Not only is Kendrick Lamar’s newest single, “Watch The Party Die,” setting the hip-hop world on fire, but it’s also making a pair of black Nike Air Force 1s a full-on cultural phenomenon. The sneakers-which became instantly iconic when they appeared on the cover art for the track-have become the centerpiece of a wild eBay auction, courtesy of a Little Rock, Arkansas couple looking to cash in on their unexpected brush with fame.
Billy Lingo and Darla Wilson, the owners of the eBay account “Good2BYou,” initially listed the shoes for the relatively modest price of $70. That was before fans connected the black Air Force 1s to the cover art featuring Lamar in his new song. The couple has since raised the stakes, relisting the sneakers for the astronomical starting bid of $5,000- and if that’s not enough, there’s even a “Buy It Now” price of $75,000.
“I know that’s probably not going to happen,”
Lingo said, referring to the ambitious Buy It Now price,
“but it could.”
He has his eyes set on the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to sell what he calls a piece of hip-hop history.
The eBay description pulls no punches either, naming them “the actual shoes in the photo” and promising to include original order details and even eBay’s cancellation records for authenticity. No longer just shoes, these size 12 Air Force 1s symbolize something much greater.
“Watch The Party Die” is much more than a song. It was intentionally leaked during the MTV VMAs on September 11, 2024, and considers the landscape of hip-hop today to influence fake influencers and phony media. But then, of course, there was the cover art, too—the black Air Force 1s that have been imbued with cultural cache as everything from rebelliousness to street cred.
Kendrick drives his message home with the image of standing against the circus of the industry, being oneself.
To sneakerheads, the symbolism is everything. The black AF1s hold a special place in street and hip-hop culture, and for this particular pair, thanks to Kendrick, it has moved past just footwear.
It’s not just Lingo and Wilson who got caught off guard. The original eBay seller, who goes by “SneakerKing23,” had no inkling that the sneakers they were trying to unload would one day grace the cover of a Kendrick Lamar song.
“I didn’t know all that much about him. I knew he was a big deal in the music world, but to think my old sneakers would end up on his album cover- never could’ve predicted that! “
In an interview with THV11, The seller shared in disbelief how this had unfolded. SneakerKing23 was cleaning out their closet, but now their forgotten pair of kicks is at the hip of but one of the biggest names in music.
Not content to stop at the auction payout, Lingo and Wilson went on to declare a forthcoming line featuring t-shirts with the now-iconic cover art photo.
“It’s a way to give people a piece of the moment, even if they can’t afford the shoes,”
said Wilson. It’s the sort of savvy business move that speaks volumes about how fast fame, particularly in both the sneaker and musical worlds, can alter the value of something as innocuous as a pair of shoes.
It’s a huge moment for collectors: sneaker culture runs on stories, and there’s no bigger story than these black Air Force 1s. For the music fans, this was a further sign that Kendrick Lamar could turn even the most mundane of objects pair of kicks into robust metaphors for his cultural critique.
