You may want to consider booking a trip to Vegas, and not just for the flashing lights, towering casinos, and Smokey Robinson. If you like hip hop, chances are you like sneakers, and Nevada’s world famous tourist hub will soon claim a store that appeals to hip hop fanatics, far and wide.
Next month veteran New York lyricist Nas, in partnership with business mogul Nick Sakai, will launch a new sneaker boutique called 12AM RUN.
The name not only conjures up nostalgia for Run-D.M.C.’s classic 80’s hit, “My Adidas,” but is also tailored to the location of the store. In an interview with Complex Sneakers, Nas explains; “To me, 12 a.m. sounds like go time in Las Vegas. Run, that's athletics, feet, sneakers, movement. You hit the ground running here in Vegas.”
This isn’t the first business venture for Nas, who started his own clothing brand HSTRY in 2013, and served as brand ambassador for Hennessy’s “Wild Rabbit” Campaign. However, he made clear that he's been especially fond of sneakers since his adolescence years, and shares his list of all time favorites:
“We can go back to Pumas, shelltoe adidas, FILAs, Jordans, and Air Max. Once Jordan came into play, all the sneakers from Nike seemed to turn to Air this and Air that. Air Max was like the Air Jordan's cousin. So you wanted all the Air Jordans. I just started racking up on sneakers. Whatever was new. Avias and Ellesse. You remember those?... I had British Knights. I had Playboys. I didn’t get Clark’s for a while, but British Knights, I had those early. They had Bally sneakers as well. I had a pair of those. The Lottos.”
Confident and enthusiastic about their new project, Nas and Sakai surely have something great in the works. Look out Kanye and Snoop Lion, 12AM RUN is headed to give your kicks a run for their money.
For now, the sheer anticipation of a next level shoe store from one of rap’s all-time greats and a local Vegas mogul will suffice. That, and hip hop fan faith in what Sakai describes as the, “power of the sneaker.” Everyone hopes to get lucky in Vegas, but this trip, you might just be wishing for a touch from Lady Luck in search of fresh sneakers.
Check out more of Nas and Nick Sakai's interview in the clip above.
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