it.
00:10:25
Speaker
And like how did that... Did you end up like going to like over mics or doing shows? like Were you like pulling up to the end of the week? or you know Everything, man. i was I was doing open mics. I was um i was doing like showcases.
Music Industry Challenges
00:10:39
Speaker
I was traveling. I did ah South by Southwest like six years in a row in Austin, Texas. I headlined ah s SOBs, which was pretty big. I did like I did a few different places. I did, what's this place called? I forgot what's the name of it, Hammerstein Ballroom. I like sni think it was like for sneaker pimps. Oh, snap, yeah, i was like yeah. I think I might have been there. Bro, i like I was performing at like Dunk Exchange. I was doing a lot of different like ways to kind of put myself out there. um And like um' I opened for like ASAP Ferg and Atlanta.
00:11:16
Speaker
um i did like ah In my crib, I got like a lot of flyers that I was on. And it's like when you look at it, sometimes you see the big names and you be like, oh, that was J-tips on that flyer. But um man, I was figuring it out. I just chose Montreal and Miami and Atlanta. And like I said, in North Carolina. ah like I was trying to figure it out. And I think that I was just trying to go an unconditional route too, because I think the same way that like People kind of talk about me when they talk about like how I am navigating through the sneaker industry. I wasn't like the the person that was trying to do anything other than showcase my hard work. So like a lot of like the industry mixes and stuff, I'm like, nah, I'm just going to studio. you I'm just going to keep making records. I'm going to just keep doing everything. so
00:12:00
Speaker
I just like music taught me a lot about how to keep it going and how to just keep firing and keep firing and keep firing. And I think that's what people might enjoy about what I'm doing on a fashion scene now. That music taught me to just keep working. Don't take things personal. Some nights everybody's cheering for you and some nights everybody's on their phone. You know what I'm saying? So just keep going.
00:12:20
Speaker
No, yeah, the the ability to to to keep throwing something at the wall yeah and not be discouraged is probably the the most hardest ability to create because it's that you have to take so many notes in order to create that thick skin because you if you if you and if you see it enough, you're like, damn, man, I don't want to do this no more. You know, like you just like, you'd be like, the door's been shut and closed. Like I've i've known so many people that give music a try and then they'll be like, nah, man, you know, nobody's putting me on these bills and nobody's doing this. And I'm just like, you just kind of just keep going. to But to me, I just and as maybe this is would be advice to them is it it was never about the results. Trust me, the results would make a lot of things feel better and make a lot more sense to like the people that believe in you. And I think that's even now would like
00:13:12
Speaker
list and when when people are like ranking things, it's like that stuff does a lot for the people that believe in you more than it kind of does for like your work. like A lot of us work on our projects and we put a lot of hours and put a lot of time into it, but that stuff helps the supporters win arguments in the barbershop. And they're like, you see where he's at on that list? like you know So there's stuff like that that does help, but it's also like it was always to me about putting
Fashion and Bronx Culture
00:13:38
Speaker
in the work. If you build the ship, either people got to get on it or they don't get on it, but it's in the water. And I just think that I just always was like that. I always just showed up a professional. I did what I was going to do. If, if there was a business on, ah on side of it, when it came to like, whether they were going to pay you particular sales or like, even if somebody wanted a hundred dollars to write about you on the blog or a few hundred dollars to do something like,
00:14:03
Speaker
I understood what the value of it was and was either do it or don't do it. yeah And it's just the music industry for independent artists is tough because everybody kind of eats off of it more than you. But I guess when you really really when people really break through, they start to benefit a little bit more. So coming up is tough, but you got to kind of figure out your way.
00:14:25
Speaker
No, yeah. Were you like packing heat to go to go to these shows? Or did you have like a- Oh, no. I was always overdressed, man. I go like yeah think about it. The average like musician on the come up was probably like 8 Mile Eminem kind of hoodie. Hoodie and some baggy jeans. Maybe some Levi's, some Vans, some Converse, some Air Force Ones, for real. like And man, I had on easy ones. I'm having on easy twos. Like I'm having on like some Supreme, some just like just different BBC babe options. Like I'm pulling up to, it was a, it was a guy. Um, I'm not, you know, I hope, I actually hope he's well, hope he hears this or something.
00:15:05
Speaker
His name was Deadstock Rick. He used to do his sneaker show and he used to have a rap element. He always used to be like, yo, tips if you want to perform or whatever you want to perform in a table. I'd be like, nah, I just want to perform. And I just remember like looking at those pictures and just, man, I looked like I was stally back in the day. I looked like I was Wale, like people don't know I wasn't on and not, I had on new bait putty, I had on like, ah I forgot what, I forgot I had like maybe a staple fitted on and I just had, like, I looked like, you know, I'm one of the finest people in the building. You couldn't tell anybody that I just showed up and I just got my five minutes on the stage and then I had to leave. Like, just because I just was really, really i inspired by people who looked the part. And that at that age, that was like Wale, Kid Cudi, and Stylie, and stuff like that. So, you know, I just wanted to just keep keep dominating, man. Was that, was, is your inspiration from that era of like the internet and Wale and Kid Cudi going crazy with Bape and Soho downtown, or was it a lot of like just Bronx style that just ripped off on you? Man, I would say like,
00:16:16
Speaker
I would say a lot of my style, um like the style influences had to be like early, early, like while they kick cutty and like even just straight up for real. Like I remember the first time I seen Babes was in a magazine. I remember one of my boys told me why he wasn't staying in school the whole day. Cause he was like, these come out today. And I just remember him going to Soho, getting the Babes and wearing them to school the next day and explaining to everyone why his,
00:16:44
Speaker
Air Force Ones have a star. like I just remember, hit but he was e he was doing it. he was My man Norm, like he was just that person that was just so forward and ah understanding like, nah, this is this is what we supposed to be wearing. This is this is actually fly. like He was the probably the first person I seen put a lot of the Lacoste down and pick up big T's and put like When people was going into the latigras and Izard polos and stuff, he was he was like, nah bro, like we gonna get this full zip hoodie and we gonna get that. and it just So I think it kind of does go hand in hand with like Bronx style because this was before like the internet and stuff. like i had It was people in my neighborhood that looked just like everybody on the magazines and stuff. and
00:17:29
Speaker
I don't know how they was getting it. I don't know how they was getting this money because you know remember those are $600, $400, $300 jackets.
Savior Brand and Hat Influence
00:17:35
Speaker
Yeah. you know they People s fly. That's one thing about the Bronx, people always figured it out. No, yeah, for sure. I mean i remember the first time I pulled up there and I was just like.
00:17:45
Speaker
I was like, you wearing you wearing a mer like that? And I was like, all right, cool. See, little kids right now, go hop the train in a full babe hoodie and marry Jesus or something. And they make you question life. You just be like, yo, I like this in high school, but you'll see, yo, you'll see, I want the Pizza Hut kid hat on the Chroma Hut hoodie.
00:18:01
Speaker
Like, you know, I got questions about the authenticity of that. I got but always get questions. I'm like, all right, this might be, a you know, a pan to buy right now. But, you know, the Bronx is just like, you know, I guess like the the the fashion kind of had the scars pretty much. No, yeah. the I think that's the because I mentioned on this the last episode of like seeing a Ferragamo belt for the first time, it was definitely a kid from the Bronx where he was just like he was like he had this shirt tucked in So you can see the F and I'll be like, I don't know what that is. And then he was like, no, you don't know a fair guy. I could talk about growing up in the Bronx in fashion for so long, man. It was I remember 10th grade. It was a girl. I want to say her name. But she she had a different pair of mores and panel of the product every day, every day. Like, like before someone could even tell you, like, yo, Prada got new patent leather, two tones. She would just walk into chemistry class with it.
00:19:00
Speaker
I never understood like just like just the aspect of, like yo, know how like how can you even have this kind of money? yeah You know what I'm saying? like Just little stuff like that. But bro one up in the Bronx is very interested on the fashion side, you know what I'm saying?
00:19:15
Speaker
and And, you know, I mean, I've known you for, you know, the savior brand and and your yeah hats. I remember I wanted to bring this up like i COVID happened and that article about you, Pink Brins, Blue Brins, everybody. um And I feel like um I mean, I'll i'll put the steak in the ground for this and I'll stand on this. But I think y'all the reason that hat stuff is popping as much as it is right now. you know That article I felt like really push was like pushed a lot of people to be like, yo, can I get a hat? you know And yeah you know started pushing around, starting to get people in the hat club, getting people doing new areas like
00:19:55
Speaker
giving accounts at this point, being like, yo, let's do this. So, I mean, I'm very curious of like, what, how did you jump into it? You know, I know, I know you had your time at hat club. So and know now, like, you know, you now you have your own hat. when you you know um Good question. um It's an interesting time because, you know, it's actually, I'm i'm pulling up on a five year anniversary of me creating like savior hats. And um to me, that's what I was doing, man. I was, I was getting it out the mud. I was trying to find unique colors of Yankee hats. I was trying to, and it's crazy because like Frosty and them, they had their own story. They had their own parallel of like what they were doing with the pink bottoms and stuff. But me, I was going into,
00:20:39
Speaker
the dungeons, adept the depths of stories. And I was like, yo, how many red Yankees do you have? How many green? How many blue? How many stuff? I would just, you know, I'm getting you i'm telling you, I'm getting a few hats from Fordham Road in the Bronx. I'm getting a few from Queens. I'm getting a few from eBay. I'm getting a few from stuff. And sometimes even the shade of green is a little bit off because I'm getting them from different places. And like Then I'll just put Savior on him and do a full drop. and I just started to get so much attention off of like yo when you're doing something else, when you're doing something else. and then I was just trying to... I would pretty much was, if you think about it, like this is what a reseller is trying to do to any store in America. like stores can't sell it, so I'm going into it just putting Savior on the back of it. And the thing about that was always so special about hat stores, except Hat Club, because Hat Club is a Soho, right but every other hat store is in the hood, every hat store. like You can't tell me a hat store that's not in a sketchy part of a neighborhood.
00:21:39
Speaker
So, you putting these hats on the internet and you going viral, people don't even know where to get great brims from. right They don't know where to get blue brims and and green bottoms and stuff. like Every single... like They only knew Hat Club because they can go to Hat Club on their way to Flight Club or something like that. and or blades during the time. Yeah. So to me, it was I found a nice lane for myself. And then one day I was in the city um and I went in a hat club just to kind of see what they had going on. And um that's when somebody recognized me for the bespoke that I made with Nike. Right. They were just talking to me in the store about the bespoke, talking to me about like, you know, if Nike is going to make the shoe and stuff. And at that point, it's just all like, oh,
00:22:21
Speaker
I don't know like you know you know. Maybe one day, like you never know. And then Justin, who was a store manager at the time, he was like, oh, let me see the shoe. And I guess one thing that popped out about him was how colorful it was. So he was just like, yo, you know you make hats, you do this, um you have an interest in doing something with us. like We do we're We're starting to do like friends and family kind of drops where it's like you could kind of like, we make an order of hats and then maybe like you invite your friends and maybe they even like pre-ordered a hat and and we just come celebrate, do a party in the store. And I was like, yeah, let's definitely like, you know let's explore the opportunity. um But he was like, he probably couldn't put savior on it and stuff. So at that point I was kind of like, should I do it?
00:23:03
Speaker
Should I get into something like this? and um And then I just thought about it. I was like, you know what's something I haven't seen? What's something I haven't done? you know Me and Justin came up with like two colorways, and I was like, you know maybe something I never told people before. like One hat has a blue bottom, one hat but hat has a pink bottom, because I was kind of like, you know this is I want to do these hats that people aren't really creating in these colorways, but I also want to show respect to what y'all got going on with the blue bottom and the pink bottom. right Instead of me being from the Bronx, and I want a gray bottom. so um We end up doing the drop and it just pretty much blew up the internet. and um
00:23:41
Speaker
To me, I got bitter feelings, bittersweet feelings about that because I think you know and it's not me alone, but a lot of us have paved the way for this hat business to go from a few hundred thousand dollars into the millions and you know just for it to be so lucrative. And so like some stores are now making purchase orders in the millions and maybe the whole company wasn't even valued in the million millions before. like is
00:24:12
Speaker
it's It's just been something that, like you know I'll be honest, i other I've got a ton of opportunities and sometimes I've been on different platforms and I say like sometimes I think in the sneaker game I get compared to everybody in the world, but in the hat game I felt like I was Michael Jordan. like I felt like I was trailblazing so much. like I had hats at ComplexCon and SneakerCon.
00:24:32
Speaker
and we was on business of fashion and we was um like there's documentaries and there's do stuff, but it's also like, you know look at all of our bank accounts. We we we benefited the least from it. right um So it's just, it to me, it' it's you know I'm bittersweet towards it, but I'm still navigating that industry and still trying to figure out like how to kind of still tell my story through headwear. But it's also like, man, ain't no hat store closed in a pandemic because of a few of us. And that's not something that gets mentioned now when it's just a lot of other things going
Collaboration with Saucony
00:25:07
Speaker
on. So, you know. you know
00:25:09
Speaker
I feel many ways, but it's also like I do think that I was a part of changing the entire hat landscape. and i mean I agree with that because... it's just yeah it's just It is what it is, man. like it's It's tough. yeah It's tough for me sometimes to talk about it because it is it's a side of the game that people maybe don't know, but it's... in you know still trying to still trying I'm still to this day figuring things out. like if Only if you knew, like I want to collaborate at the Year Award last year for footwear, but I still can't even get a Yankee hat to release officially because the Yankees just view me as a my enemy of the brand. like You know what I'm saying? Because it'll save your hats and stuff. so
00:25:55
Speaker
We're still working through all of that stuff. I mean, you'll get there. I think that you know your name is ringing out was ringing bells in the streets or whatever. We'll figure it out, man. The the the Bronx bombers will be like, all right, we're going to have J-tips day. so may maybe Maybe one day, but I'll probably tell you it wouldn't be anytime soon. I mean, no, yeah, so you know you're saying that, and I think now a lot of these chances that are being you know with hat colorways and stuff like that, I definitely attribute to you stepping out there and being like, yo, let's do this. Well, everybody was coloring the patch. I was i was like, yo, turn the whole hat purple. You know what I'm saying? And people was, nobody's gonna be like, he was the first one doing colors, because i was like I said, I was able to find them.
00:26:43
Speaker
But it's also like, we was we were what we was doing and when I started working with Hat Club on stuff, man, every single store in the world started doing that. And and then I was like, you know what? how do i How do I keep it going? Let me make the two tones. And I made the colorful two tones and now like, man, every yeah you look back a few years now,
00:27:03
Speaker
It looks like that's just how the game is. Nobody's gonna look at what I was doing or even feel like it's special because they may not even remember a time where it wasn't like that. yeah So it's just, you know. as well yeah no you You make a straight valid point because yeah now now it's every day that now we see a different color hat or a different color team hat. when yeah When you used to go to Lids, you only had a selection of home and away, and that's all you had, you know? But I've always liked, and I think that's something that even people see through my Sakani projects now, I've always just tried to take something that is the way it is and really give it my spin, give it my flip.
00:27:44
Speaker
I remember just when you look at like a lineup of other people who are were working on hats and doing stuff at that time, and what was risky for them was color, changing the color bottom and maybe changing a few number of colors in the patch. like And I was like, nah, fuck that.
00:28:01
Speaker
The orange, orange, brim, black top, do this, do that, like just go crazy. yeah yeah yeah So, you know, but shout out to everybody. where Where does that creativity come from? Because, like, you're looking at things and, you know, people see, well, there's always going to be people in positions that will just see it black and white, but you see it in color. I just i just kind of think that you have to think outside the box. I think I've always been a notorious mismatcher. I've always kind of like looked at my clothes and thought this looked better together than kind of wearing something that all had the same just shade on it. um But I've also just think that i I've always kind of just colored outside the lines and I think that being able to do that
00:28:41
Speaker
Um, maybe try to exercise it through music, but then see success through clothes. It was kind of like, you know, I think that I have something here. Like even with my brand savior, like it was always a point where it was like, all right, we're working on designs, but the stuff that's super duper, like Inside the lines, like very clean. Doesn't do as well for me as just something that I just took the iPad and hand drew and shaded the colors and put the colors here. Something that's just very, very grade schoolish, but it just seemed like it was my lane. And just just as I get better and older and more wise, I'm just learning how to kind of control that a little bit more. No. Yeah.
Community Building in Sneaker Culture
00:29:21
Speaker
Yeah. ah You recently said, I mean, well, before you were talking about the the list, you know, so I definitely want to talk about, you know, because I would like for you to expand it on ah an actual like instead of just like a tweet, 140 characters, but you tweeted, you know, you don't like the way, you know, so how people are portraying it as like you're saving, you know, ah yeah well, that's hilarious. the the the double entendre there, you're saving Sakani and you're the savior of Sakani. You know, cause yeah, I mean, I've had Jay on the podcast. i've I've known Jay personally for a bunch of years. So it was just like, you know, Jay puts in the time and the effort to try to like, with however much money he has is to get in this, what he believes is the new wave of, and yeah you know, the sneaker culture. So yeah.
00:30:11
Speaker
to to me is like And it has been something that for even going into last year, I started to realize like people people's compliments sometimes are like very underhanded. um like people They'll whisper congratulations to you, but then tell you be careful and do stuff like that. And you know um maybe they do that to everybody. Maybe they're saying that to every collaborator, at every brand. but um Trust me, nobody has to tell me ah I have a the road least traveled. Like I'm working through a brand that, you know, still trying to prove themselves in a lane, but Sakani, it bothers me because it's not like people aren't doing anything. right Like I'm not walking into the building and and telling everybody what to do. Like people are like putting a lot of hours and clearing their schedules and
00:31:05
Speaker
you know, we're picking materials and stuff together and we're working on, you know, different samples and different things. And they're telling me how to amplify my ideas and how to like me and Jason, we have a lot of back and forth about like, you know, me kind of taking on my wild ideas and kind of taming them and want control in them and just thinking deeper and different things like that. And and when the congratulations comes, it's always people like having a cautionary tale about Sakani and the struggles and why they aren't New Balance and why they aren't people. And I just i just don't think that that's fair because you know they work hard. like They work hard and and it's an interesting it's an interesting thing that like when these people are showing up to work,
00:31:55
Speaker
and without hype in mind, good product, good design, functional um things, actionable plans, actionable rollouts, sincere partners, yeah partners that reflect the brand and do things without hype, without clout, without, ah like they're not stepping into any board meeting saying that, yo, if we can sign this person from this people and then we're gonna take over, are we gonna get this? like Man, they're people showing up to work just trying to do the job. and um My projects have got a lot of attention and a lot of love and stuff like that, but each time that somebody talks about me, they're just like, but it's Saucony.
00:32:35
Speaker
But it's balcony and I just think that that's a little bit offensive a little bit because it's like super offensive. and my Yeah, because it's like, you know, like you talking like it's pay less. Like, you know what I'm saying? Talking like it's, you know, no now you you made it, you made starberries. Yeah, you're talking like it's, it's Marshall's like, you know what I'm saying? Talking like it's straight, straight out of TJ Maxx. And um I just think that, you know, they have a lot in the vault. They have a lot of potential. They have a lot of,
00:32:59
Speaker
growth ahead of them when it comes to just the right silhouettes releasing, the history of the brand being told a certain type of way, and in the right partners and stuff. like um That's why like even like the list and stuff, like I'm solely working with Saucony. No other brand is... I'm not holding back on another brand. No other brands give giving me opportunity.
00:33:19
Speaker
Nobody... like I've ahve spoke with New Balance. up you know We've emailed with A6. I've talked to Clark's. I've talked to Timberland. um talk Everybody knows I've been in the buildings with Nike and figured things out. Nobody else has given me opportunity. So it's like, for like the press and like so much of people online, it's just like, you know but it's Sakani.
00:33:39
Speaker
Like, what's the problem? And I just think that's kinda my point on it. Like, how come it can't be, congrats to J-tips and Saucony, but it's more like, yo, J-tips is killing it and he's a bright name and he's doing this, but it's like, it's Saucony holding him back. I just don't, I don't really agree because I used to work in Full Locker, so.
00:33:57
Speaker
Them big drops, we only getting 17 pairs, 18 pairs of that anyway. I'm pulling up to conventions with 300, 400 pairs. I was at ComplexCon when Diamond Supply probably had 10 shoes and with 500 people online. People screaming, running for them. You know what I'm saying? What is the small brand and the big brand?
00:34:17
Speaker
What's even the comparison when it comes to stuff like that? If you're talking about behind the scenes stuff like media dollars and media buys and who's in whose pocket and you're talking about stuff like that, like the consumer don't care about that and and Twitter don't care about that. People don't care about that. Like if you know that Saucony's not spending the kind of money other brands are spending for attention, then keep keep your argument over there. Right. But when it comes to us being in everybody's conversation and everybody still champion will be doing it, we doing it with the way we doing it, then I think you should more congratulate it than just keep trying to discount it. No, yeah, because I mean, you're getting awards, you're getting notice, but then, i yeah, I feel like the connotation is always this like, yeah, J-tips is killing it, but it's like with Saukmee. And it's like, why can't you be the front runner in that space? Man, it's a crazy story, man. When I worked at Phil Locker, we released ah um Grinch Kobe's, we only had 12 pairs.
00:35:12
Speaker
I worked in the flagship store, like we were a $25 million dollars store. So you could imagine how much money they're probably spending through Nike and spin it's full lockers. So they're probably spending a ton of money with Nike on through their accounts and stuff. And we had 12 pairs.
00:35:31
Speaker
And that's a shoe that- First come, first serve? Yeah, first come, first serve. And we had three managers, and even that, only one manager could get the shoe. Even they had to raffle it amongst themselves to get that one pair. And when you just think about what some of those shoes stand to test the time and how big they are for culture and things like that,
00:35:53
Speaker
Man, um i've I give away more shoes on Twitter than I've seen stores release at Full Locker and House of Hoops and 21 Mercer and stuff like that. So i was like I don't even understand what's the comparison at this point.
00:36:06
Speaker
i mean you I mean, we talk about how you build community and I feel like that's that's the difference, right? Because they feel like the community will always be tapped in, right? Versus let's build this and let's make this a thing. Like now, I mean, you you tweeted out recently, sorry for being all over your Twitter. no no no this is his brother But you were tweeting out, the waiter hit me up, it's August. August is coming. August is here. August is here. August is definitely here, man. It's just that way of everybody's anticipating your next shoe, your next shoe.
00:36:46
Speaker
Even with these, I remember my boy text me when i he was like, I know you accomplished, and I was just like, and I'm like, and he's just like, wow, I said like like seven times right there. But he hits me up and he just he just goes, yo, get me a pair. And I'm like.
00:37:01
Speaker
Bro, I can't travel with two pairs of sneakers, man. And he's just like, so until this day. And I'm pretty sure he's probably going to text me after this episode of Jobs and Goes, where's where's the you got to put me in for the next pair. I'm like, I don't got it like that. No, man, I'm I'm just you know, I'm just trying to do things that I've seen people
00:37:22
Speaker
I've seen people do shoe releases, but maybe I'd be like, yo, I wish it released this way. I wish it was going this way. I wish that they elaborated a little bit on why this is this way. And they touched the people a little bit more. Man, I've been to pop ups for brands and the owner of the brand wasn't even there. I can't even fathom just trusting people that much with the money. You know what I'm saying? Just think about it. You're not even just checking in. So it's just like, man, I try to structure everything I do a certain type of hands-on way. And it drives Jason and the team crazy. I'm pretty upset. A lot of people on the outside, you see what we're doing. I do a lot of in-stores. I do a lot of stuff. Yeah, I know. I was just about to say. It's basic.
00:38:08
Speaker
Shake does a lot of that stuff around his area too, where it's like, it's cute. If to me, it seems yeah both hitting the mic. It seems like, it to me, it's community outreach, right? So like, you're giving, it's not even like, it's not even a thing where it's like, oh, I don't know if I'm not gonna get, if I'm not gonna get the shoe. You're there with like, yo, I got mad pairs, everybody pull up, everybody. and it's I mean, I i haven't haven't been to I mean, I missed out on the flower pot drop. So I was just like, um man, I wish I could. But you could see it on the line. Everybody's talking to each other. Nobody's like, oh, you know, I'm all the way in the back. I'm not going to get a pair. So I believe in myself with the utmost. And I just think that I believe in my plan and and stuff like for the flower pop up. I was, you know, I was maybe advised that I brought too many pairs. It was like, no, I brought just enough.
00:38:57
Speaker
Because I don't know. I just learned that with pop ups in general. Like, bro, like there's so much goes into it. I feel like the first person online in the last person online should have an option to get something. Yeah. But you can't protect everything and like you get.
00:39:13
Speaker
The eight and a half and the 14 may not be there, but they'll be able like somebody that's online should be able to get something. and To me, it's not about like driving the blogs crazy because we have 40 pairs and and it's just people just showed up for pictures, man. like Like, I'm not i not here to do that. I'm here to put the shoes in people's hands and I'm here to spread the message. I'm here to put them on people's feet. Like, I'm here to kind of touch the people like we do. Like, what's happening? You know, they give me like sometimes the grace periods for me to release this stuff. and
00:39:45
Speaker
And then go do and in the stores got to release it. And man, like my first shoe, I was reaching out to the stores and I didn't even know that there was another way to do that. like It was like, oh no, you could go through the sales team or you could go through this and that. And I'm DMing leaders. I'm DMing Wish ATL. I'm like, hey, i you guys want to do something with me? I seen you get in my shoe. and this and that and I'll come and I'm paying my own flights and I'm getting my own hotels and stuff like that. And it's like it's not that nobody would have did that paid it for me, but it was like, man, I'm so locked in on the process that we're not even having conversations about travel and budgets and stuff like that. I'm like, oh, you want me to get the vinyls? Because I'll bring them from New York. You want me to get this? You want me to do that? You want me to call flower people? You want me to make this? You want me to do this? Because
00:40:31
Speaker
man, I'm so in the game, like locked in bro. And I just think that that's something that me and Jason kind of talk about a lot when we have dinner and we'll be chat off kind of like work time. And it's like, I don't think the, what I did will be appreciated with Saucony till years later when you're seeing everyone like really step into it and say like, no, bro, like this is my project. And you get the awards and you get the recognition when you see the whole thing through, like all this online drop shock drops up, nah man, show up and shake some hands and take some pictures and sign some boxes and kiss some babies and you
Learning and Fashion Collaboration
00:41:09
Speaker
know what I'm saying? And sit through like, man, I got a project coming up, but for hats, I might do something with the NBA. And man, they asked me if I wanted to have a table to just kind of sit there and sign hats and stuff. And I'm like, nah, i just want I'm just going to be around hanging out with people and just chilling. I don't want to be sitting down signing no hats and
00:41:26
Speaker
First of all, I don't think I'm that big for people to be online for me to be signing no hats, but I was like- You never know, man. I even asked for you to sign the box. But I'd rather walk around and let people catch me in traffic, catch me at the fish and shrimp truck. You know what I'm saying? To make me sign it. I don't want to, I don't want to be sitting behind no table for 45 minutes while somebody taps me on my shoulder. Like, you got to go, you got to go. So, man, I just try to...
00:41:49
Speaker
I'm so grateful of my opportunities, man. I just try to keep my head in the game and do the work, man. Price of good work is more work. And we kind of started getting into this over like the lists and stuff. i I appreciate the recognition. Last year, Sakani sent me that that same list and it was like, yo, you should have been on it. And I was like, nah.
00:42:08
Speaker
I gotta prove more to myself. So just to be ah able to just be mentioned in that stuff, it's cool. like we I let other people argue about where they think I should be, but it's cool. But you know we just gotta keep doing the work. No, yeah. the I was gonna say the entire time you were mentioning this and like how you do this, how you do your roll-offs and stuff like that, I'm thinking like,
00:42:28
Speaker
This motherfucker hip hop, bro. That's all, yeah. But I think a lot of things is parallel, man. I i i learned from a lot of people that someone who was a student at a game can learn a little bit about everything. And me and my friends, we joke a lot about like how much content I kind of retain and how much I watch, but man, I can go watch non-fashion stuff and learn something. I could go watch sports interviews and learn something. I could go watch Vince Staples and Joe Budden and
00:43:00
Speaker
Joe Rogan, and then I could go listen to, you know, T.D. Jake, so I'd go listen to, you know, and it's not even just people talking about life. Sometimes it could be just, it could be toxic TV, it could be some of these shows, and so you just see how people, that may be not that deep, that far left, but I like to learn a little bit about everything. I heard Jay-Z say that one time, like you learn a little bit about everything just so you can keep a conversation going. And it's like, I just try to learn a little bit about,
00:43:29
Speaker
everybody's walks of life and how they move and how to get things done. Because everybody has a story, but it's like, how do you keep the best parts of everything and just keep it into your emotion? Like, man, um I tell people all the time, like I didn't make it in music, but a lot of things that I learned through music is how I'm navigating this stuff. And that's just how to carry yourself.
00:43:51
Speaker
I walk into sneaker stores, like I'm walking into Madison Square Garden. like You know what I'm saying? like I walk in head high, picture ready, like just all this stuff because you never know who's watching and you never know who traveled to come see you, come meet you, come get an autograph, come talk to you. like Now I'm at the point where people are like asking me to like give advice to their kids and stuff in the barbershop and stuff. I appreciate it, man, because you have to really like show up ready to work every day.
00:44:16
Speaker
No, yeah, that the hardest part is definitely reaching outward. And, you know, when you when you've come to a point where you've you also have to. And I mean, when I had Jamison on, I also talked to him about you have to celebrate your wins, too, because if you don't, then who's going to celebrate them for you? You know, but I also look at the world to like, man, I look at it like what is what is my win? I think my win is getting my idea out. I think if I'm able to tell my idea and I'm able to really like successfully roll things out the way that I envisioned it on my mood board, then that's my win. So I try to celebrate those moments, but when you see the results and when you see people really excited, that's when I fist pump and I'll be like, yeah, and I work. It's good, it's good. But it's like people got to be gentle to themselves. A lot of people are super hard on themselves.
00:45:06
Speaker
Oh yeah, for sure. I mean, we gotta be kinder to ourselves. I always think that. I think we push ourselves to the brink where we feel like we shouldn't be doing this, and we always end up pivoting or doing this next thing, and you didn't wanna, you should probably take the time to actually put yourself in this, see it through, and then if it doesn't work out, you
Inspiring Future Generations
00:45:27
Speaker
can move on. But once, I mean, I've sold this before, where it was just like when I first started this podcast, I was like,
00:45:33
Speaker
idea's great, this shit gonna go crazy. It's gonna go crazy the first three months, I'm gonna be good, I'm gonna be the next program. And it went nowhere. So it's just like, yeah, I almost almost dropped it, and but I was just like, nah, man. yeah If I believe in myself, like you believe in yourself, we're just gonna keep pushing, you know, keep pushing forward. We're gonna see these the seeds be coming to flowers and stuff like that. For sure, man, for sure. like One thing that like I know,
00:46:00
Speaker
that will happen now is I see a lot of people in like the hat game, I see a lot of people at my drops, like when I look at old footage and look at stuff, now be people dropping their own hats. yeah Like a lot of those people that was asking for pictures and stuff at my first few popups, now like you'd be like, oh, they, you know, they doing their own thing. And I know that's going to happen now with a lot of like people on Twitter that's in like the sneaker space and doing things like That opportunity is going to come for these Nike roles and other stuff. And it's like, I want to see how people really change. Like, oh, that was my boy that was doing this. So I remember he always be here and now he's head of concepts. So, you know what I'm saying? You never know. Like, you never know how things going.
International Representation and Reflection
00:46:40
Speaker
And like me, I tell everybody all the time, like, you just got to be ready. Like, you know, you stay ready so you don't got to get ready.
00:46:46
Speaker
the I mean, you were recently in France doing your thing. what What was, I mean, I've never been, but I've never, like, how do you explain it from the eyes of a New Yorker and that you actually, and you had to your own your own installment this time, the billboard? the billboard was fired, I was like, man. The one thing that needs to be happening more, when and I do see it ah specifically specifically with you, is that people are, like prate like they're giving you the props, getting your flowers as you're you're doing your things. I feel like a lot more people should do that, and especially for your friends. you know like Just do it for your people so that they can always keep going. yeah um But like what what was like France this time around?
00:47:32
Speaker
Man, summer are summer in Paris is a lot different than, which sounds like a flex me even saying it, summer in Paris is a lot different than winter in Paris. yeah So, you know, last fashion week I was with Saucony, I was like the host of the showroom, but I did a... ah ton of press, ton of interviews, pretty much didn't even get a chance to like leave. I was so tired from people just want to know the story, want to know know my journey and stuff. um But this time I was able to kind of like, you know, dip out and go to events and see people be seen, like, you know, um pop into different things. and And it's kind of like that South by Southwest feeling. It's like the people that were in Paris during this time
00:48:14
Speaker
like You know that they're just a little bit more like advanced in what they do. You're just kind of like speaking to people and it's just like, oh, i I'm ah i' a copywriter for this brand or I work on a design team for this brand and stuff. You're like, oh, this is the thick of it. like it's not even There's not even no filler in here. Like this person telling me they created a director for this and that and they did this shooting. Oh, like put like people smiling in front of their work and stuff. He's just like, oh, that must be that brand. ah it must So it was just, it was cool to be around that. Like being at restaurants and the table next to you is um like the Nike team or the Hoka team or this and that. Like it was cool, like just being around it. But it's also, bro, I'm a Bronx dude. So I wake up and I'm marching my own beat.
00:49:02
Speaker
I want to kind of get around culture a little bit. um I need to kind of regroup and be by myself and I need to do certain things. But it's like I'm stepping into a lot of these moments and I'm cool with it being like just big for my city. I'm like, if I go out there and I leak shoes, and I told Jason, I was like, I'm going to come out there and I'm going to wear the, I'll post the tan Omni. I'll um wear the Matrix and stuff like that. He didn't know I was going to bring both Matrix. yeah So I think I kind of shocked him when I brought the blue one, but he knows I those i love those. those i love So he knew he knew that I was going to come out there and try to make some noise. But it's like to me, it's like everything I do, man, it's like, you know, this looks good on my city, man, because people in my city still go me see me walk in the Dunkin Donuts.
00:49:47
Speaker
And it's like now I'm in Paris on the side of a building and just trying to, you know, just live live it up. That's sick. All right, so we're going towards the the end of the podcast. um I always ask another question at the end and it deals with a little bit of reflection. So I know you're going to have a lot to say to yourself, ah but I want you to go back and think about when you bought the cop, the OG Chicago 13s, right? Your young self is about to open that box, but now you're you transported back in time behind yourself. What would you tell your younger self as he opens that box?
00:50:20
Speaker
I would just kind of just tell myself to to just, I would say just just live in it a little bit more. um Growing up I was very hard on myself whether I wanted to play for the Yankees or I wanted to play for the Knicks or I wanted to just, you know,
00:50:40
Speaker
just just be at home and play games all day. like But it's also, like I've learned a lot about me being in my 30s now about it all mattered. It all mattered. And I just think that I would just kind of just tell myself at that side that that age, just be more gentle to yourself. I don't think that I've made any wrong turns or anything in my life. I would just probably just say, like you know you know just you know just just try to be more happier and stuff like that. like It's not like I didn't grow up and I was getting no belt upside my head and nothing like that every day, but it was just... you know I just thought that I needed to kind of like be cool or like you would have a bad day and it's like, no, just be
00:51:23
Speaker
Just be on you. You know what I'm
Conclusion and Farewell
00:51:25
Speaker
saying? Just just living into your world and the world will return its love back to you. you know, perfectly said, let everybody know where to find you. And if you wanna, you know, drop the release, the release date. You can find me everywhere, J-tips, J-A-E-T-I-P-S. You know, I try to tell people all the time, like, even though we're living in this moment, this is gonna be a moment in time when people kind of look back on things and they give context to my journey and your journey. And you're looking at this before like a release, or a real close to a release. So it's like now you're going to be looking at it like, what did he foreshadow? What did he say? Listen, they put him where on the list? Did you see what he just did? Like, you know what I'm saying? So it's like, you know, I just want to tell you just just, you know, just keep following the journey, follow the story. And, you know, I got a lot more than what you've seen already. So, you know, let's just keep it going.
00:52:18
Speaker
you know yeah The journey's gonna be amazing. I love i love how you move in. I'll always give you your props whenever I see you. And you know where to find me, I am, who is Haas on all social media. Follow the podcast at My First Kicks Pod. Follow the podcast on TikTok and YouTube, My First Kicks. And if you are listening to this, you're probably just gonna have to go to YouTube.
00:52:36
Speaker
yeah and watch us have this real interaction in real life in the studio. And, you know, if you have my first kick story, hit me up, myfirstkickspodatgmail.com. Appreciate you, Jaytas, for coming on. I appreciate you, man. Thank you for having me, man. This is fun. And for everybody out there, you know what we say each week, wear your kicks. Peace.