The music and sneaker community are both growing giants that keep expanding every day. And they’ve clashed and crossed paths too many times to count! Sneaker collabs go way back! With musicians, designers, athletes… You name it!
The sneaker industry is a hidden gem and everyone wants in. But some artists stand out in sneaker history, especially in the 21st century. We got sneaker collabs with legends like Jay-Z and his Queen B; a family that forever changed the game. We got sneaker collabs from the savage RiRi with the epic women’s Creepers. The list goes on! But, 2 artists are going head to head in both industries soon!
The LV Don, Kanye; and La Flame, Travis Scott. Their growing stardom is just fueling the never-ending war between titans, Adidas and Nike. So, could Cactus Jack be the new Yeezy? Here’s all about the Travis Scott and Kanye west competition.
We think that Trav may actually be following in ‘Ye’s footsteps! There are signs leading us to believe that Travis Scott might be onto something huge!
Travis Scott and Kanye West: The Start of an Era
The Rise of Yeezus
West worked hard to get here. And we mean HARD. Did you know that Kanye started out as a music producer? Yeah, he produced music for artists like Jay-Z, Lil’ Wayne and even Beyonce a little less than 20 years ago!
But didn’t get his big music break as a rapper until he literally broke his jaw. More like shattered his jaw. And a legend was born out of the flames.
That’s when Kanye recorded his first song “Through the Wire” with a broken jaw. And from there he went on to found his own music label G.O.O.D., to topping billboards, and finally to join the sneaker industry after first signing a major deal with Nike and then with Adidas.
In 2011, Kanye West created his very first fashion line, the DW by Kanye West, at the Paris Fashion Week for SS 2012. After that, he released his first fashion line after signing a deal with Adidas originals in 2015.
And so, the Yeezy line was born, in all its Yeezy glory.
This line featured some monochromatic suede kinda apparel, from skin-tight outfits to flowy leisure style outfits and from see-through mesh to some full-on bodysuits. And the boots. Let’s not forget the boots. The clear PVC boots. Yes, you read that right.
That fashion show wasn’t his best probably. He had models melting in the scorching New York sun, malfunctioning shoes and … plastic boots.
But no one can tell what’s going on in West’s head. He’s very unpredictable. He jumps on stage at VMAs with random outbursts and gets into awkward celebrity smackdowns on Twitter. Including Travis Scott. West went on Twitter to accuse Travis of allowing Drake to diss him on his new track “Sicko Mode”.
Trav is my family and let this met throw sneak disses at me for clout
— ye (@kanyewest) December 14, 2018
All this really puts a lot of heat on Yeezy sneakers and always seems to affect the supply/demand process for his sneakers. Yeezys have had major success with Adidas Yeezy Boost 350s and major flops like some the Adidas Yeezy Boost 700s or 500s.
So will the upcoming release of his album ‘Jesus is King’ cement West as a hip-hop king? Well, we’ll see if it ever comes out.
Did you happen to catch a tune of the leaked songs? Maybe you should drop that album ‘Ye so your beats stop getting leaked man!
Igniting La Flame
Travis Scott actually started out not that long ago. In 2012, Scott signed his first record deal with Epic Records and then, funnily enough, he signed a deal with the G.O.O.D music label founded by Kanye West.
So Kanye West and Travis Scott go way back! To even before hooking up with a Kardashian sister each.
After that, it was smooth sailing for La Flame. Travis was hitting billboards and getting Grammy nominations right off the bat! He is currently nominated for best rap performance in the song “Sicko Mode”(which is now topping the charts on the billboard), best rap song (also “Sicko Mode”) and best rap album for “Astroworld”.
So, Trav is going BIG, paving his road to being an epic rapper.
But, let’s talk sneakers. So, Travis first set foot in the sneaker industry when he collaborated with Helmut Lang in 2017. Later that year, Travis joined the Swoosh in the making of the Travis Scott x Nike Air Force 1 “AF100” which was a wild success. And that’s probably when Scott took off with Nike and started the Cactus Jack line.
Ruler of the Sneaker Industry
So, Kanye West has been around for a long time. He’s been dropping dope beats for long, designing sick clothes for long and releasing a long line of new Yeezy sneakers for a long long time. The “I Love It” rapper knows what he’s doing. Right?
Kanye is a marketing mastermind. He always finds new ways to market his merch. He could make his wife ‘run errands’ in Yeezys and then make Paris Hilton dress up like Kim K. Which he did! Kanye figured out the effect social media has on marketing, and he pretty much nailed it.
However, Cactus Jack is young and fresh. He’s already coming at us with the hottest kicks.
Okay, so he dropped four kicks this year but like, how many do you need anyway? He’s keepin’ up the hype, keepin’ sneakerheads on their toes and he comes through! The Air Jordan 6 that came out was dooope! Ain’t no one can argue with that.
Also, the odds of Travis making the internet mad at him with weird Twitter outbursts are slim. 
So could Travis be the new sneaker icon?
Checks Over Stripes?
2019 really marked a number for new Yeezy releases, and people were either all for the sneakers or they were just not feeling them.
Yes, the Yeezy trend was a bit very rocky this year, with lots of ups and downs. All with the reflectives being regional and with the controversial colorways and everything. But the year is far from over yet! There’s still the last quarter of 2019 which could be a definite game-changer. Talk about major deal-breakers.
Ye’s comin’ at us with some new 350s that are looking FLY. They’re looking real good. He got us all hyped up and waiting for that drop.
And let’s not forget about the rumored drop of a new iteration of the Air Force 1 Low this fall too! La Flame is hooking us up with some extremely Autumn-looking kicks that should come out in November. And there’s also the Air Jordan 6 Yellow Cactus Jack rumored to drop in 2020 in limited quantities. A real head-turner that one.
Yeah, so Kanye and Travis are really bringing up the heat on the sneaker war between Nike and Adidas to win over the sneaker industry. Really setting the (la) flame on hyped sneakers.
So, who’s going to win “Sneaker King” of 2019? We’ll just have to wait and see.