XXll Confirmation...

From my last post I said that the J-XXll will be out in Early Feb... Try Late Feb...

February 24th to be Exact.

These J's change color in the heat people!

edit by boozenshoes January 31, 2007 4:02 pm

The first color in the XXIIs shown above are to be released on February 17th, 2007 (to coordinate with MJ's birthday). The heel piece at the back (shown below) changes from transparent to opaque after the shoe heats up.

J lll Craze.

Well It's 2007, annd Jordan and Nike are Droppin' big releases this year...With the first drop were the Black V's a couple weeks ago, Air Force 1 Ball shoe dropped this passed Saturday, which are alright...But the Focus is the re-retro of the Jay lll's. Fire lll's Drop 24th of Feb the Cement lll's drop 24th of March yet the accessories are coming in from left to right... Back packs, Chains, Tee's, Fridges, the works... *Sorry no fridge for all those Hypebeasts out there... but i will be on these... I passed on the Black V for a pair of the Fire lll or the Cement... Not sure which i should cop.

edit by boozenshoes January 31, 2007 3:56pm

The fire 3's do not drop on the 24th of February as previously indicated, they actually release March 24, 2007. And the cement 3's shown above are actually the Jordan III Flip and they are said to be released along with the fire 3's, the baby blue women's 3's and the cool grey and yellow 3's all shown below.

Now or Never Sale

The Now or Never Sale is in its final Stride at "Holt Renfrew." I was there this afternoon, and there is still alot of goodies they have on sale for more than HALF OFF...And on Friday it is an additional 20% off...C'mon guys... Sales at Holt do not occur too often...

Just a Friendly Heads up if you're lookin to go shopping in the next few Days...

2007 a year in the making

With the 2006 recap over and done with, 2007 is up on deck!
It'll be a big year in hip hop with hopefully some more great albums this year and streetwear with a lot of new companies making some big waves in the scene.
Gonna be a big year for sneakers with all the releases here's a few to name:
Black V's
XXIIs
aqua VIIIs
various IIIs
dinosaur jr sb's
glow in the dark pack
and the Beginning Moment Pack (black toe 1s and yellow 1s)

Keep lookin at us for the latest info on everything dope!!!
Peace
One
Love
Eazy

2006 Recap - Part 6 - Top 5 shoes

I know this is a lot of posts but it's been a big year! This is the last recap post i promise! So let's move on with it...

#5 - Nike Dunk Low Sb - Hawaii















These were released early in 06 and were one of the best Sb's released this year. Got my pair from the source but had to get rid of them because the size was too small, wish i still had them. Great concept for the shoe, great colors, and great use of materials (patent, nubuck). The only downside of these was that the black rubbed off on the orange toe when u walked, but oh well, shoes are made to be worn.

#4 - Air Jordan IV Retro - Mars/Militaries (Tie)
















The IVs were released in a big way this year. There were around 10 colors of these released (far too many if you ask me) and these were the only ones that were worth looking at. And by hell were they ever worth looking at! The mars were a great redo of the fire red IVs with the tiny Spike Lee picture on the hell, and the militaries were a perfect copy of the originals from 1989. Both were GR's which made it easy to get so everyone could get their favorite shoes.

#3 - Nike Dunk Sb Low - Sabatoge's (SBTGs)














These were a really limited Asia release SB, but somehow found there way onto the pick sheet of a few select Canadian stores. The Source was one of them but for some reason they only got sizes 9.5 and below (damn my 10.5 shoe size). The last of the good quality SB's i've seen in a while, and the eye patch lace covers were a great idea. Prices shot up on these but have leveled at around $300. Even if you think that's too much, you can't deny these were the best SB release of 2006.

#2 - Air Jordan V Retro - Grapes














Great colorway of a great shoe re-released this year as a lifestyle Jordan. That means they only dropped in the states, (bastards!) so no luck for Canadians unless you wanted to get em off ebay (which i had to do). The quality of these have gone down as have all the other Jordans but they're still better than the other V's. Grapes are a lot of peoples grails so releasing them was great for a low of people. Sold out in seconds and were on ebay even faster then they sold.

#1 - Nike Air Max 1 - CLOT














One word for these shoes: Unbelievable!! The first specialty shoe based out of Hong Kong ever made and it didn't disappoint. Made in extremely limited numbers these shoes have rocketed to $6-700 on ebay. I know I hated on the clear toe on the invisible woman AF1s earlier, but these were release way before those this year and didn't have the insane stupid following of the AF1s. Everything from the materials, to the colors, to the insoles, to the box was made just perfectly on these. If you happened to get your hands on these you were either extremely lucky, had a good "in" or spent some hard cash, either way you must be loving these shoes, I know I would.

2006 Recap - Part 5 - Most Overrated Shoes

Shoes that everyone in the world was hyped over that didn't phase me...

#5 - Nike Sb 3 Bears Pack















While technically 3 pairs they all suck so they get only one spot. Everyone was fiendin on these but to me they were really really lame. The colors weren't good, the quality sucked and fur?? Come on now. These just sucked a lot.

#4 - Invisible Woman AF1















Clear toes were cool when the Espo AF2 dropped in crazy limited numbers, but now it's getting played out. With this release (also in a purple colorway) fakers were in a frenzy! There were clear toe AF1s in every single colorway as well as in Jordan 7s. Awful just awful. The AF1 doesn't fit right to have the clear toe as well, but that's just me.

#3 - Dunk SB Day of the Dead














I know I put these in my pick ups of the year, but that was because of the crazy hype on the shoes and the fact that I got so much out of going to the store to pick them up. The quality on them is shit and they aren't that nice of a design either. The colors are nice and the idea is good, but still there was waaaay too much hype on these. Like over 100 pages of comments about them on ISS months before they even dropped.

#2 - Jordan Dunk Lows














Again with ruining the classics. Take a great shoe, with a great colorway, put that colorway on another great shoe and you've wrecked both of them. I know there were 3 colorways in this and they all sucked, but this was the worst. The fake pre-yellowed sole just added to the brutalness of these shoes. Everyone I know loved these, and I see soo many of these shoes on feet on a day to day basis, it's horrible.

#1 - Air Jordan Defining Moments Pack














Good idea to bring these out in a dope pack, but they butchered classics!!! The VIs with the jumpman and the gold 23 just looks shitty and the concords with gold and blue sole?? Destroyed the classics!! They were crazy limited and far too expensive for what they were and people just went crazy for them because they had an XI in them even though it wasn't a nice one. Sold out in 2 seconds and went for almost double on ebay. Hype is a bad bad thing, but in this case... who cares? They still sucked.

2006 Recap - Part 4 - Personal Pick ups

Got some great finds this year and some great pick ups, shoes and otherwise. Here's my top 5:

#5 - Air Jordan Retro V White/Emerald Green - Grape Ice















Ever since I've been into sneakers I've wanted a pair of Grape V's. I missed a few OG pairs on ebay for cheap back in 03-04 when I had no cash and I was beating myself over them for a long time. Then when they retroed them it was a must purchase for me. Not disappointed one bit. One of my 3 pairs of grails.

#4 - Beat Street on VHS



















Big pick up this year. Found Beat Street in the original package for $5 at Recordland this year. One of the first hip-hop movies showing all the 4 elements in it's birth and glory. DJ Kool Herc and Afrikata Bambata, how can it go wrong?


#3 - Delirious - Eddie Murphy on VHS



















One of the best stand-ups of all time, hands down! Eddie Murphy in his hay day in a full red leather suit on stage for an hour and a half. You'll never forget the G.I. Joe in the ass joke or the Ice Cream Man for that matter. Found this one at Value Village in the 1986 gold package for a low low price of $2.

#2 - Nike Dunk Low SB - Day of the Deads














The Source got hooked up on these this year. The first Canada exclusive shoe that people were going nuts for all over. There were 1000 pairs made split between Canada and Mexico. I happened to get my hands on 3 pairs for $175 each, sold one for $500, traded one for a pair of purple patent avengers and kept one to wear. One of my friends got 4 pairs and sold them all for a combined $1550, and one of my buddies traded his pair away for a pair of Calis ... and that brings me to my #1 pick up of the year!!

#1 - Nike Dunk Low SB - Calis















My ultimate grail of all Nike SB shoes was finally within grasp when one of my friends got a pair in a trade over ISS for a pair of day of the deads. I got them in my possession after i traded him a pair of de la soul lows and stealth 20s and couldn't be happier! I know I got them for a good deal but we're boys like that. With this shoe I am only one grail away from achieving all 3 of my grails.

2006 Recap - Part 3 - Top 10 Hip Hop Tracks

Bangers of the year, you know what this is son!!!! Let's get it!

#10 - Shooter - Lil' Wayne & Robin Thicke




















Although his album dropped last year, this song wasn't a single until '06. Crazy R&B Robin Thicke style track with some great Weezy lyrics puts this in the top 10 tracks of the year.
Best line: "You don't know how sick you make us/ I wanna throw up like chips in Vegas" - Weezy

#9 - Suck It or Not - Cam'ron ft. Lil' Wayne
















Song was nuts this year, literally. Weezy drops one of the hottest verses of the year on this track and you know you listened to this track at least a dozen times in a row just listening to the crazy one liners.
Best line: "Got somethin for your face, fuck Pro-activ" - Cam'ron

#8 - Chamillionaire - Ridin' ft. Krayzie Bone













Personally I don't like Chamillionaire that much, no disrespect but his style doesn't do it for me. But you have to admit that this was one of the tracks of the year based on the fact it was absolutely everywhere, and remixes were pretty nice as well. It was catchy as hell too, don't care who you are.
Best line: "They see me rollin, they hatin, patrollin, tryina catch me ridin dirty" - Chamillionaire

#7 - I Wanna Fuck You - Snoop Dogg ft. Akon












The #1 R&B hook singer of the last couple years hooks up with the big boss-dogg and you know it's straight fire. Best smooth rap/r&b track of the year. Track is too sick and if you don't know, now ya know.
Best line: "You know my pedigree/ Ex-dealer used to move 'phetamines" - Akon

#6 - Wamp Wamp (What It Do) - Clipse ft. Slim Thug




















Great lyrics, great steel drum beat, Slim Thugga on the hook, can't go wrong. Album is straight fire and you know the second single won't stray from the pack. Pusha T and Malice straight destroy it on every single bar of this one, an instant classic. This one gonna be on personally mix-cds for a looong time to come.
Best line: "Pull up so mean with the angel bowin/ or with the emblem bearin a stallin / european custom, the leather's italian" - Malice

#5 - Make It Rain - Fat Joe ft. Lil' Wayne














One of the best club & street bangers of the year. Weezy and Fat Joe go crazy on a Scott Storch beat. Whether you like Joe or Wayne or not, this track is insane and everyone was listenin to it for the latter part of the year. After this dropped it started a rainin craze and everyone was throwin dollas wherever they could.
Best line: "I'm in this bitch with the terror/ got a handful of stacks, better grab an umbrella" -
Lil' Wayne

#4 - Hustlin & Hustlin (Remix) - Rick Ross ft. Jay-Z & Young Jeezy












Everyone became a hustler this year but no one looked the part more than Rick Ross. This man looked like he coulda been the leader of a drug cartel easily. Big man with the shaved head and full beard, full of tattoos, the man is great. His album was #3 on my listthis year and this song (along with the remix) was one of the best of 06.
Best line: "Who the fuck you think you fuckin' with? I'm the fuckin boss!" - Rick Ross

#3 - We Fly High - Jim Jones ft. Max B.














This track had everyone and their grandmas and their dogs and their babies ... BAAALLLLIIINN!!!! This song was everywhere this year and even the entire NY Giants defense was doing the ballin after every single play. Easily one of the biggest singles of the year and easily the best ad-lib of the year as well.
Best line: "BAAALLLLIIINN!!!!" - Jim Jones

#2 - Tell Me When To Go - E-40 ft. Keak Da Sneak













The hyphy movement was doing it big at the beginning of the year mostly due to the success of this track. It was nuts and people were ghost-ridin the whip wherever they could. It brought a whole new type of yay-area slang to everyone all over the country and people in Canada were even ridin the yellow bus. Keak Da Sneak and his rasp was all over this one and the video just added to the popularity with everyone going dumb all over.
Best line: "Jesus Christ had dreads so shake em / I ain't got none but I'm planin on growin some" - E-40

Best track of '06 might come as a surprise to some but it shouldn't...

#1 - What You Know - T.I.



















This song was absolutely insane this year!! Along with the release of ATL: The Movie, this song served as a great advertisement for King, ATL, and T.I. himself. Produced by DJ Toomp (a lotta Jeezy stuff ex. I Luv It) this one banged every house party, concert, club, car, everywhere. Released early 06 previous to the release of King this track still gets regular play on my iTunes even into 07. With this and King being on my top 10 this year, T.I. was doing it real big!
Best line: "What you know about that, I know all about that" - T.I.

2006 Recap - Part 2 - Top 5 Overrated Hip-Hop Albums

There were a lot of good albums this year, a few great and a few just awful. Here are my personal top 5 most overrated albums over the year. Either overrated or I just think they should've been better than they were.

#5 - Jay-Z - Kingdom Come / Nas - Hip Hop Is Dead




















2 of the biggest contenders for king of NY put aside their differences and dropped an album each towards the latter part of 2006. I know I'm not alone in saying that I was insanely excited to hear both of these and after the few listens I gave both of them, neither were classics. Albeit they did have a few good songs (ex. Jay-Z - Lost Ones and Nas - Black Republican ft. Jay-Z), neither album lived up to the crazy hype that was put on both of these artists in the coming months before release. Both albums received very high critical acclaim but I think undeservedly. Jay-Z album had me hooked for a bit, but after 2-3 listens, it went off into the pile of cd's rarely to be heard from in a loooong time. Nas' on the other hand didn't even catch me right off the bat. It had it's good tracks, and a good overall message, but the singles bored me and it didn't seem to flow as well as I expected from a great Nas album. Both disappointing.

#4 - Murs - Murray's Revenge



















Start this off, I'm a huge fan of Murs and his normal man/skater/9-5 rap. But this is one of his weakest releases to date. The first Murs & 9th Wonder album 3:16 the 9th Edition was groundbreaking for Murs and gave him solo success in the underground rap world. Murray's Revenge did have a couple nice tracks to listen to a bunch of times, but as an album it didn't make it past a couple listens. A couple good tracks on the album were: L.A. & Barbershop ft. Big Pooh. With only 10 tracks long and only about 35-40 minutes this one almost instantly is gone into the compact disc realm of no return.

#3 - Method Man - 4:21 ... The Day After














We all know that after Tical in 1994, Method Man has not put together a good solo album. I didn't even know this album was coming out until it was already on the shelves so I just passed on it like I would a new D4L album. The first single "Say" was a real lame attempt at promoting the album because it was just awful. This wouldn't have even made it to the list if I didn't see it as an underrated album of the year on a few people's lists. So I thought maybe it wasn't that bad and went to my local Cash Converters and found it there for $6. Gave it a listen and it never even made it to the computer to put on my iPod. Might be selling this one back to Cash Converters in the near future if I run low on gouda.

#2 - The Game - Doctor's Advocate



















When The Documentary dropped I wasn't feeling The Game that much. He did have a good style and some nice lyrics but the G-unit outweighed the good. So when I heard he dropped G-unit and moved on and was dropping a new album I had a tiny bit of excitement inside me. I expected a lot from Compton's next great rapper but he failed me once again. The first single was a banger! "It's Okay (One Blood)" ft. Junior Reid was a great track, and if this was things to come on the album it would've been great. Then came the second single, "Let's Ride" and it was great too, a dope cruising obviously west coast influenced track. But almost immediately after that it went downhill. This album was nearly saved by a couple collabos by Snoop and Nas, but overall I was disappointed in The Game. I think he has it in him to drop a classic album, but this outing wasn't it.

#1 - Lupe Fiasco - Food & Liquor



















Don't get it twisted. I'm not hating on Lupe, I'm just not feeling this album as I was the first mixtape stuff I heard from him. After hearing Fahrenheit 1/15 I thought this dude was gonna blow up crazy with his first album! And he did blow up in the mainstream, but this album didn't live up to the hype of Lupe for me. "Kick, Push" got played out real quick when everybody just jumped on the hip-hop/skate/hypebeast bandwagons and although "Daydreamin'" had a dope video, the song sounded awful. The Jay-Z track on the album is probably one of the poorest collabos of the year. Overall this album was waaaaay overrated by everyone this year. Again it had a couple good tracks ("I Gotcha" & "The Cool") but it was sure as hell no front to back banger that it easily could've been.

25 Years of The AF1: The Second Coming

Heres to Start off 2007. The Ad Campaign for the AF1 Anniversary Click the Link Below to Check it out!!
"Juelz Santana & Just Blaze - "The Second Coming" Air Force Ones 25th" at NiceKicks.com

2006 Recap - Part 1 - Remember & Top 10 Albums

It's been a minute since I posted anything up on here for y'all, but here goes the 2006 recap. Better late than never right??
For starters, two HUGE losses in the music industry this year:



















J. Dilla or Jay Dee (02/07/74 - 02/10/06)
For those of you who don't know, J. Dilla was an excellent hip hop producer and very talented musician. He had been working with the Stones Throw label for most of his career releasing many memorable albums: Welcome 2 Detroit (on The Beat Generation), Jaylib - Champion Sound (Jaylib was J. Dilla and Madlib), and the most recent prior to his death due to Lupus and a rare blood disease was Donuts. He died only 3 days after the release of donuts and many artists have been using beats off that album in their own work in memory (i.e. Ghostface, The Roots, etc.). R.I.P. J. Dilla!!














James Brown (05/03/33 - 12/25/06)
James Brown was one of the most influential names in all of soul and funk music hence his nickname The Godfather of Soul. His career spanned five decades and countless albums and top 100 singles. He was performing up until the day of his passing and even had a tour planned where he was going to come through Calgary in January this year. Even in his 70's he was an unbelievable singer, dancer, and all around performer. I'm not 100% sure but I believe he is the most sampled artist in the hip-hop genre, but if not he has been sampled by many an artist including most notably Eric B. & Rakim. A great ear for music, an insane work ethic, and a fantastic performance will be surely missed by all and I'm sure his music will span many more generations. RIP James Brown!!

Top Hip Hop Albums of 2006

#10 - Field Mob - Light Poles & Pine Trees



















One of the most slept on albums of the year. Field Mob's two members, Smoke and Shawn Jay, killed it on this album. Probably the most one liners in this album of any all year. "My paint change faster than the cast of Road Rules" is just a taste of what they give on this album.
Tracks to listen for:
My Wheels
So What ft. Ciara
Sorry Baby ft. Bobby Valentino

#9 - Baby & Lil' Wayne - Like Father, Like Son



















On first listen I thought Cash Money had lost it on this one after losing everyone except these 2 men right here. But after a few more listens the album is actually really good. Baby still needs to step his game up to be on the same level as Wayne on a few of these tracks, but other then that there's some crazy bangers.
Tracks to listen for:
Army Gunz
Stuntin' Like My Daddy
Know What I'm Doin' ft. Rick Ross & T-Pain

#8 - E-40 - My Ghetto Report Card



















The Hyphy movement seemed to be on the up and up this year with the release of this album. The king of slang, E-40, had some new stuff for us here with going dumb and gettin gouda, and I'm sure everyone has now tried to ghost-ride the whip at one time or another under the influence of E-40. Album was great, but didn't have the lasting power to push it higher on the list.
Tracks to listen for:
Tell Me When to Go ft. Keak Da Sneak
Go Hard Or Go Home ft. The Federation
White Girl ft. Bun B., Pimp C., and Juelz Santana
U and Dat ft. T-Pain and Kandi Girl

#7 - Jedi Mind Tricks - Servants in Heaven, Kings in Hell



















Jedi Mind Tricks are back again for some more satanic punishment of the mic and this time kills it again lyrically. It is hard to match their last outing, Visions of Ghandi, but this one came damn close. The beats seemed a little softer than the last album but the lyrics are still on point. The track Uncommon Valour just shows their lyrical ability to tell stories.
Tracks to listen for:
Uncommon Valour: A Vietnam Store ft. R.A. the Rugged Man
Heavy Metal Kings ft. Ill Bill
Gutta Music ft. Reef the Lost Cause and Chief Kamachi

#6 - Cam'ron - Killa Season



















You can try to hate on Dipset all you want, but you just can't do it! I don't know why but their shit is always bangin! On Cam's third major release he comes hard on almost every track and even gets emotional on a track called I.B.S. talking about his problems with Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Great album from one of the best newer artists.
Tracks to listen for:
Touch It Or Not ft. Lil' Wayne
Wet Wipes
Get Em Daddy (Remix) ft. Hell Rell, J.R. Writer, and Jim Jones

#5 - T.I. - King




















T.I. comes hard on his third outing here. On my first listen I brushed it off as a mediocre album for 2006 but that was only because it didn't quite match up to his last album Urban Legend. After I got past that it was still a great album just not as good as his last, it went up the rankings in my books.
Tracks to listen for:
What U Know
Front Back ft. UGK
I'm Straight ft. B.G. & Young Jeezy


#4 - Ghostface Killah - Fishscale




















Ghost is probably the most consistent of all the Wu Tang members. He has the largest following maybe only rivaled by Method Man because of his mainstream success, but Ghost is a close second. This album is another great one, maybe his best since Supreme Clientele (he even states "You ain't even been hungry since Supreme Clientele" on the album). He has a couple J Dilla tracks on here and a couple my underground legend MF Doom. Overall another great banger from front to back.
Tracks to listen for:
Kilo ft. Raekwon
9 Milli Bros. ft. Wu Tang Clan
Clipse of Doom ft. Trife

#3 - Rick Ross - Port of Miami



















Rookie of the year Rick Ross comes strong with his first album based out of Dade County, Miami. His first single Hustlin' was one of the most played tracks of all year and the remix with Young Jeezy and Jay-Z just added to the crazy popularity of this new Rick Ross character. Along with him being on everyones albums he was easily the best newcomer in the biz this year. This album bangs from front to back and still about 9 months after the release I'm still bumpin it on the regular.
Tracks to listen for:
Hustlin & Hustlin (Remix) ft. Young Jeezy & Jay-Z
Cross That Line ft. Akon
Boss ft. Dre
Streetlife ft. Lloyd
... forget this, listen to every track!

#2 - Young Jeezy - The Inspiration: Thug Motivation 102



















""Last album did 2, I'm just tryina do three!" Jeezy did it again, straight burners from front to back, and you know I'm talkin bout those pots and pans. This album hits the triad of hip hop; Coke, Money and Death. Not too many guests on here, but enough to get by, and great guests at that. Kels kills it on Go Getta and same with T.I. on I Got Money. Nuff said bout Jeezy, either you know and love the man, or you think he's destroying hip hop. My take is he's giving the game a new face, as much as everyone says it's just straight coke and streets garbage, some of the lyrics have a slight bit of consciousness to them.
Tracks to listen for:
I Luv It
Bury Me A G
Go Getta ft. R. Kelly
J.E.E.Z.Y.

Before we get to the #1 here's a couple honorable mentions for the year 2006:
The Roots - Game Theory
Outkast - Idlewild
J. Dilla - The Shining
Akon - Konvicted
Dj Khaled - Listennn!

Drumroll please......
#1 - Clipse - Hell Hath No Fury



















The brothers from VA have done it again! Fresh of a 4 year hiatus and a bunch of label troubles (Fuck Jive!), they come back with a short but sweet (no crappy skits) album. As always it comes produced by The Neptunes and every single track works to a T. Limited to only a couple guests, and they didn't really need any. Insane wordplay, crazy beats, would you expect anything less from one of the greatest rap duos of all time? I didn't think so!
Tracks to listen to:
Chinese New Year
Wamp Wamp (What it Do) ft. Slim Thug
Trill
...just listen to every single one of the 12 tracks again and again and again and again!!!