The 50th Annual Grammy Awards in 2008 was in many ways the Kanye West show. Ye was nominated for 8 golden gramophones including a nod for two different records for Best rap Song, in which he won for Good Life, featuring T Pain from his 2007 album, Graduation, along with three others for Rap Album, Rap Duo and Solo Performance. West also delivered live performances of his nominated Daft Punk collab, Stronger, and the now infamous heart-felt rendition of Hey Mama.
What we didn’t realize that historic night is that the Air Yeezy’s he premiered during this performances would 13 years later be valued at one $1 million by New York auction house Sotheby’s.
That’s right, the prototypes are seen as the stepping stone to what the Yeezy shoe brand has become over a decade. Any authentic Air Yeezy will fetch a pretty penny on any market but this specific pair has become a holy grail in the modern shoe game. The Chicago impresario had the game buzzing around the rumored shoe line almost a year prior to the historic performance.
Nowadays, Ye is firmly entrenched in the fashion world he so earnestly sought but in 2008, that world flipped it’s wig upon his entrance and today, the defunct Nike line of Yeezys are no more than a once in a lifetime dream for most sneakerheads.
These are literally some of the hardest Nikes to cop. This is an extreme end of the spectrum of sneaker reselling and a clear indication that Kanye West knew what he was doing during his Dior dreams. This worn-out ass pair of laser-etched, faded creased leather, swoosh laden, rapper endorsed beaters just went for over a mili and we can’t hate.
Just like in music, Kanye had a vision. That vision was planted, cultivated, nurtured and grown into a bonafide arboretum of entrepreneurship. Kanye West’s business acumen can be separated from his music and most definitely from his “off-court antics”. Congratulations to the Louis Vuitton Don and his continued success in fashion entrepreneurship.