From Sport Star Shoes to Hip Hop Shoes
Posted on February 7, 2004
Here's some bad news for basketball stars. Sneaker brands are using rappers, like 50 Cent and Jay-Z to sell shoes. Big basketball stars like Michael Jordan, LeBron James and Shaquille O'Neal are still getting shoe deals, but hip-hop stars are making a move on their playground.
Reebox said its Jay-Z S. Carter was its fastest selling shoe in history, so apparently the hip-hop labels can sell shoes as well as the star athletes. S. Carter is Jay-Z's real name, Shaun Carter. Athletes are going to have to compete with hip-hop artists in the sneaker business from now on. Footwear News includes the S. Carter in its list of the 7 best Reebok sneakers in history.
Here's a video showing the Reebok S Carter from Jay Z.
CNN Money has a detailed report on this new sneaker trend. Larry Weindruch, spokesman for the National Sporting Goods Association (NSGA) told them, "Young kids and teenagers are exposed to music celebrities a lot more than they are to athletes, and companies are capitalizing on that fact."
CNN/Money says the sporting goods market is a $75 billion market, so there's no reason the hip-hop trend won't spread from shoes to sportswear and beyond.
The world's top athletes have nothing to fear from the trend but the smaller sports stars could see rappers taking lucrative endorsements away.