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What if Nike Air Max trainers were Hip Hop songs?

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With the growing interest in re-released and retro’d trainers over the past few years, I got thinking about the intertwined history between Hip Hop and sports footwear. With Nas spitting lines such as ‘And I’m a Nike head, I wear chains that excite the feds’, and Phife Dawg rasping ‘I sport New Balance sneakers to avoid a narrow path’, it’s hard to deny that laying down bars and wearing cushioned running shoes go hand in hand. Remember Dizzee Rascal’s all black Air Max 90’s on the front cover of Boy in da Corner? What about Run DMC and their song all about Adidas? And finally, after Kanye West announced his Adidas Yeezy 3 this week it just added to the love affair between music and trainers.

One particular trainer – or sneaker for those of you across the pond – rising on the fashion front these days is the Nike Air Max, and be it the Air max 1, 90, 93 or 95, it’s safe to say that the famous air bubble technology has had a huge part to play in  Hip Hop and music culture in general. To celebrate it’s recent revival, I thought it’d be fun to match up each incarnation of the Air Max to a Hip Hop song, matching it up personality-wise (not based off of who wore what in real life). 

So feel free to disagree, and let me know what you think, but here is the 2015 Dharma Junk Air Max Hip Hop match-up. Turn the bass up a little, check the mic, and tap your well- cushioned toes to the beat while I attempt to draw comparisons between springy soles and soulful sounds.

Nike Air Max One (1989) – Nas – Halftime (1994 – Illmatic)

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The original Air Max, the Air max One, is about as stripped-down and bare-balled as they come. The shoe’s bold, clear Nike tick sits on the side in the signature style, while the thick tongue and chunky sole stomp out a boom-bap vibe only suitable for arguably the most boomin’ and ‘bappiest’ Hip Hop album out there, Nas’ Illmatic.

This kick can be worn to stomp to this whole album, but the choice of Halftime was obvious due to the Queensbridge emcee’s timeless line that immortalised Nike in a rap song:

And I’m a Nike head, I wear chains that excite the feds’

Other classic boom-bap tracks to pound pavements to in Air Max Ones: Electric Relaxation by A Tribe Called Quest, They Reminisce Over You by Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth, Mystic Bounce by Madlib and Moment of Truth by Gang Starr.

Nike Air Max ’90 (1990) – No. 99 – Joey Bada$$ (2014)

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1990 was the year that the Air Max went bad, a sleeker design, a higher sole and a beefy stamp on the side that shouted Air Max 90. This trainer had an attitude problem and it transformed the Air Max from a cushioned classic to a raw, high-tech tread.

I stuck this with Joey Bada$$’s Badman, because the shoe is a 90’s gem that was so ahead of it’s time, it fits modern underground Hip Hop tunes and their ‘boom-bap re-hashed’ attitude. Plenty of emcee’s go for this kick today, and it’s possibly one of the more popular retros on the street. If you need convincing that it was ahead of it’s time, just look at the next incarnation three years later, it actually looks older.

Other tracks to sport ’90’s to: Gang Related by Logic, i by Kendrick Lamar, Still Livin’ by Freddie Gibbs, Chum by Earl Sweatshirt and HYFR by Drake.

Nike Air Max ’93 (1993) – Butter – A Tribe Called Quest (1991)

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Mistakenly thought of as the ‘odd ball’ of the Air Max series, the Air Max ’93 is possibly one of the least common Maxes out there. There’s definitely nothing odd about this shoe, with a 270 degree bubble in the rear, and an ankle-hugging upper that would later gain popularity in the Flyknit, you could say that the ’93 is one of the most underground, understated and under-hyped Air max sneaks out there.

I chose A Tribe Called Quest’s Butter, because Phife’s ode to fame and money buying respect from girls is on-point for this shoe. Phife barks lyrical about how ‘the huns’ used to diss him and turn away in high school, but as soon as he hit the big time they all wanted him. Add this to a whole bunch of disses against hangers-on and unwanted attention from undesirable females, and you’ve got the understated track to go with the thinking man’s shoe, the Air Max ’93.

Nike Air Max ’95 (1995) – Eminem – The Real Slim Shady (2000)

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The mid-ninties saw the Air Max undergo a complete transformation, the new Italian-designed Air Max ’95 was modelled off the human anatomy, and has a slightly fluid, futuristic look to it, a reflection of a world looking to the next millennium.

Since the 95’s release, Hip Hop evolved further and blew up into the mainstream, allowing new genres and sub-genres of rap to evolve. Out of this mainstream explosion of Hip Hop came white rapper Eminem, and the rise of the UK Hip Hop scene with acts like Dizzee Rascal and the garage scene, and the explosion of Hip Hop celebrities in Hollywood films such as Method Man and Redman. This trainer switched up street style, and signified a real upheaval of what we thought Hip Hop was, tie this in with it’s sinister profile and you’ve got an innovative sneaker that steps into new genres without fear.

 Other tracks to rock ’95’s to: Jus’ a rascal by Dizzee Rascal, Da rockwilder by Method Man and Redman, and Wot Do you Call It? by Wiley.

Special Mention – Nike Air Max ’15 (2015)

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This year’s Air Max is an open book, sneaking onto streets near you, this trainer hasn’t yet etched it’s mark into music history, and who know’s which album inserts this will sit in, which emcee will break onto the stage this summer in a pair, and whether or not it will sit up high with the rest in footwear history.



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