The Sneakerhead Manifesto

Check it out. I have been fortunate enough to be born in 1986. Yea, that’s right, an 80’s baby. Weather you call it Generation Y, the MTV Generation or the Millennial Generation doesn’t make a difference, the children of the 80s make up a generation the likes of which this planet has never seen, or will see in the near future for that matter.

We were raised on music television (back when MTV actually played music videos), personal computers and video games; born too late for the Red Scare and the Cold War but just in time for the digital revolution. The first generation to use the internet as its primary source of information; we were capable of absorbing information at an unprecedented rate and found ourselves fueling an unprecedented period of growth and diversification in both the arts and technology. Our generation was clearly technologically savvy, able to pick up any electronic device and become experts in its operation within minutes, and independent beyond our years.

While I am grateful to have grown up when I did, I find the changes we ushered in during our youth have snowballed, an out of control reaction perhaps, similar to that of nuclear fusion, which produces as a by product, fuel to continue its own reaction. Maybe it was our immunity to being “aw-struck”, born during a time when what was pure imagination in generations past had already been achieved, space travel for example, or perhaps the fact that we as a generation had no Vietnam War or Civil Rights Movement to rally around, weather in favor or against. Some where along the line we became what Bart and Lisa Simpson describe as a generation without any highs or lows, merely achieving without appreciation and moving on with a short attention span as equally shocking as the praises of the previous paragraph.

We are often described as a “peculiar[ly] homogeneous youth culture defined by a deep appreciation of the fashion trends, perspective, attitude and music popularized by MTV and similar media.” These things we have created have now taken over, no longer are we driving the car, per se, but chasing after it, allowing it to dictate what is “cool”. In my life, the most prevalent example of this is Hip Hop music. Once an incredibly artistic form of expression where individuals developed a way of manipulating the English language into a way of uncanny self expression, Hip Hop has become a product, as mass produced as McDonald’s fries. In a decade we have gone from Rakim, NaS, Wu Tang, Biggie and Pac to Lil Wayne, Plies and Soulja Boy, is this not alarming to anyone else? Now I am not saying it’s all bad (Lupe Fiasco), but the actual artists are few and far between. I am fortunate to be old enough to recall the “golden age” with prolific lyricists like Rakim and NaS and innovative producers like the RZA and Premo. My brother and sister however, are not as fortunate and I am not surprised that they take much less a passionate appreciation of Hip Hop, nor can I blame them. Hip Hop is just scratching the surface; we have degenerated into the most apathetic generation of all time. Many of us have become sheep, herded around obliviously to graze on the weeds of conformity which have choked out ingenuity, creativity and curiosity, rarely forming opinions of our own.

You are probably asking yourself: “Where do sneakers come in?” Well, early in my adult life or late in my childhood depending on how you look at it, I was fortunate enough to be on the recipient end of a pretty ill financial aid package from the English speaking world’s oldest technical school of higher education. Little did I know that was just a trap to lure unsuspecting youngsters such as myself in to a bleak world of thermals and fluids, electronic instrumentation and strengths of materials mixed with snow, sub zero temperatures and absolutely nothing to do, but that is a story in and of it self. I had just spent the last four years of life leisurely drifting through high school, concerned only with chilling in the cafeteria (by the windows at the popular tables of course) or what I was going to do during the upcoming weekend. The only thing that got me fired up (aside from winning the Long Island Championship… undefeated), was talking about how Hip Hop was on a decline. I remember arguing for my entire sophomore year about who was better, NaS or Jay. I think we can all agree that Jay is no contest for NaS, but that still seemed to be the most important issue at the time. However by the time I graduated legitimate MCs like NaS had began to take a back seat as hip hop increased in commercialism at an alarming rate (I could go on for days about this). I met many people in my years at college, but my closest friends often shared my sentiments and a few of those friends happened to collect sneakers.

As time progressed I guess I began to associate fresh kicks and certain, less assembly line, more hand screen printed in a Brooklyn apartment clothing brands as a way to differentiate myself from that McDonalds Hip Hop, that mass produced product, and the “McFashion” that accompanied it. I would like to think this impression was justified as a large percentage of Sneakerheads (posers excluded) aren’t even into Hip Hop. The ones that were, like my friends and I, much more likely to have been caught listening to “The Infamous”, “Illmatic”, “Enter the 36 Chambers” or “Paid in Full” than “Dynasty” or “Tha Carter”, and don’t be surprised to hear a little jazz or another genre considerably less popular with other twenty something year olds, like Drum-N-Bass, although those are more concepts behind production than an actual genre. Not to say that those who don’t dress this way are all sheep On the contrary, the majority of my friends, including those who I admire most, all have styles and tastes of their own, some much different from my disposition (we are a diverse bunch to say the least). I am just saying what the whole sneaker scene represented to me, a tendency to look beyond what was spoon fed through everyday society, to avoid complacency and develop your own ideas even if they meant you wander from the beaten path - and with that, my collection began.

Fast forward four years, and behold this sneaker culture, that once represented free spirited, independent and eclectic individuals who were more than capable of breaking from the herd has now been adopted by the mainstream (No surprise there). Will sneakers go the way of Hip Hop? I fear it might. Already we see major brands flooding the market with lesser quality product. The number of Nike Dunks, for example, to release in the last year has been staggering, and they have been pretty lackluster, the general releases anyway. One only needs to take a short trip on a New York City subway to see the same two or three pairs on hundreds of feet. “Artists” like Kanye West, Lil Wayne and T-Pain, who all wore Akademiks or Enyce (Ralph Lauren and Polo in West’s case), want to wear SB’s and Supras and dive head first into the whole Japanese street wear scene. If I recall correctly, we call those posers (I guess they may see the same side of the culture I did, but I think “marketing campaign” is a more accurate name for this catalyst). Maybe I was mistaken or misled all along, but there is no doubt in my mind that a pair of hi top SBs and fitted Levis no longer means I can expect a fresh inquisitive attitude or eclectic opinions and taste to match the gear.

While I am disappointed in the way our mainstream corporate driven pop culture celebrates conformity and gobbles up anything remotely artistic and expressive and machines it into a mass produced product, all is not lost. In the past year I have watched my extremely apathetic generation rally behind a presidential candidate that promises to fix what is so terribly wrong with our country, which we won’t get into here, and did I mention he is of mixed ethnicity like me. While this might just be the newest trend or fad, political opinion from my generation is definitely a step in the right direction. So, in conclusion, I will continue to stack my sneaker boxes high, stay stead fast in my search for the new and interesting and step, fresh of course, into this new era ahead of me. We’ll see what the next few years have in store.