In addition to revealing how much he almost spent on an original pair of Wu-Tang Clan x Nike Dunks, Lil Yachty used the Sneaker of the Year panel at ComplexCon 2024 to call out someone who’d recently criticized his Nike Air Force 1 collaboration.
Bimma Williams, a footwear industry content creator who’s worked at Nike, Adidas, and Saucony, recently posted a video talking shots at Yachty with a pun-filled video saying Yachty’s shoe looked like a general release. He also made things personal, suggesting he couldn’t be hip-hop’s biggest sneakerhead because he’d only recently listened to Jay-Z’s Reasonable Doubt and The Black Album, and joking that he probably “thinks Wu-Tang is a hot sauce.“
When the rapper referenced the video on stage during a discussion about his Nike project, panel cohost Brendan Dunne pointed out that Williams was actually in the crowd, which prompted an expletive-ridden defense of both his sneaker and his sneaker credentials.
“Everyone has their own take on a sneaker,” Yachty began, “so if i want to make an Air Force and I want it to be white and blue—if you don’t like it, that's cool, but the way he tried to make it seem as if like ‘this n***a can’t make a shoe because he doesn’t respect the culture.’ What the fuck are you talking about n***a? I’ve been into this sneaker shit for 15 years, when I had five cents to my name. I can tell you about any kind of shoe. What are you talking about? You clearly don’t know my history on sneakers and how involved I am in this shit.”
Yachty’s Nike Air Force 1 collaboration dropped at ComplexCon 2024 in limited numbers and is expected to release at retail soon. The style harkens back to artist-exclusive pairs of the past, with relatively simple makeups highlighted with logos on the heel, such as the Terror Squad and 40/40 Club versions.
Williams, who calls himself a “collab marketing educator” in his Instagram bio, released projects of his own with Saucony in 2023 and 2024.