Love him, hate him, or indifferent, Travis Scott is having his moment. The momentum seems like it started back in the beginning of the summer when Travis stepped out on the red carpet in a new pair of unidentified sneakers at the Cannes Film Festival. No one knew what they were, but the sneaker community had heard rumors of “no new SB from Travis” and “no more Jordan Lows”. But the brown and black shoe had the Jumpman silhouette and of course, the backwards swoosh. Social media was on fire when we thought we might have gotten an early look at the new Travis signature Jordan.
The sneaker community heard rumors of a new collab just before the Cannes in May. And in June, a collaboration was made official. Nike and Travis Scott had a full ad campaign for the Mac Attack. Yup, the Mac Attack. The shoe NO ONE asked for. The promotional spots included Travis and the 64 year old tennis legend John McEnroe complete with suites and a brief case. They even had a tennis match between the rapper and the three time Wimbledon singles champion. But who is after this shoe? And why did Nike lean into this partnership? And when Nike retroed the Mac Attack light smoke, it was the exact same colorway as the Travis Mac Attack!!
Right about the same time that we saw the Mac Attack, the hip-hop community was waiting for a new single to drop from Travis. Rather than a single, we got Circus Maximus. A 75 minute “documentary” that accompanies the Utopia album. The movie was written and directed by Scott. It is a companion piece to the anticipated album. The methods that we use to consume media are vast. Maximus was first available on Apple Music and that is where I watched it. The visuals in CM are incredible. Every chapter looks expensive. It’s Beautiful. TIL FURTHER NOTICE alone feels like a pilot to a 10 episode season that I would gladly invest time in. The visual effects look like a feature film from Ridley Scott rather than Travis Scott. It takes you on a journey. Three chapters in, you get to HYAENA. It’s a video of beautiful and vivid colors and Travis has on his new shoe, Cut the Check. It’s not the first time we’ve seen this shoe. But it is the first signature shoe from Nike and Travis Scott and now we know what he wore back at Cannes. It looks great. Even with the forefoot strap. Circus Maximus has beautiful images and offers insight to who the rapper is. But I’m a shoe guy, not a movie critique. I thought CM was definitely worth the watch and I see something new in it on every subsequent viewing.
In July, we got Utopia. The first album from Travis in 5 years. If you ask ten people what they think of 2018’s Astroworld album, you might get ten different opinions. But if you ask ten high school kids, I bet everyone will tell you it claps. This doesn’t speak to his audience, it speaks to his relevance. Even my wife will turn up the volume when the Apple Play algo finds “SICKO MODE”.
But like I said, I’m not a critic. Hip Hop and shoes are two huge parts of the same culture. Hip hop and fashion collide in every turn.
Travis Scott is a chicken and the egg relationship. Some sneakerheads don’t pay much attention to his music but his shoes have been some of the hottest collabs since his first pair of 1’s back in 2019. If you’re reading this, you know every single Travis Jordan 1 collab from the Mochas, the Reverse Mochas and the insanely slept on Phantoms, Olives and every other colorway. You might have even paid $1 to enter a raffle for the Fragment Highs like I did. They are on a lot of collector’s holy grail lists.
And it’s easy to understand why Travis x Jordan 1 are some of the most common reps you can find. Hard to get and everyone wants them. The definition of Hype. Others might have had Travis on their playlist and the collab was just icing on the cake for them. Now the Travis Scott x Air Jordan 1 might have been the shoe with the most hype, it certainly wasn’t the shoe that started it all. The Travis Scott x Jordan Trunner LX takes that honor two years prior in 2017. The Trunner was a friends and family exclusive and was otherwise unreleased. His Air Force 1 collab also dropped in ’17 and came with multiple swooshes that could be swapped out and inverted.
In 2018, we would get three pairs of Jordan 4s, and a second Air Force 1. The “Purple Suede” and “Olive” 4’s would never be released but the “Cactus Jack” 4 popped with color blocking that leaned into the colors of the Houston Oilers. All too fitting for the Houston born rapper. The Cactus Jack 4 is incredible. Buttery suede and the red on the sock liner just fits perfectly. I’ll have a pair someday. Everyone’s favorite app just released the most counterfeit shoes of the year. There are the Travis Dunks close to the top of the list.
But not every Travis collab is a classic. At this point he has more Nike collabs than anyone. Some sneakerheads have even said that he has had too many. The Air Trainer 1 is your proof. The shoe was innovative, but there wasn’t much of a market for it and it couldn’t seem to find its space. The Air Max 1 didn’t seem to have the same hype either. The Air Max 270 and Air Jordan 33 are all but forgotten about. But Travis has so many hits in his sneaker resume that it doesn’t matter.
Last week, Travis Scott steps out on stage in Rome and is joined by Ye. After everything Travis has done this summer, he takes a literal and figurative bow. It’s the cherry on top for hip-hop and sneaker fans. Two icons of music and two of the biggest names for Nike and Adidas. It’s the perfect conclusion to the artist that absolutely won the summer.
Travis’s influence is undeniable. Last month Jake Paul walks to the ring to face Nate Diaz wearing custom Travis x Jordan 1’s and a Cactus Jack jacket.
When Eagles’ QB Jalen Hurts inked his endorsement with Jordan Brand, the very first promotional photo has him in Travis olive lows. He even has his own Fortnight skin.
So whether you’re a fan of Travis or not, you can’t deny his impact on the shoe culture. Every time a collab drops or anytime he’s rumored to be dropping a project, generations of sneakerheads and rap fans stop to see what’s about to go down. Travis is a living legend for all that he’s done in 2 art forms that I’ll always love. So as I sign off on this piece, you gotta just remember to wear your shoes. Especially if they are a pair of olive green Travis x Jordan 6’s.
