Underrated Consistency
Sneakers are very important to the Urban and Hip Hop communities. Sh*t, nowadays that means ALL communities. So let’s just say that sneakers are important, period. It was always important to have that cool brand that everybody had, but it wasn’t a life or death situation. But when Hip Hop leaked out of New York and spread across America like the crack epidemic, that’s when everything changed. Beat Street hit theaters and sneakers became everything. And from the minute we laid our eyes on the fat shoelaces and the flipped up tongues and the kicks that never had scuffs, there were three brands that screamed “Hip Hop Culture”; Nike, Adidas, and Puma. No matter the style or color, as long as you rocked one of those three brands, you were a cool kid. And that’s all that mattered. But as the 80’s went on, the brands started to seperate themselves. Michael Jordan came into the NBA redefining gravity and single handedly changed the NBA forever. Nike signed him to a shoe deal, and with that, Michael single handedly changed Nike forever too. Pushing it to the forefront as the hottest sneaker in the world. Adidas always had the Hip Hop community on lock because they saw that they were getting free promotion from Hip Hop’s first artists to go Pop while still making authentic Hip Hop music; Run DMC. So it only made sense to sign Run DMC to a shoe/apparel deal to insure that they stayed the course of rocking the shoes and sweatsuits nonstop. And being a hot tennis shoe, Adidas went the route of signing the hot tennis players of the time such as Ivan Lendl, Rod Laver, and Stan Smith, hence creating classic styles for each of them that til this day are still some of their hottest ever made. Oh yeah, and let’s not forget about a little sneaker they chose to call the Shelltoe. (talk about classic)
But Puma never did that. No superstar basketball player rocked Pumas. And as a track sneaker, there was no sexy endorsement to go after. Sure they signed a few marathon winners. But sh*t, what sneaker is a 10 year old going to want for christmas, the basketball shoe of his favorite player that he sees on tv everyday, or some marathon runner from Kenya whose name he can’t pronounce? So by the early 90’s, Puma was no longer considered as one of the sexy sneakers like Nike and Adidas. But the great thing about it is that Puma was still fly. Even if you were at a party filled with Nike wearers and you walked in with Pumas on, you weren’t a lame. Actually it made you stand out because people wanted to check your shoe to see what Puma had been up to. What new styles they may have created. Oh, sure you got caught up in the fly-by-night sneaker or the sneaker of the moment. Alot of sneakers came out in the late 80’s and early 90’s that faded away just as quick as they came out. If you rocked them today, you would simply be on some retro sh*t. But good taste never dies. So Puma still stands out in a crowd because it shows that you understand style and have since the mid 80’s. And Puma is still that slick azz track shoe it always was. The style and hug makes the shoe fit under a pair of jeans like no other. And you know what, it always has. It shows that since the mid-80’s, the shoe and brand haven’t changed, you have. And Puma is still there, just as funky fresh as it has always been. So maybe you should get re-familiar.
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