What the Nike Air Yeezy 2 means to us

#AIRYEEZY2ZA has been that hash tag that’s been making great waves on SA twitter streets, The much anticipated Air Yeezy 2 finally drops internationally today 09/06/12, Kanye West’s gift to the world a day after his birthday.

The much anticipated Air Yeezy 2 is only exclusively dropping at Cape Town for the South African market at one of the most credible and cultured sneaker hubs, ShelfLife.  The Nike Air Yeezy 2 is going for a recommended price of R3, 000, 00 a pair. We would assume that the Yeezy 2s are only dropping in Cape Town this time due to the Cape arguably being the capital of SA sneaker-culture and there not being any existing cultured Nike sneaker outlet in Joho since Nike Gallery on 4^th.

The @NSWZA team  (Nike Sports Wear South Africa) have done a commendable initiative by giving the larger public an opportunity to get their hands on this exclusive kick through its online RSVP queuing system that went live yesterday 08/06/12. This scored a selected few a queuing ticket to purchase only one pair of Yeezy 2s between sizes US6 – 14 on a first come and first serve basis.

The great number of tweets, Facebook status and BBM DPs dedicated on to the Yeezy 2 drops got a lot of people dropping me BBM messages (pin 29593227) and tweets asking “What is so special about this shoe?”. I felt obliged to let all understand the essence of the hype around the drop of this exclusive sneaker:

First and foremost, it should be understood that what each sneaker-head purchases when they cop a new sneaker is not the material but the culture that the sneaker’s amazing aesthetics symbolise. This has been a  sentiment that has long been held in the sneaker-culture, from a wave of kids filling Madison square garden and holding up their Adidas sneaker when Run DMC  performed their hit song *My Adidas* a song that symbolised rebellion to social standards, to Nike Air Jordan kicks worn at every B-Ball court and ghetto streets by those who aspired to be as great as Jordan thinking they’d run faster and jump higher with those on, to exclusive finds that symbolise one’s individuality and great affiliation to a certain sub-culture or sporting code.

The Air Yeezy 2 is undoubtedly not the most aesthetically appealing exclusive drop by Nike, but is most definitely the most anticipated; this could simply and honestly be explained by the fact that they are Kanye West’s sneakers. The epitome of the hype around Yeezy 2 is well explained by a Kanye line in a track titled *Heard em say* “Things we see on screens s’not ours but these niggas from the hood, so these dreams aint far”. In essence the Nike Air Yeezy 2 is that aesthetically appealing reminder to the streets not to betray themselves and keep keeping on till they get what they deserve, these dreams are not afar, cause one of those whom we identify ourselves with proved so.

So when you see a fellow sneaker-head with any sneaker that is meaninful to them; recognise and CELEBRATE TRADITION.