THOSE SNEAKERS ARE TRASH BRO!!!

By Stephen Pierce

The title may be very vague but it summarizes a little of how the sneaker game has changed so much in the past couple of years. As of recent the dad shoe craze has taken over the entire sneaker community between YEEZYS, PUMA, Balenciaga, Nike, and so on. They have become almost a staple in every sneaker head or fashion forward person in the sneaker and fashion community. The dad shoe craze is not the problem, I personally own a couple myself and they are very comfortable and they go with pretty much everything.

The problem is the dirty sneakers that these fashion houses such as Gucci, Golden Goose, Maison Margiela, and many more are passing as tasteful  and “cool”. I’m not going to lie they look like they were taken off of a rodeo clowns foot or were taken from a thrift store set on fire and then tossed in the washer. They look absolutely horrible but that is not the worst part, the retail price for most start at $530. If they don’t get the hell out here with that crap, me personally I got bills and a car note to pay what the hell I look like paying half a stack for sneakers  that look like they just got out of a fight with Mike Tyson.

The sneaker game has changed so much, it used to be important to keep your sneakers clean and dedicate a day to clean your sneakers for the week coming up. But now the purpose is to look like you just don’t give a damn. When was it ever cool to have dirty Air Force 1s…WHEN??? This really grinds my gears and breaks my heart thinking that there is some Millennial out there buying a pair of cocaine white Air Force 1s just to turn them things heroin brown because of fashion. My God what’s next dirty white tees, non white teeth, this not giving damn mentality needs to calm down a little.

I did make a lot of jokes and it might seem I’m hating on the current state of sneakers but in actuality besides them dirty behind sneakers I love the current state of the sneaker game it has truly been innovative and is taking huge steps in the right direction. Starting with the self lacing sneakers that are actually functional a basketball court to the new cushioning that makes it seem as though you are truly walking on clouds. The sneaker game is truly growing and I am excited on what is  next to come

Is Jordan Brand Dead?

By Stephen Pierce

Michael Jordan is the first player to dominate not just the basketball court but everything off the court as well, specifically with the Jordan Brand line with Nike. In 2017 alone Jordan Brand generated $3.1 billion in revenue in the 2017 fiscal year. MJ took home well over $100 Million of that. Jordan Brand will always be profitable but for how long?

Via Complex

Jordan brand has been a staple in all of our lives since the 1990s with so many iconic color ways such as the Black Cement 3s or the Concord 11s they have became an essential part of the culture. Jordan brand was the perfect blend of performance and style. Not only was the technology innovative when they first released but they became quintessential for style.

Via Pintrest

Years passed and they still had the same affect. Around 2012-2014 Jordan Brand continued to drop absolute heat with the Jordan 4 “Toro Bravo” the Entire Doernbecher collection and the “Fear” pack just to name a few and during that time period it seemed as though they could do no wrong

But in 2015 things completely changed. Not only did we see an absurd price increase to $190 from Jordan brand but we saw the beginning of the new wave, the dad shoe. February 23 was the first release of the Yeezy line that would change the landscape of sneakers for years to come.

In 2015 we saw some iconic sneakers drop that came from Jordan brand such as the Jordan 1 “Shattered Backboard” as well as the global release of the Jordan 10 “OVO”. Those two sneakers are definitely fire and some of the best they released in the past decade but everything else that year from Jordan were lackluster and a lot of them sat or even hit Nike outlet stores.

Fast forward to 2019 and things have not got much better. Since 2017 what they have been doing is rereleasing popular retros with the Nike Air logo on the back such as the Jordan 6 “Infrared” and the upcoming Jordan 4 “Breds”. Those sneakers have and will do very well in sales but that makes up for very little of their overall sales.

The Travis Scott collaboration and the “OFF-White” Jordan 1s are keeping Jordan popular with the younger generation and the “hype beasts” but outside of those they have been missing with almost every release. Almost all the general releases have sat and have not caused nearly any of the hype they once did.

Via Sole Premise

Jordan making a comeback to the days of old are very hard to see right now. The reason for that is the new generations do not know impactful Michael Jordan was. Most only know him as the person who they say is better than LeBron James and that is far from the man he is.

What Jordan brand needs to do is first and far most lower the prices. The prices are way to high for the quality of sneaker we are receiving. They want to say it is for nostalgia purposes but the majority of the drops are either new color ways with a dumb story behind it or old retros that should have never came back such as the Jordan 18s.

Will a comeback be impossible, I would say no. But they need to return to the time when Jordans were exclusive and had buzz not this crap that they are doing now. Jordan brand needs to rebrand and get back on track on what made them so great and so iconic.

Entering the Golden Age of the NBA

By Stephen Pierce

          

Image via Yahoo Sports

The definition of golden age is the time of peace, prosperity, and happiness. We have seen the golden age in Greece which gave us great monuments, art, philosophy, architecture, as well as literature which were building blocks to our own modern civilization. We saw the golden age also hit sports such as baseball which included players such as Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Ty Cobb, and many more that changed the game.

I believe the Golden Age of the NBA is beginning to happen before our very eyes. Wilt Chamberlin and Bill Russell changed the game, but they did not make it a global sport. Michael Jordan made the sport more global with his amazing highlight plays and never before seen signature sneaker line which still impacts the culture today. But besides Mike there were not a lot of players impacting the game in a major not saying there were not good, but they did not change the game. But today there are so many players that affect the game in so many ways, it makes more inviting and entertaining.

The time line for the golden age begins with the 2003 NBA draft which brought in not only one of the greatest players in NBA history (G.O.A.T) but the best ambassador for the game in LeBron James as well as others such as Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, and Carmelo Anthony. These 4 young guys took the NBA by storm and took it to new heights.

Image via Clutch Points

During this time period we also saw Kobe Bryant turn into a complete savage. After his 2003-2004 season he averaged no less than 25 points per game for the next nine straight years.

After the 2003 NBA draft it began to get kind of slow and there wasn’t a great amount of NBA talent entering the game. We have some offensive juggernauts such as Brandon Roy, LaMarcus Aldridge, and Kyle Lowry but besides those guys there were not a lot of players that stuck around and truly affected the game.

Image via Rolling Stone

But in 2007 we saw one of the greatest scorers in NBA history in Kevin Durant aka the Durantula, aka the Slim Reaper, aka KD. Before Kevin Durant we never saw a player of his height and length that could be lethal not only in the paint but the mid-range and the three-point line. Kevin Durant by himself influenced guys of his stature to be more than just paint players but a threat across the floor as well as incorporating a nasty handle to their game.

In 2008 we were introduced to the two most athletic point guards in NBA history, both players set the new standard in what teams look for in their point gaurds and their names are Derrick Rose and Russell Westbrook. This draft also included NBA Champion and 5x All Star Kevin Love.

2009 NBA draft probably has the most impactful players that completely changed the game and how it will be played. They had Blake Griffin who is the highlight flying dominant power forward who is a 6x All Star, 4x All-NBA, and Rookie of the Year. He is known as the person who brought the dunk contest back to relevancy and the person with some of the nastiest poster dunks in NBA history. But he was not the first or second-best player in this draft. Drafted at the third spot in this draft was ‘The Beard’ James Harden, 7x All Star, 2017-18 Scoring Champ, 2017-18 Most Valuable Player, 5x All-NBA, and the player with the nastiest step back jumper in NBA history. He is changing how fouls will be called in the future and he is basically a human cheat code. Last but not least it’s the Baby-Faced Assassin Steph Curry. He is a two-time MVP and 3x NBA Champ, he alone made three point shooting the most relevant shot in the NBA. He is not the most athletic but that is what makes him so marketable because he is more relatable to the average man even though most people will never be the greatest shooter who ever graced a basketball court.

Years after that we saw players like John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, Paul George, Kyrie Irving, Kawhi Leonard, Anthony Davis, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and many more. These players are all great and have taken the NBA by storm and are continually putting out a great product and making the NBA the greatest sport in the world.

The young guns such as Joel Embiid who is arguably the greatest center since Shaq as well as Karl-Anthony Towns, Kristaps Porzingis, Ben Simmons, Jayson Tatum, and Donovan Mitchell are going to be the new greats that completely change the NBA as well.

Image via Joel Embiid's Twitter

Since 2003 there has been so much talent and skilled players we have become almost spoiled with how great the NBA product is. These guys have raised the overall value of the NBA and they are getting paid a lot higher than their predecessors. In 2003 the average value of NBA teams was worth 248 million but in 2019 they are now worth 1.9 billion dollars. This also just the beginning because there is only going to be more talent that enters the NBA that will change and spread the popularity of the NBA.

Image via USA Today

The one player who has the capability of taking the NBA even higher is Zion Willamson. Nobody knows what he will be capable of in the NBA, but his athletic ability and physical gifts alone will cause there to be more viewers in the NBA next season. The viewership will not just help the teams make more money but the players as well.

The NBA’s golden age is truly entertaining, and it continues to impress every season. It might not be as impactful as the golden age of Greece, but we will look back at this time 30-40 years down the line and say this was the greatest era of basketball we have ever seen.

Rest In Paradise Nipsey Hussle

By Stephen Pierce

First I would like to pray for Ermias Asghedom aka Nipsey Hussel’s family and friends who have lost a great father, son, brother, boyfriend, friend, entrepreneur, and mentor.

Nipsey grew up in Crenshaw, a section of Los Angles which is riddled with gang activity. He personally was apart of the infamous Rolling 60 Crips. But he was not your typical gang member he did not want to die without having a positive impact on his community.

He not only talked about black entrepreneurship in his music but he lived it by opening a clothing shop called The Marathon Clothing which sold Crenshaw hoodies along with his music. This store is located on the corner of the L-shaped plaza which had huge impact on his life. This place goes back before he owned stores in the plaza, this is where he received his name this where he became “Nipsey Hussel”. In an interview Nip he stated “Before we was renting here, I was hustling in the parking lot…It’s just always been a hub for local entrepreneurs”

In this day in age Nip’s music was a breath of fresh air compared to what is popular now a days. What I mean by that is his music had substance, a message, and provided an uplifting energy that we could apply to our own lives. When I think of Nipsey Hussel I think of modern artists such as Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole, Meek Mill,21 Savage, and so on where they talk about bettering the black community and focusing on different programs to help uplift our people for a better tomorrow. Sadly today what is glorified is drug abuse in terms of using prescription drugs as well as using lean which is a mixture promethazine with codeine , and murder. Today, hip-hop has lost it's way but Nip was one of the select few to try and direct the music industry and our community in the right direction. 

Nip always wanted the message in his music to impact gang culture. In an interview with 105.1 The Breakfast Club he stated “I didn’t want to preach to the choir but I wanted to be able to say you know I’m one of you and where I’m a going, where ever I end up you going know you can end up there too whether at the top of game(hip-hop) or a successful situation as a business owner”

Nip also was an independent artist who preached owning your own masters. What that means is owning the rights to your music and not the label, not an agency, but the artist. Owning ones masters, the owner has the capability to use the recorded track for a TV show, a film, a commercial, or another visual creation or project that requires sound or music. A master's license is gained from the person who owns the recordings of the record, and they are the people that financed or payed for the recording. For somebody like Nip that is a huge accomplishment. We have seen independent artist all the time such as such as Chance The Rapper and the late Mac Miller. But Nip is in a different type of category, unlike Chance and Mac he comes from the street culture where he was completely counted out from society and he was able to get it on his own. People that we saw do this that came from the same situation was Jay-z, Biggs, Dame Dash, Birdman and Slim as well as Master P. What they all did was get it from the dirt and when they did sign it was not a though they were under the label but as a partnership.

For most West Coast artists they needed the Dr. Dre stamp of approval to make in the industry. Nip was not one of those guys he was able to make it on his own without a co-sign. He was able to put himself on because of the authenticity of his music. 

Before Nipsey was horrendously murdered he was going to meet with LAPD Chief Moore and L.A. Police Commissioner Steve Soboroff to discuss gang violence and ways to prevent it in L.A. especially in his Crenshaw District neighborhood. Nipsey Hussel lived his life with a purpose of changing his community for the better. No one is perfect and everybody makes mistake and he was a flawed man but he made it a point that his mistakes is not what he would be remembered for but for his music and his message of black empowerment and black entrepreneurship. From owning The Marathon to different businesses and real estate ventures he will surely be missed but his blueprint will never be forgotten. We lost a real one but if you were honorable to real actually never die their legacy will continue to strive. "The highest human act is to inspire"- Ermias Asghedom

Thank You Nipsey Hussle.