The end of an era. After months of rumors and speculation, it now appears that Drake’s departure from Nike and Jordan Brand is all but complete. With this development, the international superstar will announce a new deal with adidas very soon.
Drake has made his decision fairly obvious in recent weeks, though sneakerheads have still been paying attention with bated breath. In the past two months, we witnessed Drizzy appear in public wearing adidas gear for the first time in years, breaking one of the largest stipulations of his Jordan contract. The 6 God’s first appearance in adidas gear was a photo he posted to his Instagram, in which he is seen wearing the brand’s signature striped track pants. Shortly after, he was seen matching a new OVO tracksuit with a pair of grey Ultra Boost LTD. However, the icing on the cake came at the beginning of April when Drake took the stage in Toronto wearing a pair of Kanye West’s new”Blush” adidas Yeezy 500.
Drake’s appearance in an official adidas Yeezy is the nail in Nike’s coffin. While it by no means confirms Drizzy’s switch to the Three Stripes, do you really think the Swoosh would let him rock a Kanye West shoe? From adidas, of all brands? No way. Since then, Drake has laid low, finishing out the days of his contract. Now, thanks to out friends Py_Rates, we know the full story of his departure from Jordan Brand.
Recently, we reported on two new Air Jordan 4 colorways coming this spring. One was made for Travis Scott to honor his childhood Houston Oilers, and one version decked out in Toronto Raptors colors. Now, we know that these were supposed to release in conjunction. The “Raptors” colorway was originally tied to Drake as a follow-up to his OVO Jordan 8’s and would use Nike’s musical collaborators to pay homage to their home teams. Now, the black & purple pair has been scrapped with Drake’s upcoming switch to adidas.
So, what does it mean? Should you care about Drake jumping ship? That’s up to you, but this is a very significant change in the sneaker world. If, and when, the adidas-Drake deal goes through, The Brand with the Three Stripes will have a trifecta of the most influential musicians of the last 30 years. Kanye West and Pharrell Williams already have massively popular lines with adidas with plans for plenty more on the way. Both the Yeezy and Hu footwear continue to sell incredibly well, even with more models and colorways being added to each drop. This is where working with Drake will get tricky. Fitting his larger-than-life personality into an already burgeoning release calendar may take away from other aspects of the brand.
adidas will need to be careful with how they market Drake and the shoes he is chosen to represent. His style is adaptable, so putting him in the latest Ultra Boost or BYW is going to look good, which is a huge bonus. However, Drizzy has stated that he wants to create. While we likely won’t see a signature silhouette from him anytime soon, imagine a month with shoes releasing from Kanye, Pharrell, and Drake each weekend. Fans of all three are going to have to pick their poison, as getting each won’t be easy. But that may be the point. In a sneaker world where accessibility grows daily, adidas may simply be looking to flood the market with exactly what everyone wants.
Needless to say, we are excited to see where Drake and adidas go together. The Toronto rapper is undoubtedly one of the most popular musicians in the world, so any project he tacks his name onto will be sure to make headlines. With a brand like adidas to work with creatively, we will most definitely get a deeper look into Drake’s personal style and design process. While no official announcement has been made, Drake and adidas are expected to reveal their new partnership soon. Stay tuned to JustFreshKicks for more on the situation, as well as all the hottest adidas Release Dates.
Words by Ben Serleth. Images via YeezyMafia, BRKicks.
