The première episode of Kickin' it with Kim Jayde was released online at 5 pm on Sunday the 25th of October and it featured the South African personality Uncle Vinny. Kabelo Vincent Ndlovu (aka Uncle Vinny) is a young creative navigating the South African entertainment scene as an emcee, actor, radio presenter and event curator. He boast of a close relationship with the likes of Riky Rick and he started his career in Grade 9 as a presenter on Hillbrow Radio Station being one of if not the youngest radio presenters in SA.
Uncle Vinny says he doesn't spend a lot on sneakers because he's stingy but he hopes his next big purchase of kicks will be a pair of Yeezy's. He currently boast of being a Puma ambassador for the Fast Rider sneaker which retails around US$60 on the Puma website. Fat Joe said, “Air Jordan's never Reebok” and in a choice between Air Jordan's or Reebok Vinny would never go Reebok even though the brand has had a collaboration with a big SA artist in AKA.
Vinny and Kim also talked about understanding the difference between a brand helping you push further what you're doing versus taking advantage of you. A lot of young artists have fallen into this trap. Yet even those who have been in the industry for a longtime get stiffed as seen by AKA's #SNEAKA deal with Reebok where he didn't make a single cent from a his own shoe with the brand. AKA said he was willing to make the sacrifice at the time for the culture but he has since changed his point of view and he ended a Twitter rant on the subject with the words "lesson learnt".
Anyways the question that stuck with us though in this episode was if Yeezy would ever overtake Jordan in terms of brand size?
Yeezy brand through the three stripes collaboration is said to have generated revenue of $1.3 billion last year while Nike's Jordan brand earned well over $3 billion. Yeezy has however been experiencing rapid growth and with Kanye's active marketing behind it I feel like it's only a matter of time before the two brands are matched. In another interesting tidbit of information, Kanye West reportedly earns more on royalties from his Adidas Yeezy sneakers than Michael Jordan gets from Nike's Air Jordan brand.
In a conversation about shoes with a rich history in South Africa, Kim and Vinny mentioned the pantsula (All stars) and the Zimbabwean equivalent to this would be the tenderfoot (North stars). There's something about that style of shoe and how it has infiltrated every corner of Southern Africa. It could a combination of affordability and how it effortlessly fits different styles of clothes.
Courtesy of Top Keeks Zim and influenced by Kickin' it with Kim Jayde's last episode here's our top sneaker picks for this week and their landed cost in Zimbabwe:
Puma Fast Riders, landing price $95
Yeezy Boost 350 V2 Desert Sage, landing price $274
Yeezy Boost 380 Mist Reflective, landing price $276
Yeezy Boost 700 Inertia, landing price $392.
To order a pair simply hit up Top Keeks Zim on their
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