G-Eazy and Jeff Staple Reveal Candid Love Affair With Sneakers and The Hustle
Life doesn’t slow down, even when you’re on the top like rapper G-Eazy and streetwear designer Jeff Staple. In an exclusive interview for Footwear News, the duo get candid about their love for sneakers, creating art, and building their respective empires in streetwear and music.
For Staple, who just closed the second ever STAPLE Day, an in-person and app event for exclusive merch and collection drops, there was no prophesied success. “I was never the most talented, never the richest, but I worked my a** off,” he tells G-Eazy. Before the start of his now cult followed brand, Staple began perhaps the way any young entrepreneur might. He found himself sneaking into print facilities, producing graphic tees, and later gifting them as a means for free advertising. “Me and a homie left the window of the silkscreen lab unlocked and we would break in and make T-shirts all night,” Staple confesses.
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But this was just the beginning for the young business mogul. “I also believe there’s a means to an end. What is the endgame? Am I just trying to win today’s battle? Or is there a 10- or 20-year vision?” Staple asks. Now, after celebrating 25 years of success, he sits at the center of a streetwear obsessed culture, hungry to create more.
“It’s refreshing to meet a person I’ve looked up to that still has a level of humility and excitement over these things. You don’t sound jaded. You still carry the joy of that first phone call and getting that opportunity,” G-Eazy tells Staple.
By Justin Bettman, courtesy of Footwear News
The same energy and charisma can be said of the award winning musician, launching his first collection of NFTs in partnership with OneOf back in April of 2022, and busy planning to perform at The Big E Arena this September. “It’s important to keep your finger on the pulse of what’s going on, and right now, we live in a rapidly evolving world with the NFT space and the way that currency is changing, the way that we authenticate art forms and then share and exchange and trade,” G-easy remarks.
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When it comes to his music, the pair agree there is no pretending to be something other than authentic, and sometimes a bit niche. “There’s a certain enigma to beautiful art that it’s not supposed to be understood by everybody,” G-Eazy states as the two palaver on being misunderstood. “I’ve fought that battle within my music for years, whether it’s the label or my managers being like, ‘I get that you’re passionate about this, I just don’t get it. Maybe it’s not for me.’ And I’m like, ‘Maybe it’s not, but it’s for me, and for that reason I have to get this out of my soul and give it to the world.’” But G-Eazy, imbued with the same love to constantly creating like Staple, understands the power of collaboration. “What’s the point in having a team if you never listen to them?”
Related: The Best Rapper Sneaker Collabs of All Time
Check out the full interview as the power duo dive into their worlds, reflect on their top five favorite sneakers of all time, and discuss their love affair for the hustle.
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