Breaking Down the Wale-Nike G.T. Future Connection

If you followed sneakers during the blog era, there’s likely a specific image of Wale wearing Nikes engrained in your memory.

From the late 2000s to the early 2010s, the Washington D.C. native was widely seen as the king of freshness amongst hip-hop’s rising flock of talent. The likes of Kid Cudi, Drake, Big Sean, Wiz Khallifa, and the Cool Kids all had their thing, but they arguably fell short of "Ralph Folarin"—and brands took notice.

Wale was frequently pictured wearing LRG, going as far as debuting the Air Foamposite One “Eggplant” in one of the brand’s ads in 2008. Supreme, BAPE®, and the Hundreds were staples in the artist’s wardrobe. On the footwear front, he wore a number of different brands, but never looked so in his element as he did when he rocked the Swoosh.

From classic Air Maxes to Orange Box Era-Nike SB Dunks, the sneakers Wale wore throughout his early career set him apart from most of his peers. It was a common occurrence to see the Attention Deficit artist rock some non-current pair in music videos and photoshoots while other rappers wore the latest Air Jordan retro.

Folarin didn’t discriminate against MJ’s line—in fact, he particularly enjoyed pairs like the Air Jordan 7 “Olympic” and original Air Jordan 2—but his use of older, somewhat obscure styles spoke to his sneaker knowledge. Diehard and casual fans of his music took notice, oftentimes being treated to mentions of random Nikes in songs like “Fitted Cap” (2011).

Wale’s appreciation of and association to the Nike Foamposite franchise, however, trumped most other footwear he wore.

As mentioned before, the then-23-year-old helped the Swoosh unveil the model’s “Eggplant” colorway in '08. Many netizens were introduced to Eric Avar’s iconic design through Wale's LRG ad, but he had long been an admirer of the sneaker.

Growing up in Washington D.C., Olubowale Victor Akintimehin saw just how mesmerized his city and the surrounding area became with Penny Hardaway’s beetle-inspired shoe. He didn’t get them back in 1997 and he wasn’t going to miss out on Nike Basketball’s retro run of the silhouette. Wale's co-sign throughout the late aughts and early 2010s helped the brand build excitement for color schemes like “Copper” and “Dark Pine” in addition to “Weatherman” and “Asteroid” pairs that featured some of the sneaker’s earliest printed and gradient uppers.

Naturally, fans began to wonder when Nike would collaborate with Wale on his own sneaker project. Connoisseurs of all things Wale, however, knew the D.C. representative had already gotten special pairs made by the Oregon-based institution.

If you wanted to stay up-to-date with Folarin during the late '00s, you had to check out the Elitaste blog. Run by Daniel Weisman, the platform gave audiences a glimpse of what went into the Wale Operation. From video shoot invites to tidbits about life in-between tour stops, Elitaste's well of content was huge for big-time fans of the then-Interscope/Allido Records-signed rapper.

A series of posts published throughout '08 shared Wale x Nike-related information and pictures. The relationship blossomed thanks to the song "Nike Boots" released on Nov. 17, 2007. Inspired by and dedicated to the Air Max Goadome, the track helped shine a nationwide spotlight on an important part of the DMV's footwear culture.

According to Carl Blakeslee, the sneaker-inspired boot's designer, "[D.C.] and Baltimore were the first cities to truly embrace the Goa," which debuted in 2000. Wale was amongst the silhouette's most vocal supporters.

"[W]e started wearin nike boots in 98 .. becuz u couldnt wear timbs in the club ..so dudes was copin them joints ..anyways ..." wrote user ILoveHipHop43 on the NikeTalk forums on Oct. 11, 2008.

That user was Wale.

On Dec. 1 of the same year, the bubbling artist (who'd join the popular sneaker and streetwear-related discussion board on Dec. 25, 2006) shared that the music video for his song "Nike Boots" would finally be premiering online. The song had gotten traction throughout the course of a year, getting on the radar of folks from Beaverton, Oregon.

In the months prior to the premiere of the boots-related music video, Nike's ACG and Sportswear divisions treated Wale to both early pairs of upcoming products and his very own co-branded Air Max Goadome and Air Max 90 Boot.

Posts on Elitaste from June 2008 showcase the longtime Swoosh enthusiast unveiling a silhouette that brought together two DMV classics: the Goas and Foams. Aptly-named the Air Max Foamdome, the hybrid design was right up Wale's alley given his affinity with Blakeslee and Avar's designs.

Wale even used the Foamposite and Air Max-donning silhouette on the flyer inviting folks to the video shoot for "Nike Boots."

The 4 minutes and 18 seconds-long song was a mainstay on MTV upon the release of its visuals. Shortly after, Wale and Mark Ronson presented a live concert and DJ set, respectively, at New York City's Highline Ballroom. Powered by Nike ACG and Hot 97, the show was an important milestone for the then-24-year-old rapper.

Prior to the performance, Wale appeared at a meet-and-greet event hosted at Nike Sportswear's 21 Mercer Street location. Those early enough at the store were able to win a free ticket to that night's concert at Highline Ballroom. The first 25 people to show up at the meet-and-greet were blessed with a free pair of the limited edition "Flyer Than the Rest of 'em" Air Max Foamdome by Wale.

Limited to just 95 pairs, the sneaker-inspired boot featured a blue finish reminiscent of the original "Royal" Foamposite one from 1997. Lyrics from "Nike Boots" were embroidered onto the tongue, which included an Interstate 95-inspired emblem. Each pair of Wale Foamdomes were numbered out of 95.

Wale's music career took off throughout the remainder of the late 2000s. His debut studio album, Attention Deficit, released on Nov. 10, 2009. Outside of the music, the vocal Seinfeld fan cemented himself as one of hip-hop's savviest and flyest sneaker collectors.

With the Air Foamposite franchise's revival (and off-shoots) of the era, Wale became synonymous with pairs of the Air Foamposite One, Air Foamposite Pro, and Air 1/2 (Half) Cent. The Tim Duncan-co-signed Air Total Foamposite Max from 1998 also became a staple for the Washingtonian, who continues to praise the robust basketball shoe today.

Wale waned in popularity heading into the mid-2010s. Although he released commercially-successful singles like "Bad" (2013) and "My PYT" (2016), antics outside of the music and the rise of acts from Atlanta combined to make Wale less visible to the more mainstream audience who'd been aware of his first few albums.

On the sneaker front, the "Dig Dug (Shake It)" rapper continued to rock heat, but he, like many other rappers, began to wear high fashion footwear more than traditional sportswear designs heading into the late 2010s.

In September 2018, Wale formed part of a select group chosen to help Jordan Brand promote the Air Jordan 5 "Off-Noir" collaboration with Paris Saint-Germain (PSG). His friendship with Kevin Durant also kept him supporting the Swoosh a decade after the brand's Sportswear and ACG divisions gifted him his own footwear.

Newer Nike SB collabs and classic Nike Basketball styles stayed in rotation, but Folarin began heavily rocking with the Three Stripes during the first-half of 2024.

"First n***a to rock my sh*t, man," proclaimed an excited Anthony Edwards as he signed his game-worn jersey for Wale following a win against the Sacramento Kings on Oct. 24, 2024.

The Minnesota Timberwolves star referred to the musician's run of 'fit pics in which he wore the Adidas Anthony Edwards 1.

For many, the 3-Stripes-branded design restored a feeling that had been lost for the better part of a decade. As the world turned towards chunky, running-inspired sneakers and vintage, thin-soled trainers, there was a segment of sneaker and street fashion-enthusiasts holding out for one of the big brands to develop a performance shoe that translated well onto the concrete. Wale regularly wore designs like the Kobe 6 Protro, showcasing he hadn't lost a step from the days that saw him wearing pairs of the KD 4 and LeBron 8 with BAPE®, Supreme, and other streetwear staples. Edwards' debut signature model, however, allowed those like the D.C. native to give retro product a break.

Adidas Basketball's model debuted in December 2023 to rave reviews. Spearheaded by Patrick Zempolich, the Anthony Edwards 1 (formerly AE 1) offered reliable performance in an eye-catching package. The combination of a slew of bold color schemes and the NBA All-Star's confidence on and off-the-court helped solidify the silhouette as one of the most-exciting designs of recent memory.

Wale wasn't the only proponent of Edwards' sneaker, but he was arguably the most visible and freshest. And the world noticed—including the folks at Nike.

Behind-the-scenes details of the project may never surface, but what's certain is that Wale took to Instagram on Aug. 19, 2024 to unveil his starring role in the launch of the "DMV Cherry Blossom" Foamposite One.

The Washingtonian had teased the sneaker days earlier via promotional material for his Every Blue Moon Tour, but fans couldn't have predicted that the swoosh-branded pair was a "Phantom Violet/Pink Rise"-colored ode to the Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia area.

Insoles include imagery of Japan's cherry trees gift to the U.S. from 1912, as well as DMV text on the heel's pull tabs. Campaign visuals highlighted important touch-points and figures to the greater Washington, D.C. region as Folarin's song "Ghetto Speak" played in the background.

Sneaker enthusiasts of a certain age immediately took to social media to celebrate Wale's participation in the "DMV Cherry Blossom" roll-out. For those who had followed his career since the late 2000s, his association to a pair of Foams dedicated to his home city was as full-circle as it could get. The shoe wasn't a proper collaboration between the rapper and his favorite brand, but it displayed an understanding from the biggest sportswear brand in the world of a single person's significance to one of its most iconic designs.

The commemorative sneaker and its roll-out were surely in the works months before Wale began to show the Anthony Edwards 1 love, but his co-sign of the 3-Stripes-branded model likely raised the stakes for an impeccable execution of the "DMV" Foams. Furthermore, it's possible that positive public reception of Wale rocking the Adidas Basketball design laid the groundwork for the Swoosh's hoops division entrusting the artist with its next big bold bet: the Nike G.T. Future.

Part of Nike Basketball's Greater Than series, which kicked off in 2021, the G.T. Future deviated from most swoosh-branded hoops designs from the last few years. Its mid-to-high-top trim and non-textile upper harkened back to a different time in the brand's history of performance models. The Wale co-sign further reinforced the idea that the all-new silhouette was a conscious effort from the Oregon-based institution to capture some of the magic it had abandoned years ago.

The sneaker debuted at 2025 NBA All-Star Weekend in the Bay Area, a move steeped in tradition. Even the most casual of collectors were quick to identify the model's upper material as Foamposite, but only savvy enthusiasts drew a connection between the G.T. Future and Zoom Hyperflight from 2001.

Since February's event, Wale has seemingly put away all his pairs of the Adidas Anthony Edwards 1, purging his Instagram account of the numerous 'fit pics that included the popular hoops shoe. Instead, different colors of the G.T. Future have been consistently featured across his social media accounts.

Public appearances from the now-40-year-old creative have become spectacles for countless fans of Nike Basketball's new offering as they could reveal never-before-seen pairs of the exciting performance model.

No Wale-specific colorway has been rumored at the time of writing, but rising stars AJ Dybantsa and Juju Watkins are spearheading all Player-Exclusive (PE) efforts of the Greater Than product.

Nike Basketball's first public release of the G.T. Future occurred on Sunday, Aug. 10, 2025 during the NYvsNY tournament in Brooklyn. Lucky attendees were able to secure an early pre-order of the model's "Fire" color scheme, which Wale debuted in February. "Lightning" and "Metallic Silver" looks have already been confirmed by the Swoosh as launching throughout the Fall 2025 season.

Whether or not Wale continues to form part of the G.T. Future's lifecycle has yet to be determined, but what's already been solidified in the history books is the power of the Washingtonian's stamp of approval.

From learning game while growing up in D.C. throughout the mid-1980s and '90s to working in sneaker retail as he hunted down "grails" online and in-person, Olubowale Victor Akintimehin is an authentic representative of this thing of ours. His "flowers" might've arrived a little late, but the important thing is that he is around to be able to smell them.