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Sports wear experts believe Dizzee Rascal will start a sneaker war amongst avid collectors and fans when his own Nike Air Max trainer is released on Friday.
Dizzee’s ‘Tongue N’ Cheek’ shoe will be sold exclusively at Nike’s trendy East End 1948 store in Shoreditch and staff have already been inundated with calls and sneaker pimps wanting to pre-order.
Similar scenes of mad excitement occur in New York and L.A. when limited edition shoes are released via specialist stores, with sneaker freaks camping out for days before they’re released.
When only 30 Nike Pigeon Dunks went on sale at The Reed Space in NYC, riot squads had to be called in to stop fighting and gangs stealing the shoes when buyers leave the premises.
Holiday star Dizzee has worked closely with Nike Sportswear designers to produce the limited edition Nike Air Max 90 shoe.
Diz’s tunes often make reference to his fave sneakers, even dedicating track Bubbles on Maths & English to his fave style of Nike Air Max.
Featuring lyrics: “I’m a young rapper, bregger from the LDN, with my Nike Air Bubbles and they cost £110.
“Got these beanies on my lap and they all wanna bend, I’m a ghetto superstar coming straight from The Ends.”
Speaking about his ‘Tongue N’ Cheek’ shoe Dizzee, 24, said: “The Air Max 90 is pretty much the street shoe, ‘innit? It’s quite sporty, but when you get the right colours you can wear it with anything.
“But with this one we tried to keep it quite plain so it could complete any outfit. So people can do how they do.
“It’s functional and there was a pretty deep design process involved. We’re pleased with the look.”
Purple Revolver’s resident sneaker pimp Pierce King reckons there could be trouble when Dizzee’s shoes hit the streets.
He said: “Sneaker collecting has become a multi-billion dollar global business and there are millions of collectors just buying up boxes of shoes to store as an investment.
“The shoes often go for triple their price on eBay within hours and Nike know what they are doing with the limited release in London.
“Given that Dizzee is Britain’s first hip hop superstar, there is going to be a huge clamour for his shoes. Fans across the world are going to want a pair at any cost.
“We expect trouble to start outside the store.
“When the Nike Pigeon Dunk was released in Manhattan, there were kids sleeping outside in tents about four days before they went on sale.
“There were 150 collectors waiting with for only 30 pairs.
“The cops made about 10-20 arrests. Gangs were waiting to steal them on the corner. After the crowd was cleared, they found machetes and baseball bats.”
Released just days before Dizzee’s new album – ‘Tongue N’ Cheek’ – on September, 21 – the Bonkers rapper has also made a promo video with long term collaborator Ben Drury. Watch it here…