Interview: Fabolous & Jadakiss Cooked Up Limited Edition New Balance 247 Sneakers

By Darryl Robertson

There’s only a handful of rappers from Fabolous and Jadakiss’ class who are still relevant in today’s hip-hop game. With their long-awaited joint project, Freddy vs. Jason, set to arrive this year, New Balance created a version of the New Balance 247 Luxe specifically to commemorate the forthcoming project, Freddy vs Jason.

The historic shoe company introduced its latest pair of 247 sneakers with a design that was made with comfort and style in mind for today’s generation of young hustlers. Fab and Kiss are the perfect pair to bring the 247 kicks to the streets of the Rotten Apple. These two emcees bring fresh ideas to the table, yet stay rooted to their origins.

F.A.B.O and Jada are no freshmen to the sneaeker game, though. Jada was part of the Reebok A5 Question Mid and Fabolous was tapped to work on the Patrick Ewing Packer Shoes.

Over the weekend, VIBE was invited out to Foot Locker on 33rd Street (NYC) for the launch of the New Balance 247 Lux Pack. Both emcees gave us the scoop on why they rock with New Balance and an update on Freddy vs. Jason.

VIBE: First, what’s up with Freddy Vs. Jason?
Fabolous: It’s cooking, man. It’s coming. I know this is the generation of the microwave.
Jadakiss: But it’s in the burners on the stovetop. This the microwave era, but fortunately we using the old fashioned way. We using the top of the stove for this.
Fab: We bringing the pots out, you know what I mean? We bringing some producers out that are gonna add a few elements. This is a home cooked meal. This ain’t a pop-out-of-the-freezer thing, so that’s why we’re taking our time with it.

How did this New Balance collab come about?
Fabolous: Well, the 247s, that’s my nickname for the shoes by the way. We’re coming out with this album, so we just wanted to promote both of them and bring a custom design to the shoe. Brown, black, and white are the O.G. colors — and these are the customs of it. I thought it would add a little flavor to the shoes, and give it a fresh look. Customs catch people’s eyes. Freddy and Jason are two big villains everybody knows, if you’ve seen the movies, so there’s a lot of different elements that make the custom collaboration with Mache cool and fun.

What makes New Balance stand out compared to other sneaker brands?
Jada: The comfort — first and foremost. They are probably one of the most comfortable sneakers you can get for your money. We be on our feet a lot of hours, so they’re a win,win for us.
Fab: I’m old school, so they go good with the sweatsuits. All the dope boys used to wear the sweatsuits back in the days so they always the New Balance. So that was my first lock in on the New Balance.

Fab, your Fabolous Week was crazy. These shoes companies recognize your gangsta.
Fab: [Laughs] Yeah, they came to me with different themes, and I thought it would be cool. Thanksgiving/Black Friday is a big shopping week and big sneaker week so we had to come out then. My favorite ones were the New Balance 999 Boathouse Row.

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