Kanye West’s recent string of rants about various companies has seemed to set its sights firmly on Nike.
Last week, Kanye revealed what he didn’t receive royalties for Air Yeezy, a sneaker collaboration between West and Nike. Days later, Kanye called the company out during a concert, claiming that Nike CEO Mark Parker tried to “son” him.
In a recent interview with Hot 97’s Angie Martinez, West spoke about his conversations with Nike. “Y’all saw what I did in those brief moments, and the fashion world saw it too,” said Kanye. “And they afraid of it. You know the impact those Louis Vuitton bags had, you know the impact the Yeezys had. Now, this is one thing when the conversation changes, when you have a child. Because it was cool when they marginalized me, and I asked them when the Yeezy Red Octobers coming out… They said, ‘We’re not sure yet.’ They let me design two shoes over five years, and I’m happy I could design them, but they ain’t do me no favors, ’cause Eminem designed a shoe. And Pharrell designed a shoe. I just designed the Yeezys.”
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West continued, “I said, ‘I need some type of royalty.’ Nike said, ‘We can’t give you a royalty because you’re not a professional athlete.’ I told ’em, I go to The Garden and play one-on-no one. I’m a performance athlete.”
Kanye seemed to confirm that not only had his relationship with Nike terminated, but that he was now collaborating with its biggest competitor. “It’s too much leveraging and compromise you have to do when your whole life is based on, did people like this album or not? Did people like what you wear? Did people like this comment? It’s too much leveraging, and you can’t really do you or be you. So the old me, without a daughter, might’ve taken the Nike deal because I just love Nike so much, blah blah blah, but the new me, with a daughter, takes the Adidas deal, because I have royalties, and I have to provide for my family.”
Yeezy backtracked on the Adidas statement, but still announced lofty goals for himself. “Whatever is official, not official… what y’all gonna see is: I’m going to be the Tupac of product,” he said. “It ain’t no Tupac of Rap except for Tupac. But right now, what Tupac is… is he the best rapper? My designs are based on what I grew up on in Hip Hop. …I’ma be the first Hip Hop designer. And because of that, I’ma be bigger than Wal-Mart.”
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Watch the interview below:
Recently, Kanye also criticized Zappos, stating that the company “is based off of selling shit product.”
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