And I’m not talking about deejaying.
A few months back OhWord.com had a nice little article featuring the Nike SB commercial starring skater Paul Rodriguez and also Ice Cube. Nike co-opted the lazy summer’s day rap anthem ‘It Was A Good Day’. The commercial was nifty and Nike even made a couple of renditions on the theme. While I shrugged my shoulders to it Rafi told me that the acceptance of the commercial was a slippery slope.
Apparently rap music has fallen and it now can’t get up.
The Christmas holidaze was the perfect time for Nike to roll out another advertisement bundle. This time they are pushing the latest colorway of the signature Lebron James shoe, the LBJ VIIs. The spokesmodels are the popular MVPs (most valuable puppets) and they even have a cameo from Kris Kringle who is voiced by the inimitable Kris Parker. The commercial went down something like this…
Maybe I’m wrong to assume that Scott LaRock would object to the misappropriation of verses from the seminal Hip-Hop classic ‘The Bridge Is Over’. Scott did rock Nike’s hardbody back in the day while the rest of us were running around in Reeboks. It’s just that the commercial feels like an affront to Hip-Hop as opposed to an embrace of the music. Someone please tell me that I’m wrong and I will shut the fux up.
Your wrong lol. The spot is great its an example of taking two figures popular from the culture and presenting it with skills and showing a level of respect for our culture. It wasnt negative and it didnt have some wack ass bs like them McDonalds spots that are like” Hey niggas we made these burgers for you come eats now boy” I feel Nike over the years has always went out of its way to respect hiphop shit they even threw a dj out there
Just don’t show disrespect to Kobe and all is fine.
Why does black Santa look like duke from the “Rent is too damn high” party that ran for mayor of NYC?
I was watching the God-awful Lakers & Cavs game with my kids when the commercial came on.
It gave me a chance to tell them about KRS, while they enjoyed the puppets of 2 of their fav players. So, it kinda bridged a gap. Though, I’m sure they soon grew weary of my Kris Parker tales, it still offered an opportunity to tell them about how pivotal the original song was & how important a figure KRS was back then, & obviously still today in their times.
& I think the commercials aimed @ their demographic anyhow. Puppets + Hip Hop + foam reindeer getting dunked on = roffles for the babies.
“Dunkin’ on a reindeer, dunkin’ on a reindeer”
KRS needs to get paid, dont hate Dallas!
Never been a KRS fan, so it should come as no surprise that I find him doing commercials for Nike a little hypocritical when he was the same cat talking about how Nelly was a part of the machine, was too commercial, and was not hip hop. And somehow this is? Still, I understand that the brother needs to make some ends somehow. Why not cash in on your own shit….”classic” or otherwise? *Awaiting the waves of hatred for my sacrilege”
@Mark
Yeah, but KRS has always been semi-hypocritical. All the shit he spoke on regarding the violence in Hip Hop, in regards to Triple C’s (& Bawse Rawse), but he posed on ‘Criminal Minded’ with guns. I’m not sure if he gets a pass or what, though.
Dude’s like a Hip Hop Jesse Jackson.
@ T. Grands
This is true. Like I said, I’ve never been a fan, but I won’t take any accolades from dude. He’s still monumental in hip hop due to the work he put in 20+ years ago. There’ve been some heads who argue that the pose on Criminal Minds was suppossed to be along the same lines as the photos of Malcolm X holding the semi-automatic by the window that are always accompanied by the “By Any Means Necessary” motto. Meh…get that money, KRS. Shit…I’d do that shit too if I could.
nah dp this is like spike doing a commercial with mj level. also this is nothing near the actual flaws you can see in rappers doing commercials for st. ides.
this isn’t the first time KRS did something for nike though. In the 90s he did a commercial for them which used a Beatles song at the time licensed by Michael Jackson. knowing that and seeing this it’s just ehhh.
bdp repped nike and shouted them out on at least 2 songs off the criminal minded album
I remember when phil knight…yeah the head of NIKE…had a son who was a rapper.
you’re not misreading what I wrote…
his son went and handed out checks to the cream of the crop of NYC late 80s/early 90s hip hop to work on his album…
and they all took the money…………
I wasn’t mad then….but never wanted to hear any songs or interviews from those guys about integrity and music and real hip hop…
KRS is still the man….still the one I used to argue FOR in the kane/krs/rakim debates….
he contradicts himself quite a bit though………F it..
I felt the puppets. (no Jim Henson) shit was funny. I give Nike shout outs for putting out Gangstarr’s now your mine on a commercial a few years back.
I thought the joint with Lupe was funnier and I can’t front I while I was interested to see the follow up it did kinda take me for a sec when I realized it was KRS. In the end…dude has done enough contradictory things that it doesn’t phase.
Nice spot, not neatly as blasphemous as the Gil Scott – Revolution is Basketball rip off in 1995.
Still unforgivable.
yea i feel ya DP…
bytheway Biz Markie’s “oh snap! guess what i saw?” is the best commercial of the decade hands down. that had nothin to do with hiphop whatsoever. like, why not have teh reallife krs just dress up in a santa suit and dunk on reindeers without rapping? Prali woulda been way more entertaining and less conflicted.
Thx Russ
i love this joint i was watching it today at work on my phone.
i kinda liked it… do not even remember what the kicks looked like.
@ Mark
i think (hope) you mean the second album “by all means necessary”
I love the commercial but it is definitely about the corporate takeover, the corporate co-opting hip hop to reach consumers.
I can see how fans, especially KRS-1 would sit back and wonder what’s up with these recent KRS-1 corporate collaborations.
You’re so wrong.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELxJfRamYUY