Death over designer. Violence over shoes persists among “sneakerheads” and “hypebeasts”.
The terms “dead stock” and “hypebeast” may not mean much to the average person, but to a “sneakerhead,” these words are a part of everyday vocabulary. Sneakerhead is an American colloquialism for a person who collects rare, limited or exclusive shoes, which they refer to as “kicks.” Usually, the collection include many shoes from the Jordan brand. Sneakerheads have a vast amount of knowledge about not only the shoes in their closets, but also all shoes being bought and sold.
Waiting in line for hours and camping out for a pair of what seems to the outside world like meaningless kicks is a way of life for sneakerheads. “Copping” (buying) the latest pair of shoes affords them prestige in the sneaker game, or as they might say, “packing heat” and upping their status as a sneakerhead.
While the phenomenon recently has grown, the concept of being a sneakerhead is not new. In 2008, rapper Nelly released the song “Stepped on My J’z,” which features these lyrics: “We used to ditch school and head straight up to the mall, just so we can be the first ones with ‘em on.” Among consumers of all ages, this sentiment is widespread. Being the first to get their hands on the latest pair of Jordans has become a priority for sneakerheads.
Ironically, after standing in line for hours and perhaps even braving violence just to have a new pair of shoes, many sneakerheads refuse to even wear them. Many hardcore shoe lovers religiously clean their shoes and guard them against scuffing, simply to place them back in the box. This begs the question: Is being able to display a massive shoe collection that never leaves your closet worth all this madness?
Hypebeasts are yet another source of controversy surrounding the sneakerhead community. The term is used derogatorily to describe people who are “often sneakerheads with a generic sense of style that entails wearing New Era fitted hats and god-awful all over print hoodies and jeans so tight that they cut off the wearer’s circulation to the brain,” according to a definition on the popular urbandictionary.com. This definition of a hypebeast highlights the tension that exists even between real sneakerheads and the “wannabes.”
The release of the Concord 11s in December 2011 brought additional problems to the sneaker community. Most stores only sold one shoe of each size, making pairs of the shoe extremely difficult to obtain. Reports of stabbing, killing and overall violence laced the media and shocked the sneaker population following the exclusive release of these shoes.
Rapper J.Cole addresses this phenomenon in his recent song “Nobody’s Perfect,” in which he warns fans about what he has dubbed “death over designer.” The lyrics “They killin’ [people] for J’s, that’s death over designer,” directly reference the violence surrounding the Jordan brand.
Recent reports of violence accompanying the exclusive releases of sneakers are causing a buzz on YouTube as well. YouTube sneakerhead personality “Jumpmanbostic” released a video telling his fans his plan to boycott the releases of the Bred 4s and Bred 11s, limited edition shoes coming out at the end of this year. His reason is simple: the reselling of Jordans at insanely high prices on EBay and Craigslist is making it difficult for sneakerheads to truly enjoy buying new kicks.
In his video, “Jumpmanbostic” also addresses the violence problem erupting around the hype of releases. He explains, “I don’t like the hype, the problems with obtaining shoes, the lottery system that is being used, the killing, the stabbing, the fighting, the problems with obtaining sneakers nowadays.” His video “A_KictionTalk 16 I’m Passing on the Bred 4 & 11 What About You?” currently has over 6,000 views on YouTube.
Whether boycotting is the solution is disputable, we don’t think a few people boycotting two shoe releases will prevent others from committing violent acts to obtain Jordans. Although “Jumpmanbostic” and his followers are commendable for their attempts to decrease the madness, that alone will not diminish the hostility that exists in the sneakerhead community.
While we can identify with shoe lovers, the sneakerhead phenomenon presents the million-dollar question: Is all this hatred and violence over shoes justified?
