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Among the streetwear icons of the nineties, there is a name that everyone knows: Air Force 1. Back in that era, Nike AF1 sneakers were the favorites of basketball players (the Original Six considered them indestructible), but thanks to their silhouette, the swoosh sneakers also conquered the asphalt courts and streets of New York, inevitably influencing Hip Hop culture.
Hip hop and Nike Air Force 1 have always had a symbiotic relationship. In a way, they both reached the mainstream simultaneously. When, in 2002, Nelly released the track Air Force Ones, radio stations refused to play it, claiming it was an advertisement. But the rap-sneaker duo goes well beyond business. Shoes in the rap game are a powerful symbol, an extension of the artist themselves, and the Air Force 1, whose history is inseparably tied to the history of hip hop, is the perfect reference to assert one’s status. After all, they owe their name to the President of the United States’ airplane, the most important person in the world.
“MY AIR FORCE ONES ARE BETTER THAN OBAMA’S” Jake La Furia – New Nikes
Rap, more than any other music genre, thrives on stereotypes that, in the form of bars, shape and fortify the hip hop aesthetic in the collective imagination. One of these concerns Air Force 1s, which, according to tradition, must be white.
The hip hop doctrine dictates that sneakers with the swoosh must always be clean, like new. Because a rapper with clean shoes is a rapper who can always afford a new pair. However, if you want to “flex,” we’ve written a guide on how to take care of your white sneakers.
“ALL WHITE AIR FORCES, GETTING THEM DIRTY WAS A HASSLE”
“ON THE WHITE AIR FORCES I WALK, AND I BUY THEM AGAIN IF THEY GET DIRTY, IN HALF AN AFTERNOON”
“MY AIR FORCE ONES ARE ALWAYS CLEAN”
“WITH THE SWOOSH LIKE PABLO, IF THEY BEND I CHANGE THEM”
Hip hop also has a romantic side. After all, besides sneakers, rappers love women too. The Game in Around the World even says “I love you like I love my shoes”. In 2004, in Girl I need, Mario wrote “She could find some Air Force Ones and still look the bomb”, a recurring concept among Italian Certified Lover Boys.
“YOUR HEART IS ALL I HAVE, YOU’RE THE QUEEN OF THE BLOCK, NO HEELS BUT AIR FORCE” Shiva – Queen of the Block
40 years of Nike Air Force 1
This year, the most iconic sneaker from the American brand celebrates 40 years. Launched in 1982, the first version of the AF1 was created as a technical basketball shoe, in a period when Nike did not yet have much experience in the basketball world and, contrary to what one might think, it did not have the swoosh initially and was white and gray with mesh details. Designer Bruce Kilgore, to create the prototype, copied the upper of the Nike Approach, a high trekking boot, added an air bubble on the heel and an ankle strap for better cushioning and support. Kilgore designed a new midsole inspired by Notre Dame Cathedral and, for the outsole, decided to abandon the fishbone pattern of those years, and designed a circular pattern to facilitate the players’ movements.
Nike Air Force 1 ’07, white
€119.99
Nike
The success of the first Air Force 1 convinced Nike to also launch the low version in 1983, but by mid-1984, the production of AF1s was discontinued. The brand’s policy was to continually evolve, without getting stuck on past models, regardless of their success. It was the insistent demand from fans, who had started customizing old silhouettes in the meantime, that convinced the giant from Beaverton to resume production in 1986, this time accompanied by the swoosh on the back. Since then, little has changed compared to the original model, and for four decades now, the Air Force 1 has been the desire of sneakerheads worldwide.