20 Jul Nike ‘Franchise’ Air Force 1

The Air-Force 1; a staple in any sneakerheads closet. The Franchise AF1, not something you see every day.
Rooted in Hip-Hop Culture of the early 2000s, the Franchise Af1 pays homage to the lyrics of the great Jay-Z, and the basketball career of NYC Legend, John ‘Franchise’ Strickland.

The story goes; It’s 2003, the Rucker Park basketball league is at it’s peak and Jay-Z’s team ‘S Dot Carter’ is making its push towards the championship game. They’ve just reached the semi finals, and it’s been a tightly contested match. John ‘Franchise’  Strickland throws the perfect pass to a teammate, who goes on to miss the open lay-up. The opposing team grabs the rebound and makes a bucket at the other end.

It was then that Jay-Z called a timeout and attempted to refocus his troops before time begins to expire. John Strickland, comes off the court, upset at his teammate and exclaims “I’ve been feeding it to you dude, you just need to finish your breakfast”. At that point, concentration was lost, with Jay-Z breaking into laughter, but the frustration from The Franchise was enough to inspire S Dot Carter to run out victors in one of the most famous streetball matches of all time.

Jay-Z thought so highly of the line, that he used it to describe his work on the the first of his ‘final albums’ The Black Album, during the track Public Service Announcement, where he proclaims ‘My homie Strick told me dude finish your breakfast’.
Thus; The Franchise AF1. Honouring the late, great John Strickland, and paying homage to Rucker Park, New York City and the greatest rapper a live.

The Franchise Air-Force 1 was released in New York City only, as one of Nike’s infamous Quickstrike releases that had people lining up for days. This Air Force 1 features a buttery all white leather upper, gum-sole in true NYC style, and the famous words ‘Finish Your Breakfast’ on the tongue as well as the word ‘Franchise’ stamped into the heel-cup. We’ll let the photos do the talking on this one. These aren’t available any longer in stores, but are an absolute must for any sneakerhead, Jay-Z fan or true baller, should you be able to get your hands on them.