KANYE DROPS NIKE AND SIGNS WITH ADIDAS BECAUSE OF "RED OCTOBERS" KICKS CONFLICT

KANYE WEST

When the news went out last week that Kanye maybe had signed with adidas, the sneaker world went into an uproar. I think most people were pissed because that means they’d never have a chance to pick up a pair of Red Octobers more than anything else.

Now, we have confirmation from the man himself that he had indeed signed a deal with the Stripes. As Kanye explains, the fallout with Nike wasn’t as much about creativity as it was royalties. As in, he wasn’t getting any dough off all the Yeezys sold in the past few years. If that’s the case, the move makes sense. Brands want our cool but think that just by working with them, we’re happy.

We’re not.

We know we’re giving you cool but nobody gives a shit about free shoes or pats on the back. Give us your resources. Allow us the room to share your platform so we can reach a wider audience. Share your information and help us learn so we can move our careers forward. But, most importantly, give us a cut of the action, even if it’s just a small pittance, for helping sell all that footwear and apparel.

Don’t give us shoes. We can buy our own damn shoes. And, no, that’s not me taking a shot at Nike. I fuck with Nike the long way. My words are directed at all brands – from footwear to headwear. And the words are also my message to all creatives, artists, athletes and everyone else. Stop settling for anything less than your true worth.

Honestly, Kanye to adidas makes a lot of sense to me and, if the final product(s) end up coming out under Y-3, that’s even better for everything Retro mentioned last week. In terms of taking chances, Y-3′s always been completely fashion-forward, which matches where West sounds like he’s at right now. adidas as a company has seen a resurgence in recent years based off taking calculated risks continuously in recent years – see Beckham’s goods, Jeremy Scott’s success and Y-3′s whole history – and that should continue with Kanye.

Anyways, ‘Ye’s video interview with Angie Martinez is below plus a block quote, courtesy of Info, in case you’d prefer to read Ye’s words. He explains where it all went sour with Nike plus the upside of rocking with adidas.

Statement from Kanye West:

“So then I start turning up in the BBC interview, so [Nike] said, ok cool, we’re gonna give you a bigger sandbox to play in. We’re gonna give you this amount right here to design, and two collections a year, and 30 skus — that’s the amount of items that you have. Would that make you happy, Kanye? And I said, well I need royalties. It’s not even like I have a joint venture. At least give me some royalties. Michael Jordan has 5%, that business is $2 billion. He makes a $100 million dollars a year off of 5% royalties. Nike told me we can’t give you royalties because you’re not a professional athlete. I told them, I go to the Garden and play one-on-NO-ONE. I’m a performance athlete. Did I really ANYTHING? YES! Did I really EVERYTHING. 100,000 percent. I’m 100,000 percent at all times. It’s people that work in offices trying to tell me how to think, when I got a better perspective. I live in Paris.“So the old me, without a daughter, would have taken the Nike deal because I just love Nikes so much. But the new me, with a daughter, takes the adidas deal because I have royalties and I have to provide for my family.”