I just did the pixel thing because I thought it would be fun. Click any image to enlarge.

After 2 years of collecting dust, I decided to finally start to liquidate a few years of insane, totally unjustified and unwarranted clothing purchases. And I am starting with this super duper totally rare purple leather jacket from A Bathing Ape. I have not worn this jacket in over 2 years, and before then, I probably wore it less than 10 times ever. Not that 90% of my readers will give a damn, but I was told by a very reliable source that this is one of only 20 of these jackets made and distributed worldwide.

I am not listing a price, but will entertain offers. BTW, it is an XL.   Shoot me an offer if…

- Your record label just sent your advance
- You just cashed out your 401K before it disappeared
- You sold your small collection of Pigeon dunks
- You just sold your rims
- You just sold your Vespa
- You just sold 5 ‘rare’ Bape hoodies

To see more pics, click here.

NOTE: This post orginally got pinched (and subsequently pulled down) by WordPress citing potential copyright violations. So despite the fact I just had the original version of Love Lockdown available to be played here, not downloaded like thousands of other blogs out there, I got the yank. So although you can no longer LISTEN to it on my blog, please feel free to go download the new version in its entirety here.

Back to the post….

Of all of the performances at the VMAs this year, this was the only one I actually watched. It was understated, yet cool as hell. Most of the non-casted crowd was scratching their heads a bit, but I personally love the song and applaud Kanye for continuing to break the mold. If the dude wants to sing, let him sing. I know how bad it sucks to be pigeon-holed, and something tells me that Kanye would hate it even more.

For the record… I am not just the ‘digital guy’. Come on man!

Since I was rolling with Q, MTV ushered us up to the front to see the show. Of course, the mildly annoying cameras were on hand:

From a Road Test back in Dec 07:

Also see: BeKanyeNOW.com

Update:  Just saw ads for this on the train on the way in this morning.

Oh yeah… and any post about the Nike Air Yeezy** turns is blog traffic gold. Now if Lil Wayne would come out with some Nikes, I am sure my server would overload and shut down. That dude is the king of social media.

The original Air Yeezy in black from the Grammy performance

Then we saw the Air Yeezy in black with red and glowing at the G.I.T.D. Tour.

Glowing:

Then this nasty pic of an Air Yeezy colorway with some light blue accents, although this photo is so bad, it could just be an optical illusion – like that favorite tie of yours.

Update… the photo above is likely this pair, worn by Tinker Hatfield at Nike:

Then the pearl Yeezy hit the scene. Highly accessorized.

And now Khaki / Tan version of the Air Yeezy. Ignore the clown in the background (Jeremy Scott?).

All red

And check this one… Dubbed the Olympic Colorway by some unknown blogger:

Finally, the officialy release:

**Bold words make the search engines think the word is really relevant and important. Shameless.

Since any post about “Kanye and Nike” is blog traffic gold, I thought I would post a pic of a new colorway that debuted tonight at the first stop on his Glow in The Dark tour. Nike/Kanye haven’t even shared any real background on these shoes, yet they are already unveiling new colorways. What do you think? As a marketer, I love the approach, but I am still tired of Nike.  BTW…. don’t the Air Yeezy laces above look like they are made of rubber?

Photo courtesy of Kanye West.

Remember the old school version?

I was fully expecting to not like this song, but I absolutely love it. At some point, I will officially get off Kanye’s jock, but I believe this song could actually save hip-hop record sales. Here is my rationale, and I am only half-way joking here. Of all of my friends, the people with the largest – entirely paid for – music collections are my gay friends that are over 40. These are people clearly not buying hip-hop right now, so they are a completely untapped audience. The only music that even remotely resembles hip-hop in their collection is Blondie! But this song has such an M People meets hip-hop feel, that it may just be the most culturally significant song in years! This is entry level hip-hop for gay listeners. It starts here, then they buy Graduation, record companies identify the trend, and start cranking out loads of this gay friendly hip-hop. Problem solved!

Close up:

Although the details are still a little unclear at press time, Kanye’s Grammy appearance in a pair of slick black Nikes did exactly what was intended: stir up some serious internet buzz. Even Hypebeast was asking readers for help. After reading a number of blog posts with totally unconfirmed insights, the ladies over at Nike Talk apparently believe they are a pair of Nikes that Kanye collaborated on. According to the gay pillow talk going down at Nike Talk, the Nikes are loosely (or not so loosely) based on these Ato Matsumoto boots that Kanye has been spotted wearing before:

Of course, I would require these:

Inspired by these? I doubt it. But then again, Nike Talkers spend massive amounts of time debating this shit, so maybe they are on to something. I think they are high-tops with crazy straps. What’s the real connection other than the fact that Kanye has worn both? Oh well, if you have small feet and want a pair of the Ato sneakers – try ebay. They are there.