Adidas Superstar

 A very hard truth that few mentions when narrating the history of the Adidas Superstar is that this shoe was dead in the water before RUN DMC and the emergence of hip-hop in the late ‘80s. Financially, Adidas was on its last leg and in dire need of a win. Rev Run, DMC and Jam Master Jay were the lifeline the brand desperately needed but never knew they’d get. 

To that end, so was Gerald Deas, a member of the alt-rap group Creative Funk, who in 1985 released the song “Felon Sneakers.” 

The anti-sneaker rap song was against groups like RUN DMC wearing so-called “d-boy sneakers”—specifically, wearing them without laces which prison inmates often did as laces (on the inside) were considered makeshift weapons. 

In response, RUN DMC released “My Adidas” in 1986 to critical and cultural acclaim. It was the turning point Adidas needed and can’t be overstated as a seminal moment in not just Adidas history but in sneaker culture as a whole.



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