Kanye West’s Yeezy Boost sneakers evoke the same emotions people have to the man. You either hate them or you love them. There is no in-between.

I mean here was a man who had the gall to diss a brand and a corporation like Nike, out in public. And then he jumped ship to adidas Originals where he then churned out Yeezy Boosts, one after the other, only increasing their hype with each passing model and colorway. He is the man that made concert tees a massive trend. Such a massive trend, that people (me included) paid a lot of money for a worthless Gildan tee with screen prints!

I was not too crazy about the first edition of the 350 Yeezy Boosts, to be entirely honest. I thought they looked like something a homeless man would put together with left over potato sacks. I mean no disrespect to the homeless, but you get what I am saying?

But then the last colorway of the 1 version of the 350 Yeezy Boost dropped in Pirate Black and those sneakers just blew me away. Unfortunately, I was not able to secure a pair for myself. And then began the wait for the next drop. Surely enough, Ye’ came out with the 350 Boost V2. And I have been lucky with every single drop of the 350 V2. I scored the first Yeezy Boost V2 Beluga colorway which was rarer than the subsequent triple drop of the Bred, Olive and Copper from which I picked up the Yeezy Boost V2 Bred. During the Oreo drop, I managed to score another pair. And then came the 350 Yeezy V2 with the pull tab reinstated like on the first version. This colorway was also famously called Bred, being all black in color with a red font reading SPLY 350 keeping things minimal. I really liked the colorway. There was also the much-hyped and limited Zebra White 350 V2. But then, a few weeks earlier, I had decided to stop buying Kanye’s Yeezy Boost sneakers.

And there are a bunch of reasons for that.

1. Kanye was always a man with balls of steel – He was brash, outspoken and what some would call arrogant. But then, it was cool because he was an artist and is expected to be eccentric. I loved how he called himself a legend and a phenomenon. A lot of people think that of themselves but never would have the nerve to say it. Sadly enough, Kanye began using those orbs for reasons I thought were pretty vapid. Like saying he supports Donald Trump for instance. Sure, I am not an oppressed American/Immigrant nor is Trump my president. But Donald Trump supports bigotry and an artist like Kanye who always spoke about being oppressed as an individual or as a race, chilling with the President-elect was just a bit too much.
2. He’s stopped focussing on his primary end-game, his music – I get that Ye considers himself an artist and also a designer, whatever he wears (no matter how basic) becomes a trend and the product sells out. However, his first point of focus should be his music and not asking Mark Zuckerberg for a few million dollars to fund his secret project that will help humanity.
3. Kanye has always wanted more people to have access to his sneakers – One of his gripes with Nike was that the number of his sneakers released were were limited. When he switched to adidas, he promised that everyone would have access to his sneakers. And although that was not the case in the earlier releases, with every subsequent drop, the numbers (and frequency of drops) began increasing. Now everyone owns a Yeezy Boost 350 V2. Almost anyone who can make their way to the raffle. It is no longer as “exclusive” as it used to be. Sure, there are interesting colorways and all that. But how many Yeezy Boosts does a man need. I would rather save my money for another exclusive release silhouette. Like I did with the adidas Originals Bape NMD.

Going back to the first point, a lot of people burned their New Balance sneakers or deleted their Uber app when those companies showed support to Donald Trump. Because they do not associate him with democracy. And I frankly don’t care much for his presidency, except that it is disheartening to see his actions being oppressive to certain segments of humanity. If it’s racism or fascism, I wouldn’t know. But Ye let down a lot of his fans who looked up to him as an idol, an icon, who fights the system for all that is right and stands up for his people.

I am not stupid, I won’t burn my Yeezy Boosts. I worked hard to make the money and even harder to be able to score a pair. Plus I think, they are most comfiest pair of sneakers I have ever slipped my feet into. Period! Having said that, I am aware that since I stopped buying Kanye’s Yeezy Boosts, I have to look for worthy alternate options. And finding those in the market is no easy task.

The real question though is, will I be able to stick to this resolve. I am a man, who is easily tempted especially when it comes to sneakers. For instance, I made a commitment to not buy GR sneakers this year and only buy limited editions or exclusive releases. In the last 2 months, I already picked up 3 pairs and I am on my way to pick another by end of March!

What about you guys? Does any of this matter to you at all, or does the hype reign supreme? Let me know through the comments below.

And that cocaine white 350 V2 colorway scheduled for an April 2017 release looks pretty damn amazing!!! Just saying.

In the meanwhile, you can check out my Top 16 Sneaker pick-ups of 2016.