Kendrick Lamar fans have the opportunity to purchase the Nike sneakers featured on the cover art of his latest song — but they’ll have to cough up a pretty penny.
The untitled track, which has been referred to as “Watch the Party Die,” was released on Instagram earlier this month accompanied by a photo of a pair of a beaten-up black Air Force 1s, which internet detectives later discovered came from an eBay listing.
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Little Rock, Arkansas news station THV11 tracked down the owners of the kicks, a couple named Billy Lingo and Darla Wilson, to get their reaction.
Wilson explained that they initially sold the sneakers for $70 until her phone began “blowing up” with messages about K. Dot’s cover art — which, understandably, came as shock to them.
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“I’m not gonna lie to you, I didn’t know a whole lot about him,” Lingo admitted. “I knew who he was. My son had told me about him and my daughter had told me about him, but I really know about him now.”
After the song’s release, the couple quickly canceled their original eBay listing and have relisted the sneakers via an auction for a significantly higher sum, with bids starting at $5,000 and a “buy it now” option for $75,000.
Since they own the image, Lingo and Wilson have even begun selling T-shirts adorned with their now-famous black Air Forces.
“Watch the Party Die” was Kendrick Lamar’s first release since his high-profile feud with Drake, and while it doesn’t contain any direct shots at the 6 God, it does find him taking aim at another, much larger target: the music industry.
Released just as the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards were kicking off, the scathing, five-minute track contains shots at “killers” and “scammers,” “street n-ggas” and “corporate guys,” the “radio personality pushin’ propaganda for salary” and the “obvious degenerates that’s failing to acknowledge the hope that we tryna spread.”
He also namedrops fellow socially concious MCs Lecrae and Dee-1: “Sometimes I wonder what Lecrae would do / Fuck these n-ggas up or show ’em just what prayer do? / I want to be empathetic, my heart like Dee-1 / But I will—,” seemingly omitting a threat to his enemies.
The track has also been interpreted as a response to the backlash over his Super Bowl halftime show in New Orleans next February, which many — including Nicki Minaj, Birdman and Cam’ron — argued should’ve been given to Lil Wayne instead.
