Kendrick Lamar made a calculated move by releasing his latest untitled song, a pointed critique of the industry, during the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards on Sept. 11. He added another Easter egg with the cover art, which features a beat-up pair of black Air Force 1s, the universal symbol for choosing violence. The story behind how K-Dot got the photo and the what happened next is an interesting one.
Kendrick Lamar Chooses Random eBay Sneaker Listing for Cover Art
Kendrick Lamar’s new song, which the internet is calling “Watch the Party Die,” took the internet by storm when it was released in opposition of the MTV VMAs. Fans were quick to point out the intentionality of the Compton, Calif. rapper using black Air Force 1s for the single cover and it didn’t take long for internet sleuths to discover the exact eBay listing where the shoes were up for sale. With many pairs of busted black Air Force 1s listed on the site, it appears K-Dot chose the one he used at random.
Read More: Metro Boomin Addresses His Role in Drake and Kendrick Lamar Beef
Owners of Shoes Capitalize Off Newfound Hype
It turns out the shoes Kendrick used belong to a couple in North Little Rock, Ark. Billy Lingo and Darla Wilson have been together for 20 years and started their eBay account Good2BYou in 2021. Local Arkansas news station THV11 published an interview with the couple on Sept. 24.
The shoes the couple posted on eBay were initially on sale for $70 and sold. However, once Lingo and Wilson began to be bombarded with calls from other eBay users letting them know about Kendrick Lamar using the photo of the kicks and how valuable the shoes potentially were, they canceled the order that was supposed to go out to the buyer.
“I’m not gonna lie to you, I didn’t know a lot about him,” Billy said about Kendrick Lamar in the video below. “But I really know about him now.”
The couple canceled the initial order and have since put the shoes for sale in an auction with the bid starting at $5,000 and a buy-it-now option for $75,000. They also plan on selling merch with the photo of the shoes. There are currently no bids on the sneakers.
Read More: Decoding the Messages and Lyrics on Kendrick Lamar’s New Song About Corporate Guys, Influencers and Corrupt Radio Personalities
Check out the story behind Kendrick Lamar’s untitled song cover art below.
Watch TVH11’s Coverage of the Couple Whose eBay Listing Wound Up Being Kendrick Lamar’s Cover Art
Listen to Kendrick Lamar’s Untitled Track
See the Most Disrespectful Hip-Hop Song and Mixtape Cover Art Ever
Which artwork is the most disrespectful?
