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No Jordan's After 13's with Bdot
116 Plays1 day ago
This week Bdot is on the podcast, we talk about growing up in Southside Jamaica, Queens. How he feels about the Colosseum Mall shutting down. What it was like growing up during the mixtape era. Getting his footing in journalism and working at XXL. Also how sneakers connected to him through out his life. What he thinks about the current state of sneakers and much more!
Follow Bdot:
IG: https://www.instagram.com/bdottm/
Twitter: https://x.com/bdotTM
Website: https://www.bdotmiller.com/
Podcast Linktree: https://linktr.ee/myfirstkicks
Sign up for the Patreon: https://patreon.com/MyFirstKicks
Intro & Outro by Sango: https://www.instagram.com/sango_/
Backing Music by The DoppleGangaz: https://thedoppelgangaz.bandcamp.com/
Recommended
Transcript
The Desire for Perennial Sneaker Releases
00:00:00
Speaker
yo, I gotta get this regular, ah you know, a GR like 90, 95. And you see, you go to JD Sports, shout out JD Sports. But like, they always have some crazy color ways. Yeah, some, again, I wanna be able to go into a store and buy like an Air Max 95 neon. Like that to me should always be a GR. Like it's like a Timberland. Like it should always be available.
00:00:20
Speaker
An uptown is always gonna be available. Those people you talking about, they don't, they don't get out of my face, man. You're cornball. Like you just want some hype shit and I always, you know what I hate too? yeah When people want hype shit and make, have a wack outfit to go with it Yeah. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? You wear the sneaker all tight, choked up and your outfit sucks.
00:00:42
Speaker
behind the have you Have you ever been to a show and you like the rapper got on a wack fit? Of course. All the time. Are you kidding me?
00:00:54
Speaker
It's like, yo, what the fuck are you wearing? i don't even have to go on it. Go to a show. i just look on the Instagram. Like, yo, what the? When you ask me that question, I just throw the five rappers automatically. i ain't going to name.
Special Guest Introduction: B-Dot
00:01:09
Speaker
What's good, everyone? Welcome back to My First Kicks. This is episode 260. And this week, we got a special guest in the building. B-Dot, welcome to the podcast, man. Thank you, man. Ain't that special, man. Come on, man. You're absolute legend, man. Appreciate that. Thank you for having me.
00:01:22
Speaker
Especially because you made the album happen. Yes. Yes, I did. You made Currency and Larry Drew come together. Small, small piece. Small piece. I'll take it. I'll take it. I saw your story. You got his shoes. I forgot the name. Yeah, the Adidas joints. Yeah. They are fire. Yeah, I don't know what the official name is. I got to look at the box, but I just call them the Larry Jones. Yeah. They're just fire. They're something sixes. They're going to kill me in the comments. But yes, those are fire. I don't know if you saw his like...
00:01:53
Speaker
the activation that he did yeah i did i missed it man i didn't go um where was that at it was at la right it was in la fest it was during super bowl weekend oh so um the bay yeah it was in the bay i didn't make it out there and i was invited i should have took the awful but maybe next time maybe next time for sure nah yeah but appreciate you pulling up man and before we we jump into the episode i started doing this a lot more um please hit the subscribe button. Hit the subscribe button and then sign up for that Patreon, please. Patreon.com slash MyFirstKicks.
00:02:24
Speaker
Only got a $5 tier. It helps the podcast, you know, helps me get me in the studio and have great conversations like I do. Like I'm about to have you. Absolutely. Let's do it.
B-Dot's First Sneaker Experience
00:02:35
Speaker
So you're here to answer the question that I ask everybody each week. And that question is, what's your first kicks? Was that first pair sneakers you absolutely needed to have?
00:02:42
Speaker
My first pair kicks. It was probably a pair of Jordans. I remember my first pair of sneakers. It was Jordan Bordeaux 7s. I almost wore those today. yeah Yeah. Man. I was i was between this because I had the boxes up and I was like, I know I'm to wear Jordans. And I was like, between the Union ones or the Bordeaux 7s. Yeah, it was Bordeaux 7s. My aunt bought them for me. I was in the third grade and that was like my first good pair of sneakers. And I remember thinking I could Jump high and be like Mike and I was playing myself, but that was my first pair of kicks that I can remember that was like my good pair sneakers. Yeah, the where'd you grow grow up originally? ah South Jamaica Queens, New York City. I'm still there. You are somebody got to watch the store man. Everyone move to LA or Atlanta.
00:03:26
Speaker
I'm still here in the hood man. though You I know you did the ah the walkthrough to talk about um the mall. Yeah. Thank you for checking this week's episode with B dot.
00:03:38
Speaker
And of course, please make sure you are liking subscribing and leaving a comment if you're watching this on YouTube. And if you're listening to this on Spotify or Apple podcast, wherever wherever you get your podcast, don't forget to rate review.
00:03:54
Speaker
And if you're on, you know, Spotify, leave a comment, but please, please, if you leave a review, I will read it at the end of an episode.
Shopping Memories in Queens Coliseum
00:04:03
Speaker
And of course, If you want to give me $5, $5 a month, you get to sign up for the Patreon at patreon.com slash myfirstkicks.
00:04:12
Speaker
It goes a long way. It goes right back into the podcast and you get extra content. You get a newsletter. You get a ton of extra stuff on top of your weekly episode.
00:04:23
Speaker
So let's jump back right into the episode. The Coliseum. The Coliseum. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, that was had a lot of memories there. Like that's where everybody went to go get their sneakers, their Timbs, you know, Mike Kappa White, Tia Mixtape. That was like the hub for Queens. Like that was our Times Square, our Mall of America, you know, and now it's gone. Shit is depressing. I know. Yeah. But yeah definitely you got any stories from that time? Because like the one thing I was never able to, because grew up in Corona, Okay. So, like, my mall was in front of Left Rack. So, I would just go to that People don't understand how big Queens It's like, me being from South Jamaica, you probably don't ever go to Corona. And Corona i don't come to Jamaica. Nah, yeah. You know, so, like, we kind of, like, segregated in that way.
00:05:03
Speaker
But, yeah, have a lot of stories. You know, a lot of crimes against humanity went down in the Coliseum. Yeah. You know, but... um I remember just going into there on, as far as sneakers go, just go into like Moe's downstairs or you go to the spot upstairs and just haggle and try to negotiate. I remember the last pair of sneakers I think I bought from there was, might've been almost 20 years ago. I had copped, um,
00:05:29
Speaker
The Tim Duncans The black Tim Duncans The ah the phone Phone Posit Max Yeah Something like that Everybody wants to sip I had the black joints This has to be maybe 06 maybe 04 One of those years But um You know, also I'll go there for like some Tim's. So if you got to get, you know, crispy pear Tim's, you from there. So that's what the Coliseum
Bringing J. Cole to the Queens Coliseum
00:05:50
Speaker
did. You know, it held us down. But I think my biggest memory was bringing J. Cole there ah to buy the Blueprint 3 the day it came out. wow We went there to go buy it because that was his big first feature. And that was a memorable moment. That's crazy, dude. Like, I don't even know. So I do remember when 50 was going crazy.
00:06:09
Speaker
So like we used to buy, don't know if you ever been a Queen Center Mall. Of Of course. so course. So Queen City of All, we used to buy I used to go and we'd have the dude out front with the CD. And that's why I get my Hot 97 mix. But like, I remember just like 50 going crazy. I always being like, I want to go to Jamaica. I got to go to the Coliseum and stuff like that. And I never got the chance to go during that time. But I did what I, you know, speaking of you bringing J. Cole there, but like Nigel did his like pop up. Yeah. the problem yeah yeah And it does bring back like that. I miss that, like nostalgia feeling of like walking through and able to, you know, Coppa CD. It was crazy. It was a one-stop shop. You know what mean? People from far and wide came to that strip just to shop. Like, I used to see, I call it the Great Adventure buses. You know, like the buses you have, the charter buses. Yeah, yeah. The Fonuise? Yeah, like they'd be lined up. Yeah, yeah. And people will come. It was packed. The whole strip was like time square. You couldn't move, you know? So it was a great time, though, man. But that was where we, that's where we shopped at. the um Like, where'd you get, because obviously, we know, you big in a hip ho yeah imagine you're Imagine like, eh. But like, what was like high school like for you? Where like, where'd you get your fashion senses from? Were you always on top? um High school for me, I went to Thomas Edison High School. And you know, if you know anything about that area, the geography, literally across the street is Jamaica High School. And then it's Hillcrest.
High School Fashion Influences
00:07:33
Speaker
And I went to high school in the late nineteen hundreds early two thousand s yeah So, you know, we were influenced by street guys, you know what mean? Like people that were getting it, that's who we were always influenced by. But also by our peers, you know, and ourselves. So, um yeah, just looking at people copping iceberg and you want the... And this is also one the times when like um urban brands was popping, right?
00:07:58
Speaker
We didn't know Louis Vuitton, Gucci, that didn't exist to us. We wanted... ah jabo or some Sean John or like an authentic. If you had an authentic jersey, that was like, that was a a golden fleece. You weren't doing the 28th Street? Nah, you had to have an authentic no swing man. If you had a swing man, you was in the game. you an authentic, you was getting laughed at.
00:08:21
Speaker
You know, but that was the time that I grew up in, you know what mean? Like jerseys, yeah really big clothing. huh It's disgusting when look at the pictures now, but you know what I'm saying? Like North Face, steep techs, you know, things like that. I need a steep tech. yeah I've been wanting one so bad ever since. Like, so in Corona, that was like the big thing. Yeah, that was, I already know what the Corona outfit was. yeah The Corona outfit was a steep tech.
00:08:44
Speaker
It was ah some big ass pants, probably some Air Max and the North Face, you remember the fanny pack? Yes, yes. The head, i was that was the fit. Oh my God, all my boys had it. And then they'd be like, any and then you'd be like you be in school, they'd be like, yo, can I borrow a pen? I'm like, bro. He'd be like, yo, can I get some paper? yeah Bro, you don't got space? He's like, nah, yo. And then there was one time, yeah, there was one time, um and it was just like the first couple weeks of school or whatever. It was one time bro pulls up and he's just like, he's like, he's like, yo, all right, take out. We're going to take notes or whatever.
00:09:17
Speaker
Yo, he had like five pieces of papers rolled up. Yeah, that's how was. We didn't come to school with binders. After like, see, after like junior year, you didn't come to school of like books. You just came with paper and hope for the best. Man, when did like sneaker culture
Sneaker Culture in NYC
00:09:33
Speaker
start hitting you? Because I know like, obviously, like, you know, you were in ah a school where i feel like a lot of like you're in an area where just a lot of music is happening. So like, when did sneaker culture just start connecting with you? Man, from day one, man, since I was a little kid, like I said, my first pair of Jordans was the Jordan 7s. And, um you know, growing up, you just wanted as many kicks as possible because you saw it around you. You know what saying? like And it was, Jordans obviously were popular.
00:10:01
Speaker
um Feli's was, you know, popular. Grand Hales. I'm older, so. Yeah. Grand Hales is like maybe eighth grade, seventh grade for me, but I'm talking like Nike, joy you just wanted all the fresh things, you know what I'm saying? Because it's in it's part of the DNA, especially out here in New York City.
00:10:19
Speaker
And you know, it was always hard, you know, growing up, you couldn't really afford the sneakers. yeah You know, you wanted them, but you couldn't afford them. And you might get maybe two or three pairs if you're lucky. And the hard part, you know, we got Jason Mark these days, but back then you had to find whatever household cleaner you had yeah to try to keep them as pristine as possible. When OxyClean came out though, that was like a game changer. See, i'm again, I'm older. There was no OxyClean. I was using alcohol. yeah i was using Tylex and shit trying to keep my kicks as clean as possible. No Comet? Maybe I might've used some Comet. Maybe a little bit of Whiteout. You know what I'm saying? So, you know, sneaker culture has always been important, you know, growing up in in New York City. Yeah. So I'm very curious. I'm just like, when did you realize, you know, you wanted to be like, did you go to school for journalism? or um Yes and no. I went to school. went to Delaware State University. I didn't know what I was going to do. I wanted to be
00:11:16
Speaker
in mass media. So whether a radio or you know print, i didn't I never really liked to write. And um when I was in college, I started freelancing for magazines while I was so as a student. So I was writing for XXL and um King Magazine and Rise. And at that point I was like, oh, shit, I can make a living off of this?
00:11:35
Speaker
Okay. And I was kind of like literally fixing the plane while i was in the sky trying to, you know, figure it out. That's wild. So, yeah. So literally the day after I graduated, yeah I started working at X-XL. Literally to the day after. That is crazy. I mean, yeah, you've worked on some iconic, ah you know, covers and stuff like that. So it's just like, it's crazy. Like one one of the biggest things and, you know, i don't know if it's just like curation. I've always been like,
00:12:00
Speaker
Like, i've I've been trying to, cu I've always been like big about like curation of just like, I want, I don't want to just settle for what everybody's giving me. yeah You know? So like, when did you learn that? Like, when did you learn like, you know, you know you're're you're digging for stuff? You know, it was like, I always had a knack for storytelling before I even knew it. yeah So growing up, I would have, I call it rap rooms. Like, i don't know if you had the same experience, but I would always like take the magazine and just plaster my walls, whatever rappers I liked or whatever. So Growing up, I would take the source and I would put my favorite rappers on it. i would take the whole article and just plaster. I didn't know that I was kind of grooming myself for what I was doing. Yeah. so You know, subconsciously. So looking back on it, I guess I was always a curator since I was young. Like, and some of my colleagues today, i had their work on my wall, but I didn't even know at the time, you know? So I guess I was always in my, it was destined to be.
00:12:54
Speaker
I mean, it's sick, bro. Like, um, The thing is just like one thing I've always just like wanted to like highlight, especially with this show is just like the curiosity gene. Yeah. and you know, whenever i was always reading your your stuff back in the day and like just seeing like your progression to now and stuff like that, like.
00:13:11
Speaker
Where did the the curiosity gene, like, where did you know it, like, connected for you? Like, yo, I need to know more about this. Because, like, my bad for it. know you're about to answer, but, like, the way I explain it is, like, and this is how, ah like, other people I have conversations with. It's just, like, whenever I'm in a conversation, much like this, i i feel like there's, like, a thread I'm trying to find. And then I just start unraveling. So i was, like, how do how do you find that? Yeah, I've always been curious, you know, even as a little kid. um But as I started getting my feet wet in this business, in order to be better, you have to be curious. yeah
00:13:43
Speaker
So ah that comes with doing research and i'm asking questions and, you know, just putting boots
Storytelling through Brands
00:13:51
Speaker
on the ground trying to get the story. So that's just kind of part of the DNA of what makes me who I am. You know i saying? It's kind of like...
00:13:59
Speaker
on the and on the job training yeah you know and the so now you saw like how sneakers you all right this is the way I because I'm very curious about your thoughts on this um you know you grew up in an era where storytelling didn't come from the brands Right. And so as you, you know, progress through life and you're part of like how we see storytelling now too, as well, especially within music. Yeah. Like you're now we're in this world where brands are telling the stories. Like, what are your thoughts between, you know, all the things that you've seen? Like,
00:14:35
Speaker
what is it, does storytelling still call you, especially in these places? Like, I mean, you got on Amar Meneers right now. That's like, you know, that's one of my favorite shoes because I was raised by my mom, yeah you know, single mother. And that shoes will always have like a special place for me because of like the message on the back. But like storytelling. and Storytelling is ill. It's like, I don't, growing up, I didn't know maybe they were doing storytelling. We just like, well, was fly. Mm-hmm.
00:15:01
Speaker
you know so And we created the stories behind it. right yeah So I see why brands are doing it now because you know you you have to be. But you know for me, I just always just liked what I liked, man. And I just liked what the the community told us to like. yeah you know I didn't know if it was like storytelling or we just liked what we saw. you know It's just weird.
00:15:22
Speaker
But now... when it comes to When it comes to that, I just feel like the the brands, they're they doing they doing the best that they can. Sometimes it feels a little bit contrived. Sometimes it's a little organic. But, you know, as long as the sneakers dope, man, I'm going to be interested. Nah, yeah. i i won That's always been, like, the the main the first thing, right? And then if there's a story that connects to it after,
00:15:48
Speaker
It does sell me. Like, it gets me. Then I'm like, all right, now I'm reaching for my wallet. Yeah, yeah, yeah. First, if I'm like, we're tapping the pocket a little bit. Like that yeah like with the Armand Monnieres, don't, I mean, it's a cool story. I don't give a fuck about the story. The sneak is fire. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:16:03
Speaker
I'm sold. Yeah. You know what I mean? Here's my money. I mean, all right. Since we're on our mom and there. Yeah. Like, you know, James Wynn there telling the black the black story. Yeah. um And so when it comes to something with so much intention, i feel like at that point we do got to care, you know? No, I mean, I get it. You know, it's marketing, it's promo. Yeah. I get it.
00:16:26
Speaker
But if I saw this sneaker, by itself yeah in a magazine like how I did growing up. hu What is that? I want Give it to me. yeah I mean, we did have commercials right you know growing up, but i really wasn't influenced by the commercial. I just saw, yo, the cool guy had the sneaker. I want the sneaker. That was my storytelling.
Impact of Social Media on Fashion
00:16:47
Speaker
Yeah. I think, I mean, now we live in like, well, hip hop artists or you know rappers have always been you know influence of all time, yeah right? like um My biggest take, and I've said this several times, like, I think now we don't have regional um fashion anymore. I think ah everybody we're looking at rat like everybody we're looking at is dressing to the music that they listen to.
00:17:11
Speaker
Yeah, it's not regional anymore. I mean, I think you could blame Wi-Fi for that. yeah i mean Wi-Fi has made the world a lot smaller. So it's a lot of Mr. Me Too's out here.
00:17:22
Speaker
um But I do miss that a little bit, you know what saying? Because it's like I could tell where somebody's from. You could still do that yeah here in New York a little bit, but not so much. um But like I used to miss if I saw a guy from Cali, I'd say, oh, that's a Cali guy. Yeah. because ah You know, and bringing being in New York, you're so... You think the world revolves around New York in a lot of ways. So it's like, until I left, is that when I really saw what the rest of the world looks like. Like going to college, i had never seen a Dickie suit before. oh yeah I never saw... I was like, what? I look like y'all pumping gas. look like y'all doing...
00:17:59
Speaker
You know what saying? Carpentry. And this is... That was their uniform in Philly. I was like, okay. And they wore chuckers and stuff like that. It's different now. But, you know, that's what happens when you get older and evolve and you travel and things like that. I mean, it's... That's that's what I...
00:18:15
Speaker
like traveling is definitely experiences. think we, sure we, we've shrunk, we shrunk our world, like our ability to experience things because of the internet, yeah you know, like we're all just trying to like, when you look at how the internet moves and I've,
00:18:31
Speaker
I want more people to be aware about this, but the way the internet moves is so that we don't have to do the experiences anymore. Say, for example, you went to that dinner and you just filmed the whole dinner, then it's like, oh, I was there. You feel like you was there. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. And then now we got streamers being like, you're just watching people live their lives. And you're actually paying them every month to do it, too. Shout out to those. I can't get jiggy with that. That's like living your life Like the Truman Show I can't Do you think kids know About the Truman Show?
00:19:03
Speaker
Fuck them If they don't know Check it out Ask your older brother Yeah See Kyson that Like Boat his way To the end Exactly It's like Rose. I can't do it. But hey, if that's your thing, more power to you. Man, I mean, this wild.
00:19:21
Speaker
the The way that like, oh, well, first definitely, like, what was it like working at XXL? Were you still copping kicks or like? Hell yeah. Hell yeah, I was copping kicks. I mean, I was poor at the time, so. My copying was limited, but ah my time at XXL was fun. It was, i was like 21, 22, fresh out of college, and it was an experience. You know, I kind of caught the tail end of the ride, of the magazine boom. Yeah. So, um but I enjoyed it, man. It was it was fun. It was cool because, you know, I was working with Elliott at the time, and he was editor-in-chief, and I was at the bottom of the Mass Head.
00:19:59
Speaker
And, um, It was cool. It was cool. I got to meet people. i got to you know travel. So it was fun. It was fun. The like the i legendary ah freestyles, like the cyphers. Yeah, that was before me. right right That was before me. so and we I started in 06, and that's when we were you know roaming the earth with dinosaurs. Back in 06. And um this is like right before, this is like, I think maybe YouTube was like two years old, maybe. And you know, this is at a time where rappers and hip hop isn't really embracing internet. There's this thing called blogs. don't what it is. yeah
00:20:41
Speaker
Maybe we do. So it was an interesting time. I mean, yeah. The blog era. Yeah. That's like the most insane era. Yeah. In terms of just like music.
Reverence for 90s Sneakers
00:20:51
Speaker
Yeah. Like, I don't know how do you traverse traverse that at all. it was It was interesting. I didn't, you know, it's like people talk about it, but you don't know that you're living in a time in the moment. Right. Yeah.
00:21:03
Speaker
ah even Even just like, for example, like the ninety s like 90s kicks. Yeah. When you, like, this is definitely one something I definitely wanted to talk about, where it's just like the way that we look at at ninety s kicks now is like such a, like a, ah ah not rose-colored glasses, but like we do we hold it we hold it up so high. Yeah. You know? um And the idea of like,
00:21:28
Speaker
that this was the greatest era of sneakers. course, it was. You know? Yeah. I mean, you... Yes. Wait, how old are you? I'm 37. 37? Okay, we are the same age. Yeah. All right. So, like, I definitely want your take on that. Like, why do you think it's the 90s? The 90s are the greatest era. It just is, man. Yeah. Have you opened up an East Bay magazine from that era? You know, I feel like, I don't know what it is, man. Maybe all the stars were aligned.
00:21:56
Speaker
Because to me, I mean, it's not enough innovation. I mean, granted, the technology is better than it was back then, but as far as aesthetics, It was just better. It just looked better. You know, um I think also the people that were wearing the sneakers made them cool. You know, we don't have i mean, it's subjective, right? But in my opinion, they don't we don't have a lot of cool people, you know, making things hot. Yeah. Back, you know, in this day and age. You don't think so? Nah. I mean, we don't got a lot of cool. It's no, we don't.
00:22:28
Speaker
ah you know Well, what's what's cool to you? What's like, what what is a person that you like off the top your head be like? A guy that's cool is a person to me that girls like, you know, guys want to hang out with. yeah He dresses well. He has manners.
00:22:46
Speaker
He might... He might have a car. He might not have a car. You know, he he takes care of himself. He's well-groomed. He gets haircuts. Make sure his nails are on point. yeah That's a cool guy. yeah That's somebody I want to hang out with. He knows how to get money, not necessarily in a nefarious way.
00:23:04
Speaker
You know, he's just a cool guy. Like, you know it when you see it. that's not That's not Aura, isn't that? They call it Aura, they call it Swag, they call it G, you know, whatever you want to classify it. You know, I know i know cool people. Like my guy, No Ideas Original, he's guy. shout Shout out, shout out. Shout out to oh my man T-Mark is a cool guy. Shout out T-Mark.
00:23:25
Speaker
My man, 60, you don't know him, he's a cool guy. He's probably going to watch this. Like, I like to hang around cool people. Right, yeah. that mean, yeah, we met at the No Ideas. Exactly, you know I'm saying? Yeah. I could go on all day. Right. yeah Yeah. But when you see it, you know know, I mean, to be honest, the people that you name are all people that are individuals. Yeah. Like, I definitely think that like, you know, we lost the sauce in terms of just like being an individual.
00:23:49
Speaker
Yeah. It's a lot of, it's a lot of followers. You know i'm saying? Like, Yeah, i don't want to get in trouble. Yeah, there's a lot of followers, you know what I'm saying? Like, a cool guy is a guy who could see a a pair. Shout out to Mayor. He's another cool guy. Shout out Mayor. Shout out Mayor, you know.
00:24:05
Speaker
um ah A cool guy to me is a person who sees a GR in footlocker, puts it on, and makes it like. Right, yeah. You don't have to necessarily go for the hype shit. You know, that's a cool guy to me.
00:24:17
Speaker
Shout out Upscale Vandal. I went to high school Upscale Vandal. Really? Yeah. That's crazy. I went to school. He was like when I was a senior, he was like a junior. So yeah, I've known Mike for a long time. Nah, yeah. He calls himself the GR King. He is the GR King, man. Yeah, that's that's a great example. Nah, for sure. i I do miss GRs. I love GRs. When you said East Bay Magazine, I was like, you know what the biggest thing about East Bay Magazine was? Is that it was like, you're just picking a GR. Man, listen, I used to get East Bay and never copped.
00:24:46
Speaker
I just wanted to get a GR. I was just circling things that I wanted in the future. Never copped. But yeah, oh I love GR. I love going, that's why I love You know, you talk about 90s kicks. i love going to a Foot Locker or whatever and just seeing a Jordan or like the Bugs Bunnies on the shelves or like Agassiz on the shelf or um a BoJack or whatever. like Yeah. yeah I mean, look, they brought they're bringing back. Well, they're doing this whole push currently. It's currently we're recording this during All-Star Weekend. yeah They drop like a gajillion sneakers. A lot shits just Shits just whack. Not everything, but a lot of it is whack.
00:25:26
Speaker
Look, I like the unions. but I like unions. I like the unions. The unions. But only, well, the top three ones. Certain colorways. Only like the one, it's like the red and the blue. Yeah, the top i call we call in the top three. Yeah, yeah. Because it's like, i don't know if you remember when the top threes I remember. Yeah, yeah. Like, I like that colorway. But I'm a big Jordan 1 fan, but I don't like all colorways. Nah, yeah. Some colorways for certain silhouettes just don't go well. Nah, yeah. I mean, these were fire when yeah they dropped. So I was just like, I got to get these. But the...
00:25:53
Speaker
there The way that like GRs move now is is like it's so non-existent. Like you walk into a store, nobody's ever being like, yo, I got to get this regular, ah you know, a GR like 90, 95.
Style vs. Hype in Fashion
00:26:07
Speaker
And you see, you go to JD Sports, at shout out JD Sports. But like they always have some crazy colorways. Yeah, again, I wanna be able to go into a store and buy like an Air Max 95 Neon. Like that to me should always be a GR. like It's like a Timberland, it should always be available. An uptown is always gonna be available.
00:26:23
Speaker
Those people you talking about, they don't get out of my face, man. You're cornball. Like you just want some hype shit. And i you know what I hate too? yeah When people want hype shit and make have a whack outfit to go with it. yeah yeah You know what I'm saying? You wear the sneaker all tight, choked up, and your outfit sucks.
00:26:41
Speaker
man we smart ah but the have you Have you ever been to a show and you like the rapper got on wack fit? Of course. All the time.
00:26:53
Speaker
Are you kidding me? It's like, yo, what the fuck are you wearing? I don't even have to go to a show. just look on the Instagram like, yo, what the? When you ask that question, I just throw the five rappers automatically. ain't going to name them. Nah, we need the list. We need the list.
00:27:10
Speaker
I ain't trying to start no no trouble. but you know Y'all know who I'm talking about. Yo, man. Why do you get so much hate for the list? I don't know. i That's a good question. But you know what? I don't mind. I know, yeah. You know what I'm saying? like Here's how I look at it, right? There's...
00:27:28
Speaker
Love and hate. But the opposite of love isn't hate. No, it's not. It's indifference. Right, yeah. I'd rather somebody give a fuck about what I have to say than just not care at all. You know, so I don't mind. I embrace it. You know, I've learned a long time that everyone isn't going like your opinion. Right, yeah. And the the sooner you understand that, the better off you'll be. Like, my skin is thick like an IG model. Like, loop dancer thing.
00:27:54
Speaker
Nothing's going to bother. I've gotten it. I got it all. I got threads. I've gotten... hate mail that shit don't bother me but i was gonna say what is there a moment that like that like just like calloused you i've always been this way like if you you can ask any of my colleagues people that have known me for decades for years i've always been the same way of course i'm an evolved version of what i used to be but yeah i've always never like really cared about what people i'm always going to express myself Always. And it's always come it's always rooted in truth. I'm never going to be disrespectful to you as a person.
00:28:29
Speaker
My ah critiques or my ah my feelings are always about the art. And I think people respect that. Yeah. I mean, that's... Look, that's... I always i always i always love it. But, like, you know... i mean, I'm not good... It's fun. I think that, like... The conversation's starter, right? It's a...
00:28:47
Speaker
But like we live in a world now where it's just like people just want to rail on you negatively and and try to make try to see if they can get their point across. So it's not a real conversation. We're not we're not conversating. People just like who they like. People are fans of who they want to be fans of. it's not It's not a lot of objectivity these days. You know i'm saying? So I get it.
00:29:11
Speaker
You just want to support who you like. You're a fan of this person. yeah And people are kind of closed minded when it comes to music or, you know, new artists and things like that. So I get it. I don't take it personal. When we going to get a top five like sneaker list, though?
00:29:25
Speaker
A top five sneaker of all time or like for the year? we should You should do one for the year. That's tough. I mean, that that's that's the, you know, you see, have you, do you participate in sneaker Twitter at all? Yeah, of course. I like here and there. Like mean me, me, no ideas original. T-Mark. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We be talking about, in you know, my own group chats. We talk about sneakers all the time. so Yeah, you got me in there. What we like, what we dislike. But yeah, there's a lot of sneakers that I like and...
00:29:53
Speaker
yeah I participate. Yeah. Well, Sneaker Twitter, they always go crazy for the Sneaker of the Year list. Yeah. So like Complex, when they do that and stuff like that, I be getting at Joe LaPuma from time to time. Like, yo, how can... Man...
00:30:05
Speaker
You know I'm Like my list and what you guys list. ah Some of the picks they have. I'm like, yo, what the fuck? Y'all like these? These are trash. I just I just don't like ah the way I always portion it out or like I kind of like back it up, whatever. It's just like to me, it's the way that they're doing it is like this is what the streets is talking about. Yeah. I mean, just because the sneakers popular.
00:30:32
Speaker
or it sells or whatever doesn't mean it looks good aesthetically, in my opinion. You know what I'm saying? Like a lot of people like the shade, the Converse joints. right yeah I think they trash. You know, like they look like a vagina to me.
00:30:45
Speaker
like Like, I'm not rocking The clay one, for sure. All of them. Not the blue one. Smurf blue? Them joints is trash. Like, that's not a fly sneaker. Like, I remember feeling the same way when I first saw the Yeezys with Adidas. Yeah. With the the strap and that... Oh, the 750s. Yeah, and that car rental gray. Yeah. That shit was nasty. That was an ugly sneaker. Even the other ones that with had the...
00:31:09
Speaker
The Styrofoam and the... Oh, the 350s. 350 V2s? That look like a hovercraft. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I out ive never was a big fan of Yeezys. Shits is trash. And I was just like, my boy got me them for my birthday one year. And I was like, damn, now I feel bad. i can never get rid of these. Listen, I gave them away to my OG. My OG one. I just said, hey, you have these shits, man. Brand new. Yeah. Gave them away. Like, here you go. Who, Ye gave you baby? Nah, nah, nah. I got them from Adidas. And I was like, this it was the Turtle Doves. i was like, this shit is ugly. Get the fuck out of my face. And I gave them away.
00:31:42
Speaker
But, um... Yeah. My favorite sneakers and what I hate, what I like. We could go on all day about that. I mean, hey, this is what we here for. like the the list The list thing. Yeah. i've oh Because you you've made one. yeah Right.
00:31:59
Speaker
What is it? Why? Where was the moment that like the internet was like, we need lists? And why do people, where do you think, why do people just like are so gung-ho about that once a person puts out their own list? yeah You know,
00:32:13
Speaker
So just for context, for people that don't, that are watching, don't know what the hell you're talking about. Every year i put an annual best of list, right? I listen to, I try to listen to all the new releases on Friday. So it's with, ah and I break it down with best songs, ah best guest verses, freestyles. I'm just trying to consume as much as I can. And I'm just jotting down, making notes of what I like throughout the year. And then I just kind of do a tally and, you know, evaluate and see who,
00:32:42
Speaker
belongs on the list. And again, it's only 10. Right. But what I love about your list is that it's comprehensive. You're not just like, all right, here's the albums and then that's it. No, no, i'm listening to it all. And I'm like doing inventory of who's doing what and I try to, you know, it's it's all subjective. but again, I...
00:32:59
Speaker
I've been in the
B-Dot's Music Lists and Preferences
00:33:00
Speaker
game for a long time. i think I'm pretty credible. I know what I'm talking about. So I just try to compile it. And I think I started doing it 2020, I believe. right yeah It was 2020, I think, was the first year.
00:33:11
Speaker
And that was the year that I was introduced to Stove Guard Cooks. right yeah So everybody's on lockdown. Everybody is um on Clubhouse at the time. And I heard ah Reasonable Drought. And I said, yo, this album is fucking fire. like Yeah, man.
00:33:26
Speaker
Is anyone else hearing this album? And it was like on repeat nonstop. So i I highlighted in my documented Stove God's move you know momentum at that time. And man, when I put that out, everyone's st throwing tomatoes at me. How can you? Who the fuck is this guy? Stove, stove top cook. My name's Stove God.
00:33:48
Speaker
And that was like the first moment where I realized, damn, okay. I think I might be on to something Said I just kept it going. just Only reason I did that was because I felt like nobody else was doing it Right. Oftentimes you hear, yo, music sucks. We all hearing in the same shit? Yeah, music is terrible. I'm like, no, theres there's good music out here. You just have to find it. yeah Unfortunately, you know, used to be the DJ's job to tell you what to listen to. This is what's hot in the streets right now. And then, you you know, you go to the club and then that's what you hear. but when you go to the club, they just play songs that you're familiar with already. Yeah, you they just play in the. Forever 21 playlist. Yeah, you know what saying? It's songs that you already know yeah and they might sprinkle a a new record here or there but it's rare. So I'm like, let me just highlight the songs and the music that's popping throughout the year that I think deserves more recognition. Right, yeah. And I'm also naming people who have like sort of notoriety to themselves. I'm not highlighting my next door neighbor in 3E. Right. I'm like, yo, he's nice. Yo, he's got a... You know what I mean? Some fucking Times Square rapper. Yeah.
00:34:52
Speaker
Yo, I just got this CD outside, yo. He's on a list. yeah Like, no. but you know But the fact that Stovgar had yeah Rock Marcy behind him, he had some you know credibility. I was like, okay, this guy needs to be you know documented. So...
00:35:07
Speaker
I'm not surprised by it at this point. No, no. But people, people look for that list yeah every year. Hey, listen, already, I'm already taking notes since January 1st. I've been taking notes. So got to look out. I might have to start hearing you and be like, yo, what should I be? really Because like, my problem is now, and I didn't mean to make this into a ah music podcast, yeah yeah but like my problem is now i listen to only DJ mixes now.
00:35:30
Speaker
So, like, I've been really into Zach Fox's mix as of late. that has just been But he's playing house music, black house music. And then my boy s Sango, who had a podcast. Like, you know, I'll listen to his mix over and over again. Because it's just like... But I need to i need to get back into albums again. I get it you know You know, if you're a rap fan, you might become disenchanted with the music. Because if you turn on the radio, you're hearing the same six songs all the time. Or, you know, you're hearing...
00:35:57
Speaker
You know, it's just the same old same. Yeah. So I get it. Yeah, yeah. I understand. But um there's some good music out there, man, for sure. Give me somebody I definitely need to check out right now. um Well, by the time this airs, The Currency. Yes, yes. I got to check that out. That's going to be out. um I'm going to give you some names on under the radar. Like, I like Payroll Giovanni a lot. he's i've I've listened to Payroll before. He's dope. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:36:19
Speaker
Who else am a fan of? Primo Rice. Are you familiar with Primo Rice? Nah. He's kind of in that same realm as, like, Currency, Larry June. ah Who else do like? Money bars?
00:36:31
Speaker
Big money bars? Big money bars. No, I'm just saying. I'm asking. no yeah, yeah, yeah. But it's it's it's like player shit. You what I'm saying? And even on a even on the underground level, like, you know, my homie Wayno. Shout out to Wayno. Shout out Wayno, man. Future guest. Yeah, he's going to come on in one day. um He put me on to new artists Her name is Muddy Moody or Muddy I keep forgetting her name But she's dope She's dope He put me on to this dude named Stoney Jackson He's new So you know I'm listening Keep my ear to the street man I know yeah I mean For some reason a lot of rappers been me up to pull up to the pot So I've just been like you know Shout out Fergie Baby You know Coated a friend You know what I mean Might have to do a Queens remix Fergie What's going on For real yo We need a Queens rapper. We don't have a Queens rapper. It's kind of a drought. I know Cello's doing his thing, but we need more. You know what I'm saying? I've never heard of who's that. I gotta listen to that. Cello, he's from South Jamaica as well. He's doing his thing. But we need more. Yes, please. I feel like Uptown has definitely... A lot of rappers are coming out of Uptown.
00:37:36
Speaker
trying to remember like somebody from the Bronx. only I think the biggest name out the Bronx right now is probably like the homies Bata Industrial or maybe. like they're like they're they're just like They mix. It's like rap, rock, yeah yeah a ton of different stuff together and electronic too. Yeah. Nah, yeah. and And it's funny because like we talk about like or we've the problem is like for years now it's like New York doesn't have a sound anymore. Yeah. And it's like it's hard to combat that now.
00:38:06
Speaker
Yeah, because again, Wi-Fi, man. Yeah. Everybody found SoundCloud. You know what it is? Like monkey see, monkey do. If it works for this person, I'm going to try it. The the entry the bar to entry is really low. So it doesn't require much creativity or thought.
00:38:22
Speaker
you know If it works for this guy, it's going to work for me, unfortunately. So I understand why you know that is the way it is. Mm-hmm.
B-Dot's Sneaker Preferences
00:38:30
Speaker
All right. Back the sneaker question. Let's talk about sneakers, man. Let's talk about sneakers. the did you ever... All right. We know... We're doing the we do it since it's the segue from rap into sneakers. Yeah. So you know I'm going to ask.
00:38:44
Speaker
You cop some G units. Did you have... never had a pair of G units. S-dots. Never had S-dots. Never had G units. I've always had Like Jordans. I always had Jordans, Nikes.
00:38:57
Speaker
I got into New Balance. I had some New Balances growing up. Not a lot, but I had New Balance. and Thoughts on the Action Bronson? I like the, I don't know the name of them. I don't be knowing the name sometimes. But I like the last one he did. has like It's kind of pink and has a little bit of brown in it. Oh, yeah. I don't know the name of those either. They're like ah like an infrared color type of bright pink. It's weird. it's like yeah It looks weird, but like I kind of like it. you know So I like those.
00:39:23
Speaker
um But yeah, those are usually the ones I had. i always had moments where I copped Saccone's once. Saccone. Saccone, Saccone, Tomato Tomato. I remember they had a moment when I was like in high school, like ninth grade. Yeah. They had like a hot moment. Yeah. And and then they just died off. But those are always the same. Nah, they back now. J-Tips. J-Tips. Yeah, they do anything.
00:39:45
Speaker
Westside Guns. This came out. Actually, I think Westside Guns is not that bad. The All Red Joints. thing you know Oh, yeah yeah. The Jazz Nines that are coming out. Yeah. Because he dropped the Fly Gods, which were like. The the green ones. Yeah, I can't just do those. It's little bit too so excited for me. A too crazy for me. You're like a clean. I like ah i like a clean. I like sneakers that I could like rock multiple outfits with. You know what I'm saying? even with these, know you can get away with a lot. Oh, yeah. I mean, I wore them to a wedding. There you go. you know These are like my favorite non-3s, I think, too. Oh, yeah? Yeah.
00:40:17
Speaker
So, yeah. I think after like, not non-3, non-OG. Non-OG. Yeah, like these are my favorites. The, I mean, yeah, Black Cement's probably. Black Cement, the White Cement. You can't go wrong with those. The True Blues.
00:40:29
Speaker
um The Fire Reds is cool. But like after those, I think these are the best ones. Are you, are you, ah you know, you know, we went through like the whole after 13s is trash. Are you one of, yeah like what are you? Yeah, I'm one of those guys.
00:40:44
Speaker
So I respect Jordans up to 17. Okay. stop 11. Okay. Right? So I stop at 11. I respect up to 17. But you got it it comes with terms and conditions may apply. Read the five print. Read that five print. Certain colorways are non-ciphered. Like after 11 to 17, you kind of have to stick, in my opinion, you got stick to the OG colorways.
00:41:09
Speaker
You might get away with a couple, you know, here and there, but... After we looking real suspect, man. don't know, man. Sixteens is not for me, bro. Sixteens is like... The tap dance shoes. I always call them tap dance shoes. It's the one with the shroud on it. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I like the... I remember my homie Rashid. Shout to my homie Sheed. He had those early in high school, the cherry wood joints.
00:41:31
Speaker
Those was aight. You know what mean? i never had them, but I thought they was cool. I think the only one I probably... i always say this. the only The only one I give a pass to the Currys. The Curry colorways. Oh, the the Curry ones? Yeah, I remember those. the I remember the black ones and like I said, the Cherrywoods, those are valid. The navy blue ones. The navy blue, I remember those. Yeah. Yeah, I do like the 17. I like the 17, but I can't do like a 13 or like a 15. I respect it, yeah yeah but I can't get jiggy with it, especially when you start getting little crazy with the colors. Yeah.
00:42:05
Speaker
it's too international to if you know what I'm saying. Just looking too international. to close Looking like Taco Tuesday. my god Oh, my God. Oh, my God. recently, EZ dropped drop the the archive Infinite Archive 17. Those.
00:42:26
Speaker
I could get jiggy. I love those. Those are all right. I like those. But I don't think I could do any other pair. after Like, I can't. After 17, pump your brakes, fam. I'm not doing doing a Jordan 20 with the ankle strap. The ankle strap on it. or or The 28 where it went all the way up. How you do a Jordan? How you go to the store say, yo, you got a Jordan 28?
00:42:50
Speaker
A 28? Yo. Nah, it's got a, that's how you you know they they don't know what they're talking about when they walk in and like, you got Jordans? Yeah, I'm looking for like a 28. A 28, man. Chill.
00:43:02
Speaker
Chill. Again, so I'm stopping at 11. even have a pair of 11s. I don't wear them like that. Like, i just, my joint, I stick to like a a one. Yeah. I even, I like a two. I like the OG twos.
00:43:15
Speaker
um Three, you know, four, I like Jordan 7s. Yeah, so that's kind of where I'm at with it. Do you have like a... What are they called again? i always say like the... Guilty... Like a like like a guilty... but But like a shoe that nobody nobody fucks with besides you. Like for me, it's the Hyperflights. I love Hyperflights. Hyperflight.
00:43:34
Speaker
Yeah. Damn, a sneaker that I fuck with that and people really don't like. Um... Damn, that's a question I'm going to know the answer to when I'm driving back home. I'm going to like, damn, that's the sneaker. But I'm kind of like a i'm like the everyman yeah kind of dude. You know what I'm saying? like I'm trying to think of a sneaker that I liked recently.
Regretful Sneaker Purchases
00:43:57
Speaker
You know, like, for instance, even like the Larry June ones, one that just came out with Adidas, I got some mixed reactions with them when I posted on my IG store. Some people didn't like them. I liked them. I think they fly, you know? So that's something that I i would say that I kind of like, you know? I mean.
00:44:12
Speaker
But there's also, I have regrets, too. Like, when I get a sneaker. Like, I remember bought the Jordan 3, the Zoo Jordan 3s. Oh, yeah. the The Animal Prince? Yeah, yeah, yeah. liked them in the moment. Yeah.
00:44:23
Speaker
But then I looked at them, and was like, I don't think i like these anymore and i just gave them away was like what the fuck was i doing fake ass atmos joy i was like they're not bad but i was like i don't think i like them anymore i like animal print i'm a well i like animal i'm a sucker for animal me too like the animal print 90 96 is okay it's crazy i like the 95 95 yeah i mean 95 i mean the animal print 95 but they did like a whole pack um Those would go crazy. ah The Air Max 1s.
00:44:52
Speaker
Yeah, of course. I love animal print. But those, again, goes back to what I said. Certain silhouettes are valid. But certain colorways are just... I don't know. i just can't get jiggy with it, man. There was a question. Bima recently made like a video and he talked about ah rappers and brands or like musicians and brands.
00:45:14
Speaker
Who needs who more? What do you, what do you like in your perspective? Like, do you think like, you know, as we've seen and we talked about like, Action Bronson, you know, Larry June got his collab. Like there's a lot of like cross sections. So um when you think about a big picture, like, do you think the brand benefits from it more or do you think the rappers benefit from it more?
00:45:38
Speaker
I guess it depends on who you're talking about, right? So, like Travis Scott and Nike. That's a good collaboration. Yeah. I copped the green joints, the green sixes, and the the khaki color. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because i just thought they were dope.
00:45:54
Speaker
And obviously, that's a Nike sneaker, so it makes sense. I think it's like one hand washes the other. Yeah. um But also, at the end of the day, the sneaker had to be dope. Yeah. Like, I don't...
00:46:05
Speaker
if it's if If Travis got with, thinking of a K-Swiss. yeah If the sneaker is dope. Shout out K-Swiss. Shout to K-Swiss. I don't know. just thought about K-Swiss. If a sneaker's dope, then okay. Then I'll fuck with it. You know what I mean?
00:46:20
Speaker
But I got to like the design, man. The design is very important when it comes to the sneaker. yeah i don't give a fuck who it's with. yeah it's So my response to that that was more of like, I think...
00:46:34
Speaker
I think rappers or musicians need the brand more. It establishes them more than... It gives each other credibility. You know what I'm saying? Like Westside Gun, he's working with that. Saucony, as you call it. Excuse me. Saucony. Saucony. I was with him yesterday. Oh, okay. There you go. And um that brand for me isn't something I'm you know invested in right now. But the design that he did, I thought it was you know it was smooth. So I'm like, okay.
00:47:04
Speaker
That's something I might want to get jiggy Right, yeah. You know what mean? and But that's like, yeah, I would say... Because now it feels like I'm talking down. But like, Sockany is like a different... I would say it's a different situation where it's like, you know, I feel like until more recently...
00:47:22
Speaker
people have thought that they were more of an afterthought. Like, if you... Yeah. Yeah, you know? Nah, you're right. They were. Like, they weren't on my radar. Right, yeah. You know? But it's like, he's taking his influence in cachet and making it cooler. You know what saying? Add cool factor. Right.
00:47:39
Speaker
But like, if say if he ended up going to Nike, it would just kind of be like... But Nike's a bigger brand. Right, yeah. So it's gonna it's gonna be bigger. Right. But at the same time, this design gotta to be good, man.
00:47:50
Speaker
Because like... Kanye and Adidas. I didn't like none of the Adidas that Kanye did. The design was whack. And he had all the promo in the world. For sure. He even had like Yeezy season was going That's what saying. But that to me was not a cool season. Even now with like his current stuff now. Like the socks. He had that like. And he's dropping everything for like 20 bucks or whatever. Yeah. I'm not wearing that shit. I'm not wearing that mean not wearing it for many different reasons. For various reasons. Yeah.
00:48:21
Speaker
It's just like, I don't, and I mean, that might be one of the biggest like sneaker follow-offs. Yeah, for sure. Because like, remember, you know remember even like the Yeezy 1 or the Yeezy 2 and just like how, like, it was like, I still want a Yeezy 2. Yeah. A Yeezy 2, the platinum or the black, even the Red October, I want all three of them. Yeah. know, those joints was fire. Yeah. Yeah. Are you willing to pay? Hell no.
00:48:46
Speaker
The most I've ever paid for a sneaker was the Travis Sixes. Okay. I paid a stack for them like an idiot. What? When they first, first, first came out, I was like, yo, I got to have them. I got to have them. I don't know what I was thinking. I was like, got to have them. And I had some disposable income on me. I was like, yo, I need them.
00:49:03
Speaker
I took my ass to Flight Club and I got him. I was happy. I know. They were smiling when she left. mean, it was like the day they dropped. I missed on the app. I said, need him. And then, of course, they went down in price and I was an asshole. But, you know, I still like those sneakers, man. No drinks is fire. But I'm never going to pay. I'm cheap, man. I ain't going to pay those resale prices. I've been watching on these conventions and these cons. What's the last time you went to one? Was it last year? I think I went with Mayor to Comic Con. Sneaker Con. The one in Coney Island? Was that last year? That was like, I think that might be two years ago. Two years right? where does the time go? Yeah, went there. That was my last. I think I might have been first time, my last one. But when I see these people like, yo, how much is this? $38,000. Like, what? For a sneaker?
00:49:52
Speaker
for a sneaker Are you fucking kidding me? This is ridiculous. Yo, who's big homie? Who's your OG? I wish. This is the thing, yo. They don't have. There isn't any. Yo, even if I had the money, you would you pay $50,000 or $38,000 for a sneaker? Like, what's the most you'd pay?
00:50:09
Speaker
I mean, are we saying, like, I got the bread? Yeah, you got the bread. I got the bread.
00:50:15
Speaker
I think, well, Orchard Street Dunks go for like $13,000 or whatever. You pay $13,000 for a street? Just for that shoe. Because there's only... like the So, the the reason why... it's ah it's a grail for It's a grail for a reason.
00:50:29
Speaker
It's a grail for a reason. um So, it's a grail for a reason because I saw Nas wearing it one time. Okay. And I was like... Nas is my favorite rapper all the time. Alright, mine too. Yeah. And so...
00:50:40
Speaker
He was wearing them. I talked. I had scrams on the podcast. Check out scrams on our podcast. We talked about Orchard Street and that shoe just like it's a custom shoe. It only exists. It's only like 50 pairs or whatever. Right.
00:50:51
Speaker
I saw it on. So it's on Sotheby's right now. My size size 13 comes with everything. What's everything? That shit better come with a woman. Because of Nas. Because of Nas? Yeah.
00:51:03
Speaker
Because of dinner with Nas. Shit. 13. I Nah, I can't. You paid a stack for Travis Scott's though. that I did. But I'm not paying. If you bought 13 Travis Scott ats that night that day, that's that's basically. I did sell a sneaker though. yeah I did sell a pair sneakers though for that amount of money though. What what were they? Eminem 4s. You had a pair? I had Eminem 4s, yup. How'd you have a pair?
00:51:30
Speaker
I knew a guy. Come on, you knew Eminem? I knew a guy. they were, they were, they were like, yo Marshall, let me get one. They gave to, they would give it to me and had, I was sad on them for like a year. And one of my OGs was like, yo, you should, if you're not going to wear them, you know, they're going for month. ain't nobody's going to pay for that.
00:51:46
Speaker
And sure enough, my, hit my account. was like, holy cow. So I guess I'm a reseller. Yeah, that's it. That's it. Now you're a reseller. You need a table at the next Sneaker Con. I couldn't believe it. was like, someone's going to pay this money? Get the fuck out of here. And they did. I was like, oh, oh, snap. Better, better. Watch out. Larry Junes definitely going up. Yeah, I'm going keep those. going to keep those. I like those. Tell them you need a 13. Tell them you got the wrong size. You need a 13. I'm going to tell somebody. But like one thing about that, what you're saying that is crazy. I mean, there are no more OGs. That's the problem. There's nobody. was saying this because like,
00:52:27
Speaker
one thing that TikTok has done is kind of like, as you say, lower the but the barrier for entry yeah now for a lot of things. And it's so much so much easier for people to be like, all right, yo, just get get in front of a camera. Now you're concert creator. Now your opinion matters. yeah like um And so when it comes to sneakers, like and people talking about sneakers, it's like anybody can talk about them. There's no like, like people should be, for example, people should be, um you know, when Abdul posts something or something like that. Shout out Abdul. Shout out to Abdul. Cool guy. Yes. Cool guy. Very cool guy. Very cool guy.
00:53:00
Speaker
But like when he speaks, people should be like listening straight up. But unless he has... People are like, you know, you have to have 25,000 followers or whatever in order for your, you know, whatever. And it's just like, nah, bro. If you give me an hour with Abdul, bro, we've been getting gems on gems. I've just got an hour with you. I've got nothing but gems on gems. It's just like, you know, your voice matters. And and I think, as you say, the barrier for entry is so low that that people are calling themselves the leaders of this thing just because, What makes you leader? Because you got...
00:53:34
Speaker
X amount of followers on ah on an app. Get the fuck out of here. Like, when everyone has an opinion, right? Yeah. Goes back to Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi has democratized thoughts and opinions in 2026.
00:53:48
Speaker
Right? Back in the day, if you was upset, you had voice, some concern, you wrote a letter in hopes of somebody responding to you. Yeah, yeah. You know what mean? So you got to look at who's doing the talking. You what I'm saying? Someone can say, yo, this song is whack this outfit is dope these kicks are fly. Who the fuck are you? Like, who are you? You know, so it's like if I don't respect your opinion, whether it's good or bad, I don't respect know what I'm saying? Like, I only respect people that I...
00:54:20
Speaker
that respect yeah yeah um so we're towards the end of the podcast yes i got one last question for you deals with a little visualization i want you to think back to young b dot as he's about to get his jordan 7 uh bordeaux's yes now you're older you behind your younger self what would you tell your younger self as he opens that box man but it's got to be the shoes keep them clean yeah keep them clean man you know when i was a kid at that time I was playing. I was outside, man. Like, I didn't really have a concept of what sneakers meant. You know what mean? Like, you want to keep them clean, but y' um I'm playing tag and suicides with my friend. Yeah. So, would just say, keep them clean.
00:55:03
Speaker
And, uh... Just be happy you got him, man. For sure. Yo, for real. um Let everybody know where to find you. can find me in the streets. Nah. He's out right now. Right now. Right now. When listening to this, go to Jamaica. Yes, go to Jamaica. Go to the Yeah, right there. At BDOT, B-D-O-T-T-M. Find me on Instagram, threads, Twitter.
00:55:26
Speaker
ah Got my ah interview series as well called Cover Lines. yeah You can go ah check that out. I had some interviews last year. I'm about to, you know, get that back up and popping. And yeah, you can see me at the next rap show. Yeah, for sure. And you know where to find me. I am who is hostile on social medias. Follow the podcast, My First Kicks pod. Hit me up, info at My First Kicks pod.
00:55:48
Speaker
Whoa, why am I messing this up? Info at MyFirstKicks.com. 13,000, man. Hit
Listener Engagement and Reflections
00:55:56
Speaker
me up. I need your My First Kicks stories. Would love to read it to a guest. Hit the Patreon, patreon.com slash My First Kicks. now to kick it to myself to do the outro.
00:56:04
Speaker
Peace. I hope you enjoyed this week's episode with BDOT. Man, BDOT is an absolute legend. I've been following him for a really long time. So to to be able to get a chance to sit in front of him and ask some hip-hop and sneaker questions has been really dope. like i've come ah I've come a long way, right?
00:56:25
Speaker
Never thought that I would sit across ddot and ask him sneaker questions like i met him at a no ideas original like outside we outside i think it was it was um it might have been winter winter wars or one of these outside like things because i know i was wearing a coat and it was cold but speaking of cold i definitely have one right now which very sorry for the sick voice and all that stuff but It was really dope to be able to sit and talk with him. ah He's a wealth of knowledge. And I'm hoping to have him on in the future, of course. Like, a a lot of these people. And I mean, if you are loving the connection, especially, and I mean, this is just for everybody that's been listening to a lot of episodes or who's been checking out previous episodes and going back and and checking out their people's answering that infamous question, what's your first kicks?
00:57:24
Speaker
If you see somebody that you would love to hear more of, please, please just like hit me up or comment in this video who you would like to see for me to bring
Guest Appearance Dynamics
00:57:37
Speaker
back. Like you saw, I brought Rob Hayes back. I got Coda back. Like this is the first the first time. The first appearance is always dope because it's like an elevator pitch where.
00:57:48
Speaker
me and this person has, we're not necessarily like, some people you'll know that I've met a long time ago or like, and I'm like, yo, we could can should have another conversation on on my podcast. Or, you know, I'll have people that I've never met before or people that like, I kind of just save our like, my elevator, get to know each other um conversations for this podcast.
00:58:13
Speaker
This was like, the the perfect example of this. like Me and BDOT, I didn't even know all the stuff that he told me. Honestly, I didn't know he was from Jamaica, Queens. didn't know we grew up near around each other. so it's like It's crazy. Well, near in quotations. like We grew up in Queens. but It's crazy to to to see the close proximity and like learn about these things, especially on the podcast, and then hearing how people you know navigate their lives and
00:58:43
Speaker
the crazy thing about New York is like you can grow up in New York and never meet the same people because people move in and out, but it's, you can live a whole totally different life in like a five block radius. And it's like that like realization of, of kind of expanding beyond your block.
City Influence on Personal Growth
00:59:06
Speaker
And that's a, that's a big thing. Um, if you grew up in a city, the,
00:59:12
Speaker
the unknowns of venturing out, right? Like, we, like, when they previous guests, like KO, where we talk about, like, being outside and the intention of being outside and kind of, like, getting out of your block is something that we, if you're part of a city or even a cul-de-sac or someplace that, like, makes you feel like you shouldn't venture past what you know, it's, like,
00:59:43
Speaker
so hard and daunting to kind of get beyond that or like to kind of explore because life doesn't really lead you that specific way. It'll, it'll push you some other way and it'll, it'll push you in different and types of directions. And, um I'm always just trying to use this platform, especially to kind of get,
01:00:10
Speaker
more from people that have experienced a
College Experiences and Financial Challenges
01:00:13
Speaker
ton of things. like you know It was very dope to hear BDOT go away for college. like You don't really hear a lot of that, especially coming out of New York, because one, college is expensive and living in the city is very expensive. But if you're very fortunate and to to pursue education outside of New York, well, I wasn't because I was able to go I had to go to City Tech in Brooklyn. um And so I didn't get the chance to live a life outside of the city and or outside of New York City. And so hearing other people's perspectives that they're able to do that, just been very
Building Podcast Connections
01:00:54
Speaker
dope, man. I mean, I'm loving the camaraderie and the but the bonds I've been building around this podcast. And I'm hoping to build more and more of it. And
01:01:04
Speaker
I'm hoping you guys have been enjoying it too.
Patreon Promotion and Supporter Shoutouts
01:01:06
Speaker
But of course, if you want to build with me, you can join the Patreon at patreon.com slash myfirstkicks. So we got to do Patreon shout outs. Shout out Plox. Shout out Ross Adam. Shout out Adam Neustadar. Shout out out Derek Hawkins. Derek Lipkin.
01:01:26
Speaker
Shout out Adam Butler. And that's it for now. Like I've been trying to grow... ah the Patreon as much as I can. I got a newsletter that should be coming out soon-ish. I wrote it and I've been writing it and it's going to be pretty long because I wrote it last week and I'm still continuing to write it now um whenever I find time.
01:01:47
Speaker
But I think this it should drop with this episode for sure, 100%. Or before it. But I appreciate y'all.
Final Thoughts and Gratitude
01:01:55
Speaker
um Sorry again for the s sick voice. That's why this one's kind of short.
01:02:00
Speaker
But appreciate y'all for chatting in. And if this is your first time, please, please, please hit that subscribe button. But of course, if you want to check out more episodes of this podcast, you can check out these two episodes here.
01:02:12
Speaker
Hit that subscribe button right there. Hit it. And don't forget what we say every week. Wear your kicks. Peace.