On Sunday, Canadian rap star Drake gave his 25 million Instagram followers a sneak peek at what he claims are solid gold Air Jordans.
Designed and fabricated by mixed-media artist Matthew Senna, the shoes represent a gilded replica of the Air Jordan 10s that Drake's record label — OVO — created in collaboration with Nike.
On Instagram, Drake (a.k.a. Champagne Papi) divulged that the shoes weighed 100 pounds. If that number is accurate and the shoes are made of 24-karat gold, the precious metal value alone would be more than $2 million.
Senna kicked up some controversy when he took to Instagram to show off the golden sneakers. If the pair did, indeed, weigh 100 pounds, how could he effortlessly grip a 50-pound shoe with only a few fingers? An explanation could be that Senna's pair are a gold-plated prototype.
Nevertheless, the golden Air Jordans — whether they be solid gold or gold plated — will be joining Drake's growing collection of bling. Followers of this blog may remember that back in October 2015, the Toronto native and fellow rapper Future celebrated their chart-topping collaborative mixtape, What a Time to Be Alive, with matching diamond-encrusted “World Champions” pinky rings.
Reminiscent of a Super Bowl ring, the designs by Avianne feature the words “World Champions” engraved in black enamel against a polished white metal background. Drake’s version of the ring displayed an owl emblem and the initials OVO, which stand for "October's Very Own."
On Drake's Instagram page, the music artist may have stated the obvious when he posted an image of the golden Air Jordans with the hashtag "TheseAreNotToWear." The rapper would be hard pressed to achieve any locomotion while donning 100-pound shoes.
Drake has been a brand ambassador for Nike since 2013.
Credits: Images via Instagram/msenna, Instagram/champagnepapi.
