Nike's 'Hyperize' Ad: Durant, Lewis, Iquodala Salute '90s Hip-Hop (VIDEO)

In a hilarious new ad, Nike pays tribute to the glory days of '90s hip-hop (hat tip to AdFreak). The folks at Nike have assembled a faux rap ensemble called the Hyperizers featuring the Oklahoma City Thunder's Kevin Durant, the Orlando Magic's Rashard Lewis, the Cleveland Cavaliers' Mo Williams and the Philadelphia 76ers' Andre Iguodala.

Lewis ("Ice-O") sports a Kid N' Play-esque hairdo, Durant ("Velvet Hoop") looks like he stepped out of a Tribe Called Quest video, and Williams ("Fog Raw")...well, his hairstyle is certainly from a simpler time. Actually, the same can be said for some of the lyrics in this ad.

WATCH: "Don't Criticize (Hyperize)"

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Comments

[cygnus workstation]

at the end of the day it's the middle class that gets scr3wed through inflation' loss of jobs/job security and stagnant wages- a trend that has persisted for decades with the advent of so called 'reagan0mics'

hat tip to http://www.iamned.com ..

[cyoohoos]

Jheri curls went out of style in the 80s.

[anothervoice]

What goes around, comes around. Be watchin' for the shorty shorts on the NBA...

[countfloyd]

In two years Kevin Durant will be the best player in the league. I haven't heard one bad word about Lewis so I am willing to cut him some slack.

[WashingtonEd]

Can the headline editor please correct the spelling of Andre Iguodala's last name?

***a 'Sixers fan, notwithstanding my current address

[Pharaoh617]

Please Stick to playing basketball Really. Not just anybody can Rap. O never mid anybody now a days can..

[iRock]

It's PARODY! Get your panties out of a wad.

[steamboat]

And in the meantime none of you self-proclaimed anti-Walmart so-called pro-union holier-than-thou lefty's have said one word v. Nike's because they are made by political-prisoners and child-labor and in Vietnamese sweatshops.

[anothervoice]

...not that that was the subject of the article...

[kindablu]

a friend of mine had a term for this: woes of a captive people.

[ApprxAm]

EgyptianMy­sterySchoo­l really hits the mark. Puffy, amongst the many, has lead to a series of over-produced, MTVised, video based music. Of course pissing off Easy Mo Bee didn't help either.

But the inevitable trans-regional effects on the music was also damaging. Leading to the East/West conflicts which further cheapened the music and opening the door to other regionalized influence and compartmen­talization (Southern, Florida, No.Cal, etc.), unavoidable, of course, but merely replicating the boring, inane productions begun in NYC and LA after Sony, WB and the rest placed their fingers in the stew.

Local, local, local is always best. It's the simplicity of rap music, which became the mode of expression of instrumentless urban children of the 70's.

Oh, rap used to be good...rea­lly good.

[ApprxAm]

Oh, yeah....th­e 90's. That's the transition period when Rap started to become KrAp!!!

And based on this video, it's exactly what they're promoting.

Yeah, too bad....rap music really, really sux!

[OLMEQ]

BULLSH*T

[raaf]

What a bunch of genetic waste.

[Bankenstein]

Yeah you are, aren't you?

[anothervoice]

Try the sense of humor transplant next time you're at the hospital..­. do you wonders.

[Maanu]

The Golden Decade 85 to 94 was the best for rap, because they had apartheid to rally against.
Now the rappers lord their gold over the poor as if wealth was a virtue. It's interesting, so say the least.

Great video, though. Good to see Durant in green again. EFIL4SCINO­S...

[boscobear]

Once again African-American athletes had choice to protray themselves either as "gangsters" or as positve role models, like ex-NFL star Roynell Young. Which one did they choose? And people wonder why Africian American young men and women have so many problems. NIKE shoild be ashamed!

[drymartini1]

Nike's job is to sell. and that image sells well.
grow up.

[YeWight]

???!
You seem clueless to "gangsta" and probably to the hip-hop culture as a whole. Or you see what you want to see in this video. Either way, it ain't for you.

As a commercial though, this is mediocre, although when money talks you can certainly make something out of nothing.

[GoDogGo]

It's a SPOOF.

If you missed something that obvious, then you plainly weren't going to get the shoe.

[Estevan Benson]

There isn't that much of a "gangsta" feel in this ad. The real issue is that mainstream communities lack imagination. And so here's what you got although I think it's cute.

[cal5000]

Theyre paying them to sell shoes dressed as the guys they grew up watching---stop it.

And we had a vote-its Black.

[DallasMikeDavis]

Rashard Lewis is not sporting a kid-n-play cut, but a gumby. Still, great vid!

[samuelberg]

He also needs to cut out the juice.

[EgyptianMysterySchool]

Was Durant supposed to be Shock G? The flow was similar.

Love the end, cleaning the kicks w/ a toothbrush - that was paramount back in the day.