Recorded in 1985 the hip-hop classic “My adidas” was written by two of the three members of the legendary rap group Run D.M.C. Produced by Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin it was the first single from Run-D.M.C.’s third album Raising Hell. Released on May 15, 1986, it has been considered one of the most influential tracks in hip-hop history.
“It was a song that was about our sneakers, but it was bigger than just talking about how many pairs of sneakers we had,” DMC told MTV News. “It came from the place of people would look at the b-boys, the b-girls and go, ‘Oh, those are the people that cause all the problems in here.’ And, ‘Those young people are nothing but troublemakers and those young people don’t know nothing.’ So they was judging the book by its cover, without seeing what was inside of it.” — Darryl McDaniels
After the group’s manager Lyor Cohen invited an adidas executive to a show at Madison Square Garden, where the band ask the audience to hold up their adidas gear during the song’s performance along with a later released video seen by adidas showing the group rapping “Give us a million dollars!” came the first endorsement deal between any musical act and an athletic brand. “My adidas” not only sparked the birth of deals between artists and apparel companies but also multi-platinum recordings and sold out stadiums. Without these events “Hip-Hop” as we know it today would not exist.
