Month: August 2023

Welcome to SNX DLX, your weekly roundup of the best sneakers to hit the internet. It should go without saying, but 2023 has been a weird year for sneakers. It’s not that we haven’t had good drops, we’ve had a bunch of them. But we’re 8 months into the year and there still isn’t a single stand-out release we can point to that has clearly won the year. Do you know what does come to mind though? MSCHF’s Big Red Boots are a ridiculous sneaker release sure, and one that got everyone talking and captured eyes on the internet more than any other shoe.

Now, we’re not saying the Big Red Boot is the best sneaker drop of the year. That would be ridiculous. It’s just that it’s the most noteworthy and conversation-starting. If you hate the Big Red Boot, we totally understand. We also have very bad news for you. The Big Red Boot is back. Only this time it’s yellow and MSCHF has teamed up with Crocs. It feels tailor-made to make sneakerheads outraged and, admittedly, that’s why we love it.

Don’t worry, there are still plenty of other sneaker releases out there if the boots aren’t for you, namely some new Jordans, beautiful Humanrace Sambas, and Billie Eilish’s latest Nike collaboration. Let’s dive in!

Billie Eilish x Nike Alpha Force 88

Price: $130

I’m not entirely sure why Billie Eilish’s Nike releases don’t have the same amount of hype as Travis Scott’s. Sure, Eilish’s signature Nikes aren’t radical departures as you’ll find with the Cactus Jack Nike designs, but she has consistently delivered dope takes and updates on Nike’s famed silhouettes. We can’t say the same for Scott.

Case in point, Eilish’s version of the Nike Alpha Force 88. This sneaker sports a synthetic leather and recycled textile upper with recycled polyester lining and Billie’s custom debossed logo with a sleek partially obscured swoosh. It’s just a great-looking shoe, whether you’re a Billie Eilish fan or not.

The Billie Eilish x Nike Alpha Force 88 is out now for a retail price of $130. Pick up a pair via the Nike SNKRS app, and the Billie Eilish webstore.

Nike Air Flight Huarache Black and Varsity Purple

Price: $125

Laker fans are going to love this one! The newest Air Huarache colorway features Tinker Hatfield’s bold design draped in LA colors, with a mix of royal purple at the base encased in a black shroud with golden accents throughout. Nick Air cushioning at the heel and forefoot ensures a comfortable step and peak court performance for those days you feel like pretending you’re even half as good as Kobe.

You may not be playing at Mamba’s level, but you sure look great and that’s all that matters!

The Nike Air Flight Huarache Black and Varsity Purple is set to drop on August 10th at 7:00 AM PST for a retail price of $125. Pick up a pair via the Nike SNKRS app.

Nike Air Jordan 2 Retro Low Varsity Royal

Price: $150

This year we’ve been given all sorts of reimagining of the Jordan 2 — but sometimes a simple update is all that is needed. That’s what the Varsity Royal achieves, it does little to change the overall build and design of the AJ-2, but swaps out the OG colorway with a mix of Royal Blue, Muslin, and black colors. It’s sporty, and simple, and highlights the original design of this ahead of its time silhouette.

Never has a shoe done less and still looked so luxurious.

The Nike Air Jordan 2 Retro Low Varsity Royal is set to drop on August 10th at 7:00 AM PST for a retail price of $150. Pick up a pair via the Nike SNKRS app.

Nike Air Jordan 12 Field Purple

Price: $200

Nike continues to salute the Lakers with this Field Purple colorway of the Air Jordan 12. It’s less blatantly Lakers-related than this week’s Air Huarache, but the purple and gold team is still repped in this premium sneaker via the Field Purple mudguard and embroidered Jumpman logo, and polished golden eyelets.

The sneaker sports lizard print leather at the mudguard and tumbled leather along the base upper.

The Nike Air Jordan 12 Field Purple is set to drop on August 12th at 7:00 AM PST for a retail price of $200. Pick up a pair via the Nike SNKRS app.

Adidas Humanrace Samba Tones

Price: $200

While Pharrell is busy being the new creative director of Louis Vuitton menswear, the icon is still making time to tend to his Humanrace Adidas label. This time by reimagining the classic Samba for the 21st century. The new design ups the production quality with an ECCO leather upper, leather lace closure, leather tongue, and full leather lining. It takes an iconic design and outfits it with a luxury leather build. It’s a simple but effective move.

The sneaker drops in three triple-dipped colorways — White, Terracotta, and Charcoal.

The Adidas Humanrace Samba is set to drop on August 12th at 7:00 Am PST for a retail price of $200. Pick up a pair via the Adidas CONFIRMED app.

Crocs x MSCHF Big Yellow Boots

Price: $450

MSCHF saw how the internet reacted to its Astro Boy-inspired Big Red Boot and decided to make the design even more polarizing by collaborating with Crocs, another polarizing brand in the sneaker community. Respect! It takes guts to drop a sneaker like this. The boot sports Croc’s iconic ale pattern design and strap and slaps it on the Big Red Boot silhouette. It looks even more ridiculous than the originals.

As part of the ad campaign, the brand recruited Paris Hilton. It makes sense as we’re living in the era of Y2K revival and no celebrity embodies the era more than Paris.

The Crocs x MSCHF Big Yellow Boots are set to drop on August 9th for a retail price of $450. Pick up a pair via the MSCHF webstore.

New Balance ALD X New Balance 550 Warm Sand with Afterglow/True Brown with Sandstone

Price: $129.99

Aime Leon Dore helped to bring the New Balance 550 out of the brand’s vaults, so it’s always exciting when the brand drops new iterations of the silhouette. But this reimagining — dubbed the ‘Basketball Oxford’ — is the most radical take ALD has ever given us yet.

Featuring hairy suede overlays over a canvas build, the Basketball Oxfords sport a nylon tongue, woven tongue label, two-tone midsole, and co-branded details over a warm sand colorway. It looks great and is a solid way to close out this week’s SNX.

The New Balance ALD x New Balance 550 is set to drop on August 9th at 7:00 AM PST for a retail price of $129.99. Pick up a pair via the New Balance webstore.

There’s been a bit of beef between Eminem and Melle Mel of Grandmaster Flash And The Furious Five this year. In March, Mel claimed a lot of the praise Eminem receives is because he’s white. Last week, Em and new Shady Records signee Ez Mil teamed up for “Realest,” on which Em raps, “Shout to the Furious Five and Grandmaster Flash but boy / There’s someone who really is furious, stay out his path, his wrath avoid / And I’ll be the last to toy with a juice head whose brain is like half destroyed / Like a meteor hit it, well there went Melle Mel, we lost his ass to ‘roids.”

Mel decided to drop a diss track in response yesterday (August 8), and based on the majority of the reactions to it, he probably shouldn’t have.

The song doesn’t seem to have a name, but the YouTube upload of the track is titled “Melle Mel’s Response to Eminem’s Latest Diss.” The YouTube description of the minute-long song reads in part, “Get ready to witness sparks fly in the hip-hop universe! Join Melle Mel as he fires back at Eminem’s fiery diss, ignited by the explosive ‘Realest’ collaboration with EZ Mil. In this unfiltered video, Mele Mel dives deep into the drama, giving you an informal yet intense glimpse into his response.”

On the track, Melle raps in part, “The Top 5 is cap / You the piss that’s on the floor in the elevator of rap / Why you ducking on The Game when you sh*t on my name? / Why they put Pee-Wee Herman in the hall of fame? / I would give you a pound, but I’d break your hand / I got a lawyer so white, he will take your land / Yo, check your man, come and look at your friend / ‘Cause I think that Eminem is popping pills again!”

The YouTube comments section, meanwhile, is absolutely ruthless. One user wrote, “Damn Mel. You were better off not responding at all. I hope this flies under the radar. I’m embarrassed for you.” Another person commented, “I respect Melle Mel and what he contributed to hip hop. The Message still gets played to this day. Not just the single, the entire album. But… G*ddamn. This sh*t right here should’ve never seen the light of day. Shame on everyone who was involved in making this and encouraging it to be released. The people in your circle aren’t really your friends Melle Mel.”

YouTube commenters and X/Twitter users are united here, as the tweets about the song are in the same vein. Check out some of the reactions below.

For an organization based on promoting the well-being of living things, PETA has a long history of being particularly nasty to anyone within a twelve-foot radius of an animal byproduct. Or certain video games.

But thanks to the power of Barbie, it seems like PETA has changed its tune and is now celebrating the wins instead of always having to call out the losses. To them, there are just so many losses.

PETA Senior Vice President Lisa Lange released a statement (via TMZ) hyping up the one and only Ken, and therefore Ryan Gosling, thanking him for his cruelty-free outfits in the costume-heavy film. “From his fabulous faux mink coat to his rad vegan leather boots, Ken serves looks that mirror actor Ryan Gosling’s own kindness to animals and refusal to wear fur,” Lange told the site. No word on if Ken’s disco jumpsuit consisted of ethically-sourced, eco-friendly sequins, but maybe that issue isn’t on PETA’s radar. Yet.

To take it a step further, PETA is already putting out a disclaimer on Halloween costumes. “PETA encourages everyone to be Kenough this Halloween by following in Gosling’s footsteps and keeping animals’ skins out of the mojo dojo casa house,” Lange continued.” So if you’re looking to don a Barbie-inspired costume like the rest of the world, you should also consider eco-friendly glitter while you’re at it. Microplastics are bad for the animals, too!

(Via TMZ)

It’s no secret that there are a lot of hip-hop documentaries. As the first genre to really break in an era where it could be widely documented in real time by camcorders, tape recorders, and eventually, film crews paid by artists and their labels, it’s kind of inevitable that there’d be so many movies about its foundations and growth. Unfortunately, because it’s all so well-covered already, it can feel at times like there’s so much overlap between the events and figures being cited that nothing new or worthwhile is really being unearthed — especially for fans who’ve voraciously consumed all these histories in an effort to learn everything there is know about hip-hop.

With hip-hop’s 50th anniversary going on, it’s the perfect time to go back and check out some of those docs (we’ve got a handy list here), but if you already have, or if you’re like me and feel like many of them only offer the same-old-same, then Mixtape is definitely the one you need to see. A joint production of Def Jam and MTV Films currently streaming on Paramount+, Mixtape does one thing that makes it great: It sticks to its subject like glue. By focusing on the rise, spread, and influence of mixtapes and their creators on the hip-hop landscape, it offers a fresh perspective on well-examined eras throughout hip-hop’s history.

For instance, while those early park jams and club performances often receive obligatory nods, those nods can also often seem cursory. But with Mixtape, so many names and personalities get their due, from Brucie B and Kid Capri (shout-out to The Notorious B.I.G.) to pioneers like Tony Touch. The film drills down, not just into who these individuals were or what their contributions changed about the art of making mixtapes, but also into their techniques and why they were so innovative in the first place. While the usual timeline landmarks are all still in place, they’re sublimated in service of telling this specific story — the story of the mixtape.

That includes a worldwide perspective, from the Dirty South and the West Coast to France, Japan, and Puerto Rico. The evolution of the art is tracked through pause tapes, the growth of freestyle tapes and exclusives, and the introduction of CDs and the big business of the late ’90s and early 2000s — the beginning of the internet era. And, as far as seeing something you didn’t know, let me just say — I grew up with these mixtape DJs, and I had absolutely no clue what most of them looked like until now. Also, the collection of interview subjects is so good at recounting their tales, I didn’t mind hearing them again.

It also touches on the corporate appropriation of the culture via moments like the Tommy Hilfiger mixtapes, Sprite sponsorships, and more. There’s even some light labor advocacy; a couple of the DJs who get interviewed readily admit that they got their early leaks by simply bribing unpaid interns (go figure that not paying your employees actually costs companies more). And thanks to the names involved, the list of interviewees is truly impressive. Yes, the usual suspects all appear, but so do A-listers like 50 Cent, Fat Joe, Jadakiss, Lil Wayne, Mike Tyson, and even Shaq (Uproxx co-founder Jarret Myer even makes a quick cameo!). Befitting of a film about mixtapes, there are all kinds of great transitions and gimmicks — there’s even an intermission of sorts.

And, of course, the film digs into the dark side of the scene — the violence, the theft and damage to reputations, and eventually, the legal repercussions for some of the biggest mixtape DJs — with cutting insight. While the whole thing moves a little too quickly (basically chucking the whole of the blog era) and still clocks in at two hours long, it provides a broad and satisfying overview of its subject, shedding light on a subset of hip-hop that has been overlooked for nearly the entirety of its 50-year history. That’s all anyone could ask for — and like a real mixtape, Mixtape leaves the listener/viewer wanting more.

Mixtape is now streaming on Paramount+.

Seattle’s Day In Day Out Festival is set to kick off this weekend, and it is sure to be jam packed with excitement. The two-day event will host both main stage performers and DJ sets.

Here’s what to know about the set times in preparation for the event.

On Saturday, August 12, DJ Clack kicks things off as he plays from 12:30-1:30. Then, over on the Main Stage, Emunclaw perform from 1:30-2. The pattern continues, as to not overlap so music lovers have opportunities to catch all the acts if they choose to.

For the rest of the Saturday DJ Sets, here are the times to note:

• Sea Lemon: 2:00-2:25
• Biblioteka: 3:05-3:35
• Mimi Zima: 4:15-4:40
• The Kerrys: 5:30-6:00
• Spirit Award: 7:00-7:40
• Boots! DJs: 8:45-9:30

Over on the Main Stage, here are the remainder Saturday set times:

• Indigo De Souza: 2:25-3:05
• Surf Curse: 3:35-4:15
• Yaeji: 4:40-5:30
• Alex G: 6:00-7:00
• Dominic Fike: 7:40-8:45
• Leon Bridges: 9:30-close

Sunday’s lineup for Day In Day Out is just as fun with a whole new slate of popular acts.

For the Sunday Main Stage set times:

• Yaya Bey: 1:30-2:00
• Nation Of Language: 2:25-3:05
• Ethel Cain: 3:35-4:15
• BadBadNotGood: 4:45-5:30
• Explosions In The Sky: 6:00-7:00
• Willow: 7:40-8:45
• and Bon Iver wrapping out the festival in a performance from 9:30 to the closing time.

Finally, the set times on Sunday for the DJ Sets:

• Pink Boa: 12:30-1:30
• Chinese American Beer: 2:00-2:25
• Acid Tongue + Sarah Savannah: 3:05-3:35
• Mirrogloss: 4:15-4:45
• Maxwell Edison: 5:30-6:00
• Them: 7:00-7:40
• DJ Abbie: 8:45-9:30

For more information on Day In Day Out, visit their official website.

After a five-year sabbatical from the rap game, Chicago artist Noname is back. The rapper will release her third studio album, Sundial later this week. The album has a promising set of collaborators, as well as some captivating album artwork,

The week following her album release, Noname will celebrate Sundial with a special block party in Chicago.

You can see all the details below.

Release date

Sundial is out 8/11 via Noname. Find more information here.

Tracklist

1. “Black Mirror”
2. “Hold Me Down” Feat. Jimetta Rose and The Voices Of Creation
3. “Balloons” Feat. Jay Electronica and Eryn Allen Kane
4. “Boom Boom” Feat. Ayoni
5. “Potentially The Interlude”
6. “Namesake”
7. “Beauty Supply’
8. “Toxic Afro Futurism”
9. “Oblivion” Feat. Ayoni and Common
10. “Gospel?” Feat. $ilkMoney, ​Billy Woods, and Stout

Features

Sundial will contain features from Common, Jay Electronica, $ilkMoney, Billy Woods, Stout, Eryn Allen Kane, Ayoni, Jimetta Rose and The Voices Of Creation.

Singles

Noname intended to release “Balloons,” featuring Jay Electronica and Eryn Allen Kane as the album’s first single, however, she has decided to release it with the album in its entirety.

Artwork

You can see the Sundial artwork below.

More details

On August 17, Noname will celebrate the release of Sundial with the Sundial Block Party in her hometown, Chicago. Attendees can enjoy performances by Noname, Alex Vaughn, and Navy Blue. The Sundial Block Party will take place at 4310 S. Lake Park Ave, and will be free to attend with the donation of a book.

For residents of Massachusetts, one of the main festivals they can look forward to every year is Boston Calling. Now, thanks to Cousin Stizz and friends, there’s a new festival in town and it could be around for the foreseeable future. The inaugural Commonwealth Fest was announced today by Cousin Stizz and friends and it arrived with a message from the rapper. “This MY first show back in a year too and it’s gon be one of those ones,” he wrote. “Got some homies from all over the country plus some of the best from home.. some BIG surprises comin too.”

The Commonwealth Fest, which kicks off the weekend of September 16 and 17, is headlined by Cousin Stizz himself as well as rappers Buddy and Kenny Mason. The full list of performers features names from New England that include SuperSmashBroz, Michael Christmas, Borirock, Jiles (of Van Buren Records), Alondrugs, Avenue, Kei, Clark D, Snax, Nay $peaks, Tyler Loyal, and Nino Francis. Tony Shhnnow and Jenno represent the additional performers from outside of the New England area. The Commonwealth Fest will take place at Bellforge Arts Center in Medfield, Massachusetts in a two-day showcase presented by Stay Silent, a Rhode Island-based creative platform.

You can view the festival lineup in the post above. Tickets for the Commonwealth Fest go on sale Friday, August 11 at 10 am EST through the festival’s website.

If Magic Mike’s Last Dance was, indeed, Channing Tatum’s final trip around the stripper pole, there needs to be a new Magic Mike. (In this scenario, Magic Mike is like James Bond; the actors are replaced but the character remains the same). Why not someone actually named Mike?

Jessica Chastain celebrated Michael Shannon‘s birthday by fan-casting him in Magic Mike 4ever (working title). “Happy Birthday to this guy!” she tweeted. “It’s true, Mike is a magical being and total franchise man. Come on Channing Tatum, Steven Soderbergh… let’s make his birthday wish come true.”

Chastain also uploaded a video with Shannon, who looks thrilled by the pitch. “Look at these muscles,” the Oscar winner said about her George & Tammy co-star. “He needs to do a Magic Mike movie. Mike Shannon told me that if I got him an offer for Magic Mike, one of the movies, he’d do it.” That’s legally binding.

In the clip, Shannon himself posits that he’d like to star in a project titled “Magic Mike vs. the Avengers” while “Pony” by Ginuwine plays in the background.

I know Channing Tatum is busy being a “daddy” at Taylor Swift concerts, but this needs to happen.

(Via Entertainment Weekly)

Anthony Edwards found himself in trouble following the end of the Minnesota Timberwolves’ season last year. At the conclusion of the team’s first round series against the Denver Nuggets, Edwards ran right into the team’s locker room. But before he got there, he picked up a chair and swung it, which ended up hitting a pair of women and led to him getting cited for third-degree misdemeanor assault.

It wasn’t intentional by Edwards — his lawyer called the charges “baseless” and said he was simply moving the chair out of his way — but he found himself in a difficult spot, although the charges were eventually dismissed. And on Wednesday afternoon, the NBA announced that Edwards will receive a pretty hefty fine for the incident.

“NBA Executive Vice President, Head of Basketball Operations Joe Dumars announced today that Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards has been fined $50,000 for recklessly swinging a chair in frustration that struck two bystanders as he exited the court at the conclusion of the Timberwolves’ playoff game against the Denver Nuggets on April 25 at Ball Arena,” the league said in a release. “In accordance with the collective bargaining agreement, the league’s review of this matter was deferred until after the criminal investigation into the player’s conduct concluded with charges dismissed last month.”

Currently, Edwards is with USA Basketball ahead of its appearance at the FIBA World Cup.

Slowdive is giving fans an idea of what to expect from their next album, Everything Is Alive. The band’s latest song, “The Slab,” opens with an energetic guitar that builds anticipation before pulling listeners into a hypnotic instrumental trance.

“This is the heaviest track on the record, and as the name suggests we wanted it to feel like a big slab of music,” the band’s vocalist and guitarist Neil Halstead shared in a statement. “We wanted it to feel very dense.”

In addition to the song, fans in London, New York, and Los Angeles will have an opportunity to hear Slowdive’s album in full, through special listening parties in Dolby Atmos. Winners will be selected through free sweepstakes.

Check out Slowdive’s visualizer for “The Slab” above. Below, find their complete list of tour dates.

08/11 — Sicily, IT @ Ypsigrock Festival
08/18 — Brecon Beacon, GB @ Green Man Festival
09/23 — Toronto, ON @ Queen Elizabeth Theatre
09/25 — Boston, MA @ Citizens House of Blues Boston
09/27 — New York, NY @ Webster Hall
09/28 — New York, NY @ Webster Hall
09/29 — Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
09/30 — Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
10/02 — Cleveland, OH @ The Roxy @ Mahall’s
10/03 — Chicago, IL @ Riviera Theatre
10/04 — St. Paul, MN @ Palace Theatre
10/06 — Denver, CO @ Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom
10/07 — Salt Lake City, UT @ The Union
10/09 — Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom
10/10 — Seattle, WA @ Showbox SoDo
10/12 — San Francisco, CA @ The Warfield
10/14 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Bellwether
10/15 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Bellwether
10/16 — San Francisco, CA @ The Warfield
10/30 — Glasgow, UK @ QMU
10/31 — Manchester, UK @ Ritz
11/01 — Bristol, UK @ SWX
11/03 — London, UK @ Troxy
11/05 — Belfast, UK @ Mandela Hall
11/06 — Dublin, IR @ National Stadium
11/25 – 11/26 — Buenos Aires, AR @ Primavera Sound
12/04 — Santiago, CL @ Teatro Coliseo
12/07 — Asunción, PY @ Primavera Sound
12/09 – 12/10 — Bogotá, CO @ Primavera Sound

Everything Is Alive is out 9/1 via Dead Oceans. Find more information here.