Nigerian-American rapper Wale has finally partnered with streetwear company Nike after years of promoting the brand for free.
Over the years, the rapper has been influential in the sneaker community, advertising and promoting Nike goods for free in his music videos. During the blog era, he made his name a household name with the help of his monster hit song ‘Nike Boots’.
Wale finally gets the much-awaited collaboration with Nike after being known for rocking the brand’s sneakers for a very long time. This comes after he quizzed on several occasions when the brand will be partnering with him.
In 2018, during an Instagram Live, the brought up the issue regarding the day Nike will contact him for a business relationship. While holding up an Air Mag sneaker from Back to the Future, Wale asked when the sneaker giant was going to hit him up. “When is Nike going to play fair, man? Just call me. Hello?” he said while using the sneaker as a phone. “They ain’t on the phone, they givin’ everybody else deals and s–t.”
Collaborating with the brand in a new campaign, the musician is the face of Nike’s DMV Cherry Blossom Foamposite One, not only is he in the new commercial, but he is also premiering a new single ‘Ghetto Speak’ in it. Produced by Emil and Tommy Black, “Ghetto Speak” is a sombre love letter to the greater Washington, D.C., area. “From a land that far too well comprehends universal madness,” Wale raps. “Not too far from the symbolic architecture that masks it/ But all is fair, I guess/ ‘Cause broken glass, cherry blossoms, them bullet fragments don’t look as fantastic on the pamphlet.”
The song then comes to an abrupt end and the ad features underground king Big Lordy (formerly known as Ankhlejohn) sitting down on a stoop, saying, “Background checks, you know where it started,” as a nod to the conversation around the DMV’s overall influence on hip-hop sneaker culture, especially when it comes to Foams, New Balance and the Nike Air Max Goadome aka Nike Boots.
