Black Air Force 1s by Viral Kendrick Lamar Cover no longer for sale – Footwear News

It's been a busy month for the viral Nike Air Force 1 sneakers featured on the cover of Kendrick Lamar's latest song.

The untitled song, dubbed “Watch the Party Die” by some media outlets, was shared by the rapper on Instagram on September 11th and included an image of a used pair of black Nike Air Force 1s. It didn't take long for internet researchers to discover that the artwork came from an eBay listing that listed the shoes as “vintage” and sold the same day for $70. But just when it seemed like the story would end there, the sellers of the sneakers came forward – and increased their price.

Billy Lingo and Darla Wilson, who run the eBay account Good2BYou in North Little Rock, Arkansas, spoke to local affiliate THV11 on Sept. 24.

“What happened was I sold the shoes and said, ‘Oh, great. I sold a pair of shoes,” Wilson told the station. “So I got them, wrapped them up and printed out the label. And suddenly my phone broke.”

Realizing they had a potential piece of hip-hop history on their hands, the sellers canceled the initial sale and put the shoes up for auction again, this time with a starting price of $5,000 with a buy it now option $75,000.

“We were presented with an opportunity, and I’m not a greedy person,” Lingo said. “You know, I have a buy now for $75,000 and I know that probably won’t happen, but it could.”

However, as of Sunday, the shoes are no longer available through the account, which instead sells T-shirts with the cover art.

When reached for comment, the account holders told FN that they canceled the last auction after “cyber bullying and harassment” occurred over the listing.

The Air Force 1 owners planned to sell the shoes at a later date and said competing eBay accounts and e-commerce stores are now selling merchandise featuring the image they claim to have.

As for Lamar, it was announced on September 8th that he would headline the Super Bowl LIX halftime show on February 9th, 2025.