Nelly, as the auctioneer of the live auction with the Nike Air Force 1 sneakers contributed by the rap star himself (Photo by Gregory Pace/FilmMagic)
<p><a href="https://dev.theshaderoom.com/?s=nelly&;post_type=post" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Nelly</strong></a> is taking credit for Nike&#8217;s shoe sales for his 2002 hit &#8220;Air Force Ones&#8221; about the classic basketball shoe, and even told fellow rapper&#8217;s to thank him for paving the way for deals they may have with the athletic clothing outfitter.</p>
<p>Earlier this week, the 47-year-old rapper told Complex that his song &#8220;opened Nike&#8217;s eyes to a lot of that&#8221; in reference to rapper&#8217;s getting sneaker deals, and added &#8220;at the time (20 years ago), they weren&#8217;t doing it.&#8221;</p>
<blockquote><p>“Everybody that got Nike shoe deals need to be thanking us right now,” the St. Louis native said during a recent episode of Complex’s Sneaker Shopping. “We opened Nike’s eyes to a lot of that. At that time, they weren’t doing it. They were basically on some ‘they’re gon’ win regardless.&#8217;”</p></blockquote>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Nelly&#8217;s Hit 2002 Song About Classic Nike Sneaker Led To Sponsorship, Ambassador Deals With The Brand</h3>
<p>The hit single, which celebrated the classic Nike shoe &#8211; the first shoe to ever make use of Nike’s Air technology &#8211; quickly became synonymous with the St. Louis native with the company eventually sponsoring part of his Nellyville Tour and giving him a &#8220;limited&#8221; brand ambassador deal.</p>
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<p>The song ended up peaking at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and was included in the 2003 film &#8220;Love Don&#8217;t Cost A Thing.&#8221; Just a few years after the song&#8217;s release, Nike reported that it had sold more than 12 million pairs of the Air Force Ones in 2005 alone.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Nelly Says &#8220;Air Force Ones&#8221; Song Helped To Drive Nike Sales, Begin The Brand&#8217;s Partnership With Hip-Hop</h3>
<p>According to Nelly, the publicity from the hit single was the genesis of Nike&#8217;s ongoing partnership with hip-hop, which caused the prices of the shows to nearly double in the course of less than a year following the release of the song.</p>
<p>He added that &#8220;we ain&#8217;t get no residuals,&#8221; either.</p>
<blockquote><p>“When we first started rocking Air Force Ones, they were $59.99. We did the song. Eight months later, they were $100 […] and we ain’t get no residuals,” he said.</p></blockquote>
<p>As of September 2022, classic white Air Force Ones sell for $110.</p>
<p>In 2017, Kendrick Lamar started his sneaker journey with Reebok but moved to Nike for an ongoing partnership. Wu Tang also has a shoe deal with Nike, the <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/product-recommendations/product-recommendations-lists/best-rapper-sneaker-collabs-1314042/wu-tang-clan-nike-dunks-1314298/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Rolling Stone</strong></a> reports.</p>
<figure id="attachment_78768" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-78768" style="width: 1140px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img class="size-full wp-image-78768" src="https://dev.theshaderoom.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/GettyImages-1341650891-scaled-e1632267193891.jpg" alt="Nelly is set to get the ";I Am Hip-Hop Award"; at the 2021 BET Hip Hop Awards for all of his accomplishments throughout his career." width="1140" height="963" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-78768" class="wp-caption-text">Nelly is set to get the &#8220;I Am Hip-Hop Award&#8221; at the 2021 BET Hip Hop Awards for all of his accomplishments throughout his career.<br />(Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>
<p>Meanwhile, Kanye West, Cardi B and Pharrell have all had partnerships with Adidas, with Eminem, Drake and DJ Khaled having sneaker deals with Jordan.</p>
<p>Run DMC similarly has a deal with Adidas, likely the result of their 1986 hit song &#8220;My Adidas.&#8221;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">&#8220;Air Force 1&#8221; Sneaker Along Earns Nike Over $800 Million Per Year Along, As Rapper Takes Credit For Sales</h3>
<p>In <a href="https://www.thefashionlaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/nike-v.-kickrich.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>legal documents</strong></a> filed by Nike last year against several custom shoemakers, the athletic clothing outfitter said the &#8220;Air Force 1 shoe remains incredibly popular and has maintained sales in excess of $800 million per year.&#8221;</p>
<p>That equals out to around $300 million in profit off of that single sneaker every year.</p>
<p>Last year, Nike&#8217;s Air Force 1 was the best-selling sneaker in the world, making it the second year in a row it&#8217;s held the top spot, according to <a href="https://www.sneakerfreaker.com/news/nike-air-force-1-best-selling-sneaker-2021-list" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Sneaker Freaker</strong></a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://dev.theshaderoom.com/shantel-jackson-talks-about-her-split-from-nelly-after-7-years-update/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>The Shade Room</strong></a> reported that Nelly split with partner Shantel Jackson last year, after Jackson shared that she and Nelly decided to call it quits after seven years together.</p>
<p>He had previously dated Ashanti for about ten years before the two broke up in 2014.</p>
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