In My Shoes ft. Torae
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[one_half_last]Growing up in Brooklyn in the 80's was the coolest. Hip Hop was bursting on to the scene, the fashion was crazy & Michael Jordan was on his was to becoming a basketball God. Not only was I viewing his super human feats on the court, I was watching his feet on the court, and in February of 1988 Nike released what is in my opinion the greatest Air Jordan sneaker ever. It was the 3rd sneaker released between the two parties & it was a doozy! Now being a March baby I really wanted these sneakers bad for my birthday but kids my age were getting robbed left & right for their kicks back then. It was a long shot but I asked......and got rejected, we really didn't have money like that back then anyway but moms just hit me with the it's too dangerous excuse & shattered my hopes & dreams.
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It would be a number of years before I had another shot at obtaining these beauties. Without dragging you through my various failed attempts at getting the 3's I'll just fast forward to 2010 when I FINALLY got my first pair of retro Jordan 3's (black cement color way to be specific).
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[one_third]As an artist in the public eye it's important for me to always show up fresh from head to feet & the Jordan 3 never let's me down no matter what the outfit. I've walked the red carpet, hosted events, performed all over the world & have interviewed your favorite artists wearing this sneaker.
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[one_half_last] I can recall landing in about a foot of snow in Germany back in 2012 and all I had to rock was my trusty 3's.
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They're fashionable, comfortable & durable. My oldest pair I've had about 2 years but they've been through it all with me. Anytime they retro I try to get a couple pair at least at retail price, but my latest pair I paid a pretty penny for (Thanks to Flight Club). My closet holds over 100 pair of sneakers, but none compare to my beloved Jordan 3's.
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In My Shoes ft. Andres Jimenez
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[one_half_last]Back in 2010 NIKE made a huge push on all of their vintage products and I felt the need to have a pair. I loved the silhouette, the fit, how light they were in my hands. The soles were so narrow yet they still gave me support. They also had a nice vintage patina on them, which made them look even better.
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[one_third]From a very young age, clothes and sneakers have been important to me. What I choose to wear on any given day will always let you know how I feel. The price tags never really mattered to me, it was more so about quality, construction and what the colors or brand represented. In regards to my closet, I always refer back to “Classics” or “Basics” when building my wardrobe.
In the same year I purchased these kicks, we (Tritonic – A Creative Agency) won another ADCNJ Award and I participated in a fashion blog called Hello Mr. Daily specifically as Mr. Friday.
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[one_half_last]Later in 2010 I did some traveling and my first escape was to Montreal. A mini get-away with a few of my Hello Mr. Daily friends, this trip was strictly to party and explore. The following month I went to Chicago for my creative agency Tritonic. At this time I was the creative director and principal of the agency, we were helping our client The James Hotel in Chicago and NYC. In November I flew down to Mexico to participate in my sister’s wedding, it was such a beautiful experience to be down there with friends and family. And finally my last stop was home, Colombia to be exact, visiting my family after working hard all year. It was truly relaxing to be back in the motherland with no worries at all.
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At this point in my career, it was important for me to remain excited and fulfilled in everything I did. So I matched my hard work with hard play, by exploring the world, because I’m aware that staying fresh on what’s new is important to staying creative. I also felt the need to try working on something new, something to balance myself. Having Tritonic was fun and surrounded me with people I enjoyed. But I needed another outlet, and I found that in digging and spinning music. Throughout it all, I kept traveling to places like Boston, Montreal and even London.
[one_half]DJing and Records went from a hobby to a passion, which developed into a Vinyl Culture Collective called Open Crates. We’re now approaching our second vinyl release with Pat Van Dyke being our first and DJ Center coming out in April of this year.
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Since I’ve had these sneakers, I’ve closed up one creative agency, joined another agency as a joint venture, left and started one all over again. In 4 years, I’ve put thousands of miles on these sneakers. I’ve been blessed to have traveled all over North America, South America, the Caribbean, even hit the UK with them. They’ve been with me during hard times but also at my feet for moments I’ll cherish the rest of my life.
In My Shoes ft. Layton Weedeman
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[one_half_last]Lately, I've been more focused on hip-hop than ever before, because it's such a huge part of my musicality and creative output. In just a few months, I taught myself to beat match all of my records and learned how to blend each song into one another, making smooth transitions during my mixes. I booked my first gig at Pianos NYC in the L.E.S. back in February of this year, and needed to make sure my wears were crisp. I bought the Nike Air Trainer 1 sneakers at a shoe store on Broadway after only looking for about a minute, and immediately knew they were the right shoe for me.
Everywhere I went I wore these sneakers. It didn't matter what I was doing or where I was going. These were the only shoes I wanted to wear. Even in wet and cold weather, I wore those sneakers like they were the only pair of shoes I had. I also got a lot of compliments about these sneakers from my peers and people I met.[/one_half_last]
[one_third]About a year and a half ago, in March of 2012, I just returned home to New York from an extensive south-by-south-west (SXSW) tour through the east coast of the United States with my band and music comrades, Courtesy Tier. The minute we got back, we immediately started working on new music.
My band mate and longtime friend had been touring and writing as Dan Abraham for a few years at this point and it inspired me to start seriously exploring my own creativity as an artist. I always admired his voice and songwriting capabilities ever since we met back in 2001. Now hearing him create a sound that was truly his own, experimenting with guitar sounds, creating vocal effects, sampling, using drum machines, ambience, and synthesizers; it all really moved me.
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[one_half_last] I've always been a hip-hop head since I was a kid, back when my older cousin gave me my first cassette tapes of LL Cool J, Run DMC, and The Beastie Boys. When I was eight years old, my Mom let me get double lines buzzed in the side of my head and I would watch MC Hammer on MTV and teach myself how to dance the "The Running Man", which I'd consistently bust out at every wedding and school dance for years to come. And throughout the years, I would constantly be changing my foot attire for different looks and styles, including sneakers and dress shoes depending on my mood or what I was into at the time. I've also had two types of hair cuts throughout my life as well, depending on what type of music I was into, whether it be rock, hip-hop, funk, jazz, R&B, long hair, short hair, beard or clean shaven, I've always lived in the music that captivated me.
It was after returning home from tour and listening to Dan Abraham that I decided to do something I've always wanted to do...DJ. So, I ordered a beginners turntable and mixer from Amazon and started collecting vinyl. My vision as a DJ was to focus on hip-hop production from the 1990's and highlight my favorite joints from my childhood, most particularly the jazzy tones of A Tribe Called Quest, DJ Premier, Pete Rock, J Dilla, and The Roots.[/one_half_last]
Both feet control two metal pedals on a drumset, a kick drum pedal and a hi-hat pedal, and both pedals have a greasy chain attached to them that your shoes will rub against while you play. I play a lot. So much that the front of the sneakers started to get black and greasy. Once I started seeing these dope sneakers get dirty, it made me realize I need to own a second pair! Either way, I didn't care, and just kept wearing them and doing my thing.
[one_half]The night at the Pianos gig, I linked up with Artoholik founder, Iquan Worthington, who had been hanging out at the bar with some friends. After playing about 3 or 4 tracks of stuff he liked, he stopped what he was doing and came up to the DJ booth to talk to me. It was an instant bond based on music and selections.
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From there, Iquan helped design my logo and launch my Laytonic brand, all while wearing the Air Trainer 1's. I booked more events, played more shows, wrote more music, developed my sound as a producer, started a new project called Man Made West, and got recruited to play drums and record with singer/songwriter Jessi Robertson.
[one_half]Fast forward to October 2013 for CMJ Music Marathon in NY, I'm back on stage with Courtesy Tier rocking out and performing in my sneakers, getting even more dirty and grease smudged. But it didn't stop me from doing my thing. Soon after, I traveled to Newark, NJ to Center Stage Cuts on Broad Street to DJ the Artoholiks Munny Social.
It was around this time, when holes started developing in the bottom of the soles and it prevented me from keeping dry socks while walking in rainy days. Now I need a new shoe and I'm contemplating purchasing the same ones or starting 2014 with a fresh look? Until then...[/one_half]
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