This past Saturday (Sept. 16), Fat Joe officially released the “Blackout” colorway of his Terror Squad x Nike Air Force 1 to an overwhelmingly positive reception. On Tuesday (Sept. 19), the hip hop legend decided to gift a pair to none other than Bill Clinton at the former head of state’s global initiative event.
In video footage that he shared on social media, the Bronx emcee could be seen showing the 42nd president his prized pair while deeming him an “honorary member of the squad.”
“Special delivery. Hottest sneaker in the game, sold out in five minutes. But, if I didn’t bring it to Bill, it wouldn’t be official,” Joe said during the meetup. “I love you so much. So many years, you fought for the people. We love you. I’m a huge fan of yours. Thank you so much for what you did for us, but the mailman delivers.” Even better, the veteran talent posted an image of Clinton rocking the black-and-white kicks.
Back in August, Fat Joe opened up about his Nike collaboration during a visit to “The Breakfast Club.” “The guy who actually designed the sneaker for me got fired for designing the sneaker back in the day at Nike,” he explained to DJ Envy and Charlamagne Tha God, both of whom also received a pair for themselves. “And 20 years later, we’re celebratin’ the Air Force 1 that the guy designed.”
He continued by breaking down how the special edition Nikes are actually decades old, as could be seen in a past episode of “MTV Cribs.” “What happened was, I had a guy who was the designer of Nike making them for me, but without permission. So he gave me a couple of colorways and all that,” he revealed before dropping a surprising memory with a late fashion icon. “Virgil [Abloh], rest in peace, Virgil has asked me to do a Terror Squad Air Force 1… Then he passed away maybe 3 days later.”