November 17, 2024 • 15 mins
DJ Clark Kent, sneaker icon, passed away at the age of 58. He was a true sneaker icon. Matt briefly goes into his legacy, and how he will be remembered by sneaker culture.
---
Like what you hear? Help this content grow: https://ko-fi.com/firefootwearpod
New episodes every Monday.
Follow Fire Footwear on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/firefootwearpod/?hl=en
Follow Fire Footwear on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@firefootwearpod
Reach out to me with questions or thoughts: firefootwearpod@gmail.com
---
For more amazing podcasts, please visit the Matty Ice Media Network: https://www.mattyicemedia.com/mimnpodcasts
Contact us: mattyicemedia@gmail.com
This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:
OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy
Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
DJ Clark Kent has passed away,and the sneaker community mourns.
We're going to talk about hislegacy this time on Fire Footwear.
(00:25):
Welcome back to Fire Footwear, everybody.
As always, I'm your host, MattFrates, and I hope that this finds
you well.
I do want to thank everybodyfor their patience in keeping with
this content in case it can'tbe heard from the sound of my voice.
I'm going through quite a bitin my personal life.
My parents are 77 years old,and as you age in life, things happen.
And unfortunately, I've beenup in Massachusetts, I live in Virginia,
(00:48):
and I've been up helping mydad out because, honestly, he really
can't take care of himself.
So this has been a very tryingtime, and it has really thrown off
my release cadence as itrelates to the show and the other
content that I do.
And so I do apologize for that.
But I do want to say thank youto everybody who has reached out,
everybody who has sent kindwords, because it means the world
to me, and it is great to knowthat the sneaker community and the
(01:10):
Fire footwear community isstill behind me, despite the fact
that the content hasn't beenas fruitful as it normally is.
But we're here to talk aboutDJ Clark Kemp.
And a couple weeks ago, Ithink it was three weeks ago now,
DJ Clark Kemp passed away atthe age of 58, and his passing has
many in the sneaker communitytalking about his legacy.
(01:31):
And legacy is very, veryimportant in life.
As we get to the end of lifeand as we get older, I think we start
to think about what kind of alegacy do we have?
And in the sneaker world andin sneaker culture, I think legacy
is very important as well,because we like to put labels on
people.
A few weeks ago, I did anepisode about Nigo, and I talked
about how he was probably on alot of people's Mount Rushmores,
(01:53):
and that's about legacy.
And really, legacy for DJClark Kent is complicated, not in
a bad way, but because I thinkhis legacy has had such an impact
on the sneaker community thatit's not easy to talk about in one
fell swoop, but we're going totry anyway.
Here's the thing about sneakers.
Hip hop and sneakers havereally had a longstanding history
dating way back to the 1970s,and sneakers are a lot older than
(02:15):
Jordan brand.
I think a lot of people whoare newer to the culture because
Jordans have been around forso long and because Jordans are so
prevalent in the culture, Now,I think a lot of people don't know
that before Jordan brand,there was a rich history of sneakers.
They just looked a little bit different.
Pumas, Adidas, Asics, thingslike that.
Things that are actually big now.
So it really has come full circle.
(02:36):
But artists started wearingsneakers as self expression.
And I'm talking about hip hopartists focusing a lot on Adidas
and a Puma and a Converse.
All of this was pre Jordanera, of course.
In 1986 though, a lot ofthings changed.
And that was when Run DMC wascredited with really bringing sneakers
into the hip hop spotlight.
Their song My Adidas sparkedtheir deal with Adidas.
And that was the first timethat a hip hop artist was partnering
(02:58):
with a sneaker brand.
Today, those types ofcollaborations, those types of partnerships
are very, very common.
But back in the day, it wasnot so.
Now enters DJ Clark Kent.
And in the late 90s, goinginto the 2000s, he started to hit
the hip hop scene.
And it was a little afterthis, I think, that he started to
rise to fame.
By this point, you got tothink about sneaker culture now,
(03:19):
talking about the mid, late90s, early 2000s.
We're talking 10, 15 years ofJordan brand history.
Now.
Michael Jordan is out of theleague or about out of the league
at that point.
He at least has passed hisprime, past the last stance, past
all of the championships.
And Jordan brand is not thisburgeoning brand.
It is an established brand.
And I think underneath all ofthat, the culture is building.
(03:42):
The culture of sneakers isbuilding in a way that while it isn't
in the main spotlight the waythat it is today, it's something
that if you know, you know,and I know that's a very common statement
now with younger people, butit is true.
Back in the day, if you were apart of sneakers, you knew, and if
you weren't, you just didn't know.
A lot of people saw sneakersas utilitarian.
And even so today, I think alot of people of a certain age, like
(04:04):
my dad, for instance, doesn'tunderstand having sneaker collecting.
So as DJ Clark Kent is rising,his sneaker wearers start to become
synonymous with his hip hopstyle and obviously his hip hop style.
All the gigs that he had, allof the parties that he DJed, things
like that, started to becomesynonymous with himself, and therefore
sneakers became synonymouswith him.
(04:24):
And that's the way that weknow him today.
But he started in music.
But you got to remember, theconvergence of hip hop and sneakers
was really starting to becomeprevalent at that time.
And over time, as sneakerculture grew, collecting became more
and more popular.
And DJ Clark Kent was reallykind of the poster child for collecting
in the early days.
And as his collection becamemore public, I think that the idea
(04:48):
of being a collector andreally a curator of sneakers and
sneaker history became reallya pastime.
And a lot of people collect today.
A lot of people collect out ofjust mass consumerism.
But I think there are a ton ofpeople, and I think of.
I think it's Scott Collard onInstagram, a guy who always posts
himself way when he wasyounger, wearing a lot of these shoes.
(05:09):
And that's really curation of history.
Even though it's his ownhistory, it's still curation of sneaker
history, especially Jordan Brandon.
I do love that stuff.
And I think that DJ ClarkKent, in a very public sense, is
somebody who is known forsneaker history, sneaker curation.
He really, if you think aboutit, was one of the first sneaker
icons and possibly was thestart of the documentation of sneaker
(05:29):
history through collecting.
The idea of sneaker culture atits core.
And I think that it'sdifferent today, but I think as it
was starting and back then, Ibelieve the idea was that you wore
sneakers because you wanted tobe seen as cooler or more fly than
somebody else.
And it was to wear somethingthat was going to get you noticed
for better or for worse.
(05:50):
I think that's what it was all about.
And over the years, that has changed.
The trajectory of why peoplewear sneakers has changed.
You could make the argumentthat people wear sneakers today because
they want clout, but it'sclout of a different kind.
It's almost financial clout.
And it's not about being hip,it's not about being fly.
It's really about proving toother people that I have something
(06:12):
that you don't and I'm betterthan you.
And it's a little bit moremalicious, I think, underneath than
it used to be.
You wanted to walk into schoolback in the 80s and 90s with the
freshest pair of Jordansbecause you want people to say, oh,
my God, I can't believe youhave those, because not everybody
had Jordans.
They were expensive, and theyare expensive today.
But I think that they weren'tso mainstream.
(06:33):
Not everybody was able to getAir Jordans.
Nowadays you can just haveaccess to everything.
And there is so many of themnow that it's not as special as it
once was.
And that's why I say I believethat today people want the clout,
and it's not the same as justbeing sort of hip.
So DJ Clark Kent, through allof his collecting, through all of
his sneaker history, one ofthe things that stood out to me about
(06:55):
his message was about authenticity.
And today we think ofauthenticity as rep versus retail,
fake versus retail, thingslike that.
And authenticity is about that.
And StockX is certainly goingthrough that now, where they really
can't prove what an authenticsneaker is.
But that's not really what DJClark Kent was talking about.
The idea of authenticity isreally at the core of this podcast,
(07:18):
or at least is at the core ofwhat I want to be as a content creator.
You should get the mostgenuine, authentic version of myself.
And I believe that DJ ClarkKent, through this message, was trying
to tell people in sneakers tobe authentic to who you are.
Hype is always going to be there.
Trends are always going to be there.
And I think far too often weget caught up in the hype.
(07:39):
We get caught up in thetrends, and we want to wear things
that people are wearing aswell, or what the culture says that
you should wear.
And really, the best partabout sneakers is that there is something
for everybody.
And so I think DJ Clark Kentwas trying to tell us to be true
to yourself, be true to whoyou are, wear what you like, and
(08:00):
really call it a day, becausethat is the whole point of the culture.
The culture is all aboutliving in it the way that suits you,
and that should be enough for you.
I got caught up in gettinginto the hype and getting into what
I thought I should be wearingbecause I wanted people to look at
me and think that I was somebody.
And now, three years on, Idon't really care.
I wear what I like, and I loveseeing people also wear what they
(08:23):
like, hype or not.
There's a lot of people whowear hype shoes.
There's a lot of people whodon't wear hype shoes.
And you know what?
We're all doing it our ownway, and that's okay.
I think that through thismessage that DJ Clark Kent started
to become not only an icon,but I also think that he became almost
like a father figure.
And as father figures age,obviously the younger generation
(08:45):
that comes up behind themthinks that they don't know, thinks
that they're old.
And yes, DJ Clark Kent, interms of sneaker culture, is definitely
on the older side.
I'm residing somewhere in themiddle, probably closer to the older
range, but at his age, almost60 years old, he obviously is getting
long in the tooth as itrelates to Sneaker culture.
(09:05):
And so therefore, hisopinions, his likes, his dislikes
are becoming outdated in theeyes of what is now a younger and
younger crowd in the culture.
That crowd wants something different.
That crowd wants somethingmore than what we used to have.
It doesn't mean that what usedto be was better.
It was just different.
But DJ Clark Kent has become afather figure to a lot of people
(09:27):
in the culture that are of acertain age, because we have all
kind of come up in it together.
I don't include myself in thatcategory, but I'm just saying there
are people in my age bracketor a little bit older who see him
as an icon and see him assomebody that they want to emulate
in the way of thatauthenticity that I talked about.
And it's not as if it was justabout him wearing shoes.
(09:47):
It wasn't just about himcollecting shoes.
He obviously had his hand inon making and designing a lot of
shoes.
And we're Talking about the112 pack, the elephant print, the
neon details.
These are iconic.
Now.
You see these types of thingsall over the place.
But back in the day, thatwasn't always the case.
These stand out.
You know who they represent?
(10:08):
Very similar to what Travis got.
Reverse Swoosh.
Now you know what that represents.
But the 112 pack with the AirForce One, the Air Trainer One, the
Air Max One, the SB Dunk Low,those were all iconic.
The Air Force One, BlackFriday, that's something that is
also iconic.
Even non Nike silhouettes,Puma Clydes, Adidas superstars, these
(10:29):
are of old silhouettes thatwere predating Jordan brand.
He was trafficking in those as well.
And while he wasn't directlyrelated to this design, he did not
have any input into the design.
I think that his push of theLeBron 8 really helped the South
Beach Colorway to become oneof possibly the most popular LeBrons
of all time.
(10:50):
And so, like Nego, DJ Clark,Ken is an icon, and he possibly could
be on the Mount Rushmore as itrelates to sneaker specific.
I did talk about Nigo being onthe Mount Rushmore, but I think maybe
it's more toward thestreetwear side.
We're talking about Bape now.
I think DJ Clark Kent, though,is in a different stratosphere, only
because of the message thatcame with him.
(11:10):
He was a very public figure,somebody who was still talking and
working with Complex up untilhis death.
And in death, DJ Clark Kent'slegacy will remain as that father
figure, and he will continueto be seen as an early influencer.
Of sneaker collecting and curation.
And this podcast, FireFootwear, much like him, is about
history.
(11:31):
I want to keep that historyalive because we're continuing to
move forward at a rapid pacein this culture.
But I want us always toremember where we started, because
it's very important.
The history, while it doesn'tneed to be revered at all times,
you should know it.
You should want to know it,and you should study it.
Because then when somethingcomes out that maybe you think is
(11:51):
whack, you can understand whatit meant back in the day, and then
you can make a choice as towhether you want it or not.
You shouldn't necessarilyalways want to have things that we
had in the past, even AirJordan retros, the Black Cement 3,
which we're going to talkabout next week.
You don't have to like them,you don't have to own them, but you
should understand where theyfit into the culture.
And I think that's very important.
(12:12):
And I think that DJ Clark Kenthimself was very integral in making
sure that history was a vitalpart of sneaker culture as we grew
older.
And before we get to the endof the episode, let's get to the
release of the week.
(12:38):
Release of the week, where Ilike to highlight a shoe that catches
my eye.
It's not always hype.
This one may be borderline,but it's just something that I want
you to know about.
Earlier in the episode, Italked about the Air Jordan 3 black
cement colorway, and I saidthat it's something that you don't
necessarily have to like, butyou should understand and appreciate
where it fits into the history.
Well, lucky for you, if you'resomebody who likes it, somebody who
(12:58):
wants it and does not have aversion of this shoe, November 23rd
is your day.
There was a shock drop earlierthis week, but US$220, it can be
yours on the Sneakers app andprobably a bunch of other places.
Personally, it's not myfavorite air Jordan 3.
It is for a lot of people.
For a lot of people, it istheir favorite Air Jordan of all
(13:18):
time.
And you know what?
You should go after it.
You should have it, you shouldwear it, rock it, beat it, whatever
it is.
But if that's your shoe, thenNovember 23rd is your date and I
want to see you go after itand I want to see you posting and
letting me know that youcopped it.
What do you think of DJ ClarkKent and how do you feel about his
legacy?
Get in touch with me.
The Fire Footwear Hotline iswhere you can do that.
(13:40):
Area code 202-643-9170.
If you're an Instagram user, Ido have a group chat on there for
people who have reached outthat have found the podcast at FirefootWearPod
is the handle to find me there.
If you want to find somereels, you can find me on TikTok,
the same username.
We have a YouTube channelwhere I like to do different things
(14:01):
and if you missed last week'sor two weeks ago's chat with Chris
Chase from Wear Testers, youcan find it there.
Fire Footwear sneakers talk.
You want to hit subscribe,like all that good stuff.
I'd love to see you there andI'd love to be putting out new content
there because it's anotheravenue in which I can make Fire Footwear
an even larger community.
I hope this finds everybodywell, fam.
I hope this finds everybody safe.
(14:21):
I want to thank you again foryour patience and I will see you
next time.
This is Fire Footwear.
(14:43):
The opinions and viewpointsexpressed on Fire Footwear are those
of Matt Fraits and his guestand not necessarily those of the
Maddie Ice Media Network.
Fire Footwear is exclusivelyowned by Matt Fraits and is brought
to you by the Maddie.
DJ Clark Kent has passed away,and the sneaker community mourns.
We're going to talk about hislegacy this time on Fire Footwear.
(00:25):
Welcome back to Fire Footwear, everybody.
As always, I'm your host, MattFrates, and I hope that this finds
you well.
I do want to thank everybodyfor their patience in keeping with
this content in case it can'tbe heard from the sound of my voice.
I'm going through quite a bitin my personal life.
My parents are 77 years old,and as you age in life, things happen.
And unfortunately, I've beenup in Massachusetts, I live in Virginia,
(00:48):
and I've been up helping mydad out because, honestly, he really
can't take care of himself.
So this has been a very tryingtime, and it has really thrown off
my release cadence as itrelates to the show and the other
content that I do.
And so I do apologize for that.
But I do want to say thank youto everybody who has reached out,
everybody who has sent kindwords, because it means the world
to me, and it is great to knowthat the sneaker community and the
(01:10):
Fire footwear community isstill behind me, despite the fact
that the content hasn't beenas fruitful as it normally is.
But we're here to talk aboutDJ Clark Kemp.
And a couple weeks ago, Ithink it was three weeks ago now,
DJ Clark Kemp passed away atthe age of 58, and his passing has
many in the sneaker communitytalking about his legacy.
(01:31):
And legacy is very, veryimportant in life.
As we get to the end of lifeand as we get older, I think we start
to think about what kind of alegacy do we have?
And in the sneaker world andin sneaker culture, I think legacy
is very important as well,because we like to put labels on
people.
A few weeks ago, I did anepisode about Nigo, and I talked
about how he was probably on alot of people's Mount Rushmores,
(01:53):
and that's about legacy.
And really, legacy for DJClark Kent is complicated, not in
a bad way, but because I thinkhis legacy has had such an impact
on the sneaker community thatit's not easy to talk about in one
fell swoop, but we're going totry anyway.
Here's the thing about sneakers.
Hip hop and sneakers havereally had a longstanding history
dating way back to the 1970s,and sneakers are a lot older than
(02:15):
Jordan brand.
I think a lot of people whoare newer to the culture because
Jordans have been around forso long and because Jordans are so
prevalent in the culture, Now,I think a lot of people don't know
that before Jordan brand,there was a rich history of sneakers.
They just looked a little bit different.
Pumas, Adidas, Asics, thingslike that.
Things that are actually big now.
So it really has come full circle.
(02:36):
But artists started wearingsneakers as self expression.
And I'm talking about hip hopartists focusing a lot on Adidas
and a Puma and a Converse.
All of this was pre Jordanera, of course.
In 1986 though, a lot ofthings changed.
And that was when Run DMC wascredited with really bringing sneakers
into the hip hop spotlight.
Their song My Adidas sparkedtheir deal with Adidas.
And that was the first timethat a hip hop artist was partnering
(02:58):
with a sneaker brand.
Today, those types ofcollaborations, those types of partnerships
are very, very common.
But back in the day, it wasnot so.
Now enters DJ Clark Kent.
And in the late 90s, goinginto the 2000s, he started to hit
the hip hop scene.
And it was a little afterthis, I think, that he started to
rise to fame.
By this point, you got tothink about sneaker culture now,
(03:19):
talking about the mid, late90s, early 2000s.
We're talking 10, 15 years ofJordan brand history.
Now.
Michael Jordan is out of theleague or about out of the league
at that point.
He at least has passed hisprime, past the last stance, past
all of the championships.
And Jordan brand is not thisburgeoning brand.
It is an established brand.
And I think underneath all ofthat, the culture is building.
(03:42):
The culture of sneakers isbuilding in a way that while it isn't
in the main spotlight the waythat it is today, it's something
that if you know, you know,and I know that's a very common statement
now with younger people, butit is true.
Back in the day, if you were apart of sneakers, you knew, and if
you weren't, you just didn't know.
A lot of people saw sneakersas utilitarian.
And even so today, I think alot of people of a certain age, like
(04:04):
my dad, for instance, doesn'tunderstand having sneaker collecting.
So as DJ Clark Kent is rising,his sneaker wearers start to become
synonymous with his hip hopstyle and obviously his hip hop style.
All the gigs that he had, allof the parties that he DJed, things
like that, started to becomesynonymous with himself, and therefore
sneakers became synonymouswith him.
(04:24):
And that's the way that weknow him today.
But he started in music.
But you got to remember, theconvergence of hip hop and sneakers
was really starting to becomeprevalent at that time.
And over time, as sneakerculture grew, collecting became more
and more popular.
And DJ Clark Kent was reallykind of the poster child for collecting
in the early days.
And as his collection becamemore public, I think that the idea
(04:48):
of being a collector andreally a curator of sneakers and
sneaker history became reallya pastime.
And a lot of people collect today.
A lot of people collect out ofjust mass consumerism.
But I think there are a ton ofpeople, and I think of.
I think it's Scott Collard onInstagram, a guy who always posts
himself way when he wasyounger, wearing a lot of these shoes.
(05:09):
And that's really curation of history.
Even though it's his ownhistory, it's still curation of sneaker
history, especially Jordan Brandon.
I do love that stuff.
And I think that DJ ClarkKent, in a very public sense, is
somebody who is known forsneaker history, sneaker curation.
He really, if you think aboutit, was one of the first sneaker
icons and possibly was thestart of the documentation of sneaker
(05:29):
history through collecting.
The idea of sneaker culture atits core.
And I think that it'sdifferent today, but I think as it
was starting and back then, Ibelieve the idea was that you wore
sneakers because you wanted tobe seen as cooler or more fly than
somebody else.
And it was to wear somethingthat was going to get you noticed
for better or for worse.
(05:50):
I think that's what it was all about.
And over the years, that has changed.
The trajectory of why peoplewear sneakers has changed.
You could make the argumentthat people wear sneakers today because
they want clout, but it'sclout of a different kind.
It's almost financial clout.
And it's not about being hip,it's not about being fly.
It's really about proving toother people that I have something
(06:12):
that you don't and I'm betterthan you.
And it's a little bit moremalicious, I think, underneath than
it used to be.
You wanted to walk into schoolback in the 80s and 90s with the
freshest pair of Jordansbecause you want people to say, oh,
my God, I can't believe youhave those, because not everybody
had Jordans.
They were expensive, and theyare expensive today.
But I think that they weren'tso mainstream.
(06:33):
Not everybody was able to getAir Jordans.
Nowadays you can just haveaccess to everything.
And there is so many of themnow that it's not as special as it
once was.
And that's why I say I believethat today people want the clout,
and it's not the same as justbeing sort of hip.
So DJ Clark Kent, through allof his collecting, through all of
his sneaker history, one ofthe things that stood out to me about
(06:55):
his message was about authenticity.
And today we think ofauthenticity as rep versus retail,
fake versus retail, thingslike that.
And authenticity is about that.
And StockX is certainly goingthrough that now, where they really
can't prove what an authenticsneaker is.
But that's not really what DJClark Kent was talking about.
The idea of authenticity isreally at the core of this podcast,
(07:18):
or at least is at the core ofwhat I want to be as a content creator.
You should get the mostgenuine, authentic version of myself.
And I believe that DJ ClarkKent, through this message, was trying
to tell people in sneakers tobe authentic to who you are.
Hype is always going to be there.
Trends are always going to be there.
And I think far too often weget caught up in the hype.
(07:39):
We get caught up in thetrends, and we want to wear things
that people are wearing aswell, or what the culture says that
you should wear.
And really, the best partabout sneakers is that there is something
for everybody.
And so I think DJ Clark Kentwas trying to tell us to be true
to yourself, be true to whoyou are, wear what you like, and
(08:00):
really call it a day, becausethat is the whole point of the culture.
The culture is all aboutliving in it the way that suits you,
and that should be enough for you.
I got caught up in gettinginto the hype and getting into what
I thought I should be wearingbecause I wanted people to look at
me and think that I was somebody.
And now, three years on, Idon't really care.
I wear what I like, and I loveseeing people also wear what they
(08:23):
like, hype or not.
There's a lot of people whowear hype shoes.
There's a lot of people whodon't wear hype shoes.
And you know what?
We're all doing it our ownway, and that's okay.
I think that through thismessage that DJ Clark Kent started
to become not only an icon,but I also think that he became almost
like a father figure.
And as father figures age,obviously the younger generation
(08:45):
that comes up behind themthinks that they don't know, thinks
that they're old.
And yes, DJ Clark Kent, interms of sneaker culture, is definitely
on the older side.
I'm residing somewhere in themiddle, probably closer to the older
range, but at his age, almost60 years old, he obviously is getting
long in the tooth as itrelates to Sneaker culture.
(09:05):
And so therefore, hisopinions, his likes, his dislikes
are becoming outdated in theeyes of what is now a younger and
younger crowd in the culture.
That crowd wants something different.
That crowd wants somethingmore than what we used to have.
It doesn't mean that what usedto be was better.
It was just different.
But DJ Clark Kent has become afather figure to a lot of people
(09:27):
in the culture that are of acertain age, because we have all
kind of come up in it together.
I don't include myself in thatcategory, but I'm just saying there
are people in my age bracketor a little bit older who see him
as an icon and see him assomebody that they want to emulate
in the way of thatauthenticity that I talked about.
And it's not as if it was justabout him wearing shoes.
(09:47):
It wasn't just about himcollecting shoes.
He obviously had his hand inon making and designing a lot of
shoes.
And we're Talking about the112 pack, the elephant print, the
neon details.
These are iconic.
Now.
You see these types of thingsall over the place.
But back in the day, thatwasn't always the case.
These stand out.
You know who they represent?
(10:08):
Very similar to what Travis got.
Reverse Swoosh.
Now you know what that represents.
But the 112 pack with the AirForce One, the Air Trainer One, the
Air Max One, the SB Dunk Low,those were all iconic.
The Air Force One, BlackFriday, that's something that is
also iconic.
Even non Nike silhouettes,Puma Clydes, Adidas superstars, these
(10:29):
are of old silhouettes thatwere predating Jordan brand.
He was trafficking in those as well.
And while he wasn't directlyrelated to this design, he did not
have any input into the design.
I think that his push of theLeBron 8 really helped the South
Beach Colorway to become oneof possibly the most popular LeBrons
of all time.
(10:50):
And so, like Nego, DJ Clark,Ken is an icon, and he possibly could
be on the Mount Rushmore as itrelates to sneaker specific.
I did talk about Nigo being onthe Mount Rushmore, but I think maybe
it's more toward thestreetwear side.
We're talking about Bape now.
I think DJ Clark Kent, though,is in a different stratosphere, only
because of the message thatcame with him.
(11:10):
He was a very public figure,somebody who was still talking and
working with Complex up untilhis death.
And in death, DJ Clark Kent'slegacy will remain as that father
figure, and he will continueto be seen as an early influencer.
Of sneaker collecting and curation.
And this podcast, FireFootwear, much like him, is about
history.
(11:31):
I want to keep that historyalive because we're continuing to
move forward at a rapid pacein this culture.
But I want us always toremember where we started, because
it's very important.
The history, while it doesn'tneed to be revered at all times,
you should know it.
You should want to know it,and you should study it.
Because then when somethingcomes out that maybe you think is
(11:51):
whack, you can understand whatit meant back in the day, and then
you can make a choice as towhether you want it or not.
You shouldn't necessarilyalways want to have things that we
had in the past, even AirJordan retros, the Black Cement 3,
which we're going to talkabout next week.
You don't have to like them,you don't have to own them, but you
should understand where theyfit into the culture.
And I think that's very important.
(12:12):
And I think that DJ Clark Kenthimself was very integral in making
sure that history was a vitalpart of sneaker culture as we grew
older.
And before we get to the endof the episode, let's get to the
release of the week.
(12:38):
Release of the week, where Ilike to highlight a shoe that catches
my eye.
It's not always hype.
This one may be borderline,but it's just something that I want
you to know about.
Earlier in the episode, Italked about the Air Jordan 3 black
cement colorway, and I saidthat it's something that you don't
necessarily have to like, butyou should understand and appreciate
where it fits into the history.
Well, lucky for you, if you'resomebody who likes it, somebody who
(12:58):
wants it and does not have aversion of this shoe, November 23rd
is your day.
There was a shock drop earlierthis week, but US$220, it can be
yours on the Sneakers app andprobably a bunch of other places.
Personally, it's not myfavorite air Jordan 3.
It is for a lot of people.
For a lot of people, it istheir favorite Air Jordan of all
(13:18):
time.
And you know what?
You should go after it.
You should have it, you shouldwear it, rock it, beat it, whatever
it is.
But if that's your shoe, thenNovember 23rd is your date and I
want to see you go after itand I want to see you posting and
letting me know that youcopped it.
What do you think of DJ ClarkKent and how do you feel about his
legacy?
Get in touch with me.
The Fire Footwear Hotline iswhere you can do that.
(13:40):
Area code 202-643-9170.
If you're an Instagram user, Ido have a group chat on there for
people who have reached outthat have found the podcast at FirefootWearPod
is the handle to find me there.
If you want to find somereels, you can find me on TikTok,
the same username.
We have a YouTube channelwhere I like to do different things
(14:01):
and if you missed last week'sor two weeks ago's chat with Chris
Chase from Wear Testers, youcan find it there.
Fire Footwear sneakers talk.
You want to hit subscribe,like all that good stuff.
I'd love to see you there andI'd love to be putting out new content
there because it's anotheravenue in which I can make Fire Footwear
an even larger community.
I hope this finds everybodywell, fam.
I hope this finds everybody safe.
(14:21):
I want to thank you again foryour patience and I will see you
next time.
This is Fire Footwear.
(14:43):
The opinions and viewpointsexpressed on Fire Footwear are those
of Matt Fraits and his guestand not necessarily those of the
Maddie Ice Media Network.
Fire Footwear is exclusivelyowned by Matt Fraits and is brought
to you by the Maddie.
Popular Podcasts
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.