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As we crept into another decade, labeling an artist under a certain genre became irrelevant, really impossible. Theophilus London is the epitome of just that, you can’t label him other than just a free spirit with endless talent that could easily have him on everyone’s radar before the year is finished. His “Lover’s Holiday” EP was pretty sick, his directorial debut for his own video “Century Girl” proved that his talent goes beyond just the musicianship, and his official debut release is sounding like it will have the Brooklyn native in contention for best new artist. The musician has been spotted with some sneaker heat as well, whether it's been the Jordan VI “Infrareds” (his current personal favorite) or some Ronnie Fieg Asics that the masses have yet to get their hands on. Theophilus knows shoes. We sat down with TL and discussed his 25 favorite sneakers — click through the gallery to see which ones made the list and what he had to say about each one.
25 Tech Challenge
#25 Nike Air Tech Challenge
Theophilus: “I just think that because people originally called sneakers 'tennis shoes' — I thought it was a good representation of a tennis shoe. It took me back to the '90s and watching [Andre Agassi] play in them. I never had the shoe, but I always really liked the design."
24. Bron South Beach
#24 Nike Air Max LeBron 8 “Pre-Heat”
Theophilus: “It’s LeBron’s best shoe, but I still don’t think he is capable of making a shoe like Jordan or as stylish and as legendary as a Jordan shoe. But I think it is a really good basketball shoe. I’m going to get them to work out in.”
23. Adidas Mutumbo
#23 adidas Mutombo
Theophilus: “I am just a fan of retro shoes and I think they made his shoes African-inspired because of where he is from, so I really appreciated that shoe.”
22. Dunk Statute of Lib
#22 Nike Dunk High Premium SB – Statute of Liberty
Theophilus: “I just ran into those, I’ve been a fan of Dunks for a long time even after I stopped getting them a few years ago. I like the Statue of Libertys because you wear them and just like the Statue of Liberty gets old and rusty, the shoe gives that same effect underneath the original green color.”
21. Jordan IV Black Cat
#21 Air Jordan IV “Black Cat”
Theophilus: “I had these in junior high or high school and they are cool because of the all-black colorway and the Jordan IV models is one of my favorites.”
20. Adidas KB8
#20 adidas KB8
Theophilus: “One of my favorite Kobes and probably the only Kobes I liked. It was just reminiscent of Kobe’s early days and the shoes were cool.”
19. Air Zoom 5
#19 Nike Air Zoom Flight Five
Theophilus: “Those players, Kidd and those guys, their early sneakers made those guys stand out.”
18. Griff 2
#18 Nike Air Griffey Max 2
Theophilus: “I remember being in Flatbush (Brooklyn) and those were the fucking sneakers of the summer, the Griffeys. Those were the only sneakers that could compete with the Jordans and the Barkleys. It was cool to see a baseball dude have a sneaker shining in the hood.”
17. Foam 1
#17 Nike Air Foamposite One
Theophilus: “I never liked the Foamposites on me, but I always liked the material and how they looked in general.”
16. Penny 3
#16 Nike Air Penny III
Theophilus: “I never had them but I remember I had the Lil’ Penny doll wearing the all-black shoes and I just really liked those.”
15. Jordan 1 25th
#15 Air Jordan 1 25th Anniversary
Theophilus: “I remember this kid who was as tall as me, a little lighter than me and he always rocked them in junior high school. I never bought them but I always thought they looked really good.”
14. Jordan 9 Cool Grey
#14 Air Jordan IX “Cool Greys”
Theophilus: “I had these in high school and they were the closest things to the “Cool Grey” XIs. Having the IXs was as cool to me.”
13. Bark 2
#13 Nike Air Max 2 CB 94
Theophilus: “These were the hottest shit to have going back to school when they came out. These are the hottest Barkleys to me. The black with the purple and white was just fucking perfect.”
12. M Jackson LA Gear
#12 Michael Jackson LA Gear Originals
Theophilus: “I recently found these a year ago but not in my size and I wanted to buy them, but then I was like 'man I’m not going to buy these shoes that aren’t in my size and be a hoarder or something.' It was real cool to run across these shoes, I found them in a flea market in L.A.. I took some photos of them and put them on Hypebeast’s blog. Most of all, I loved them because the commercial Michael shot them in was phenomenal.”
11. Jordan VI
#11 Air Jordan VI “Infrareds”
Theophilus: “This is currently my favorite shoe. I mean, shit it’s just a really good shoe, the way it is structured is amazing. The guy who designed these (Tinker Hatfield) is just a genius.”
10. Shaq Attack
#10 Reebok Shaq Attaq
Theophilus: “Shaq at the time was the most famous person in the world next to Michael Jackson and Michael Jordan. I would say at least in America, but then he started influencing people outside of America because that’s what the NBA does. He was doing movies, took Hollywood by storm. It was just crazy seeing Shaq going from being in movies to breaking rims in the Shaq Attaqs.”
9. Jordan XI Cool Grey
#9 Air Jordan XI “Cool Greys”
Theophilus: “I actually was with a group of people and one of my boys got tasered by the police [while waiting] in line for these and it got me a little bit too. We were waiting in line at VIM, and everyone was waiting on these shoes for hours, like waiting for turkey on Thanksgiving. I swear if you didn’t make it back to school in these the next week you would cry like a failure. I was one of the people in line, it got rowdy, and then the cops came in and started fucking people up. My parents were pretty pissed.”
8. Dunk MF Doom
#8 Nike Dunk High Premium SB – MF Doom
Theophilus: “I am a big fan of Dunks, it was definitely one of my top two Dunks of all-time.”
7. Dunk Melvin
#7 Nike Dunk High SB – The Melvins
Theophilus: “That’s my number-one Dunk of all-time. I still have two or three pairs of these.”
6. J3 True Blue
#6 Air Jordan III “True Blues”
Theophilus: “I just grabbed these last month. I am just really into the blue detailing on the sneaker and the red branding on the tongue.”
5. J3 Black
#5 Air Jordan III Black/Cement
Theophilus: “Oh God, to me when you see that shoe you have to bow to them like Japanese etiquette to people. Those shoes are that legendary.”
4. Fieg Blue Salmon
#4 Asics Gel-Lyte III x Ronnie Fieg “Blue & Salmons”
Theophilus: “Those are crazy, they are just so fucking dope. It’s crazy, I’m like the only person in New York, Manhattan other than Ronnie who has those right now. It’s not even out, it’s just a really good sneaker. When they come out people are going to see.”
3. Jordan XI Space
#3 Air Jordan XI “Space Jams”
Theophilus: “These were the ultimate Christmas gift and this was Michael Jordan going Hollywood, this was Jordan in a fucking movie. That’s how legendary these shoes are. Even Bugs Bunny had his own fucking shoe in that movie, like how amazing is that? That era was unbelievable. Damn dude, go Nike.”
2. J8
#2 Air Jordan VIII “Aqua ”
Theophilus: “I bought these two or three years ago — I bought them in Guam when I was there for a military base. I went there to do a couple shows and I saw them in a Foot Locker and grabbed them. I wore them right away but now I have them in storage. Man, those were legit.”
1. J5
#1 Air Jordan V Black/Silver
Theophilus: “I just bought those, they just always personally stood out to me. I mean, you seen a guy play in them and you wanted them as a young kid. That’s the main reason you buy them now — you couldn’t get all of them back then when you were fien’n out for them and now I’m able to purchase them, it’s a great feeling.”
