{"id":237381,"date":"2012-10-01T23:47:11","date_gmt":"2012-10-02T04:47:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nicekicks.com\/?p=237381"},"modified":"2018-05-13T13:23:29","modified_gmt":"2018-05-13T17:23:29","slug":"boyz-ii-men-shawn-stockman-talks-aj11-mj-groups-stamp-style","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/boyz-ii-men-shawn-stockman-talks-aj11-mj-groups-stamp-style\/","title":{"rendered":"Boyz II Men’s Shawn Stockman Talks Air Jordan 11, MJ & Group’s Stance on Today’s Style"},"content":{"rendered":"
“Michael Jordan had to convince them (Nike) that the 11s would be great. He told them that one day an entertainer is going to wear those kicks with a tuxedo, or something like that, because of the patent leather toe.”<\/em> – Shawn Stockman of Boyz II Men<\/p>\n Boyz II Men<\/strong> put the Air Jordan 11<\/strong> on<\/em>; Michael Jordan made them hot.<\/p>\n You don’t have to give the most successful R&B group of all time any credit for the Air Jordan 11 being the most fashionable Jordan ever. Heck, there’s no images on the web of them wearing Jordans on the Grammy’s big stage and most importantly, Tinker Hatfield and Michael Jordan should be the first two people mentioned when discussing anything about the Air Jordan 11. However, the style icons of Boyz II Men created a special moment with the Air Jordan 11 that Michael Jordan himself remembers vividly, whether you and I have evidence or not.<\/p>\n In our latest interview, Boyz II Men’s Shawn Stockman speaks on behalf of the group about how the group decided on wearing Concords at the Grammy’s, Michael Jordan’s reaction, the group’s stamp on today’s style, and their influences growing up in Philly.<\/p>\n Shawn Stockman of ?Boyz II Men on the red carpet in “Concord” 11s\n Snkrs Day: Obviously, you guys are known for the incredible hits you consistently came out with during the 90s, but the sneaker world credits you for one of the most iconic moments of the Air Jordan 11. What do you remember most about wearing Concords on the Grammy stage?<\/strong><\/p>\n Shawn Stockman of Boyz II Men: I can tell you the exact story MJ told us. Around 95-96, Jordan came out with the Concord 11s, and when they first came out, Jordan told us that the people over at Nike were not big fans of the 11, initially. Jordan had to convince them that the 11s would be great. He told them that one day an entertainer is going to wear those kicks with a tuxedo or something like that because of the patent leather toe. It makes sense because patent leather shoes are often worn with tuxedos. Lo and behold, the day of the Grammy’s, the guys and I came out in White Sox baseball caps, tuxedos and Jordan 11s. MJ saw it and was like, ‘Yo, this is crazy!’ He was a big fan of the group even before that, so when we finally met up with each other, he told us this story that I’m telling you now and how Nike really didn’t like the 11 when it was initially produced. From that meeting, we became really good friends. Since then, we’ve been getting Jordans on the regular because of that. I pretty much have every single Jordan that has come out since that meeting.<\/p>\n Snkrs Day: So, whose idea was it to wear Jordans with tuxedos on the big stage? Snkrs Day: Nowadays, you see a lot of people ‘dressing up’ Jordans at weddings, award shows and\/or other formal events. Do you see you guys wearing Jordans as the beginnings of formal wear with sneakers? Snkrs Day: I assume the Air Jordan 11 is the group’s favorite Jordan model.<\/strong><\/p>\n Shawn Stockman of Boyz II Men: Yes, those are our favorite ones. I think they’re the freshest, and I have all of the 11s – the black patent leathers, the white patent leathers, the black and red ones. But there’s a few brands that I really like to wear, and I like to wear stuff that goes with almost any outfit. The 11s are my favorite because I can wear those with anything; any shirt and any pair of jeans.<\/p>\n Boyz II Men performing on Jimmy Kimmel Live\n <\/p>\n Boyz II Men\n Snkrs Day: Boyz II Men wasn’t the first boy band group, but a lot of groups and artists followed in your footsteps, style-wise. Do you still see your influence in today’s culture?<\/strong><\/p>\n Shawn Stockman of Boyz II Men: We were the first to do a lot of things. When it came to Jordans, when it came to having one of the first record labels, when it came to having our own clothing line, we were one of the first groups to do it. As the times changed and the industry changed, it became more about fan fare and hype. Actually, it became more about the opposite of what we were taught. In our business, the first thing we were taught is to not oversaturate yourself and to not be everywhere. We were taught to have some sort of mystique and to come out so people would consider your entrance special. We live in a world, now, where it’s about being seen all of the time. So, when those things changed and the attitude about how to be an entertainer changed, we were somewhat out of the loop.<\/p>\n With the sneaker thing, listen, I can think back to years when I was a teenager and it’s so funny listening to these younger cats now talk about what’s fresh and what isn’t. The sneaks that they’re considering to be the bomb, we wore those when we were 15 years old. When they think they’re coming out with the new stuff these days, I’m like, ‘Man, that’s not new.’ It’s funny that a lot of the kicks that are considered ‘hype’ are older than some of the kids that’s wearing them.<\/p>\n Snkrs Day: Which kicks are you referring to?<\/strong><\/p>\n Shawn Stockman of Boyz II Men: Well, one is a pair that I’m actually wearing right now, and that’s the ASICS Gels. I used to wear those years ago. I’m from southwest Philadelphia, and Philly is known for its style, especially when it comes to sneakers. We’ve always been up on it, regardless of whether people knew it or not. We used to rock ASICS Gels and New Balances every day, and they had some real fly colors back then as well. The ones that I have on now are multi-color, and they’re so ill. They’re the most comfortable shoes, first of all, that I’ve ever worn. They’re just some fresh sneaks, and they’ve been around for a long time. I’ve always liked those, and even more, when they weren’t so popular – when people would look at your feet and think if they weren’t Air Force 1s or Js, they weren’t cool. I like the fact that these days pretty much anything goes, and whatever style suits that person or individual, it is what it is. I like that.<\/p>\n Boyz II Men pictured alongside Mariah Carey during a video shoot\n Snkrs Day: What are some of the kicks you guys, as a collective group, were into growing up in Philly during the 80s?<\/strong><\/p>\n Shawn Stockman of Boyz II Men: Back in Philly, we were big on ASICS Gels, Sauconys and New Balance joints. We used to check Will Smith’s style, too, because he rocked the Le Coq Sportifs. We rocked the dope, three-quarter FILAs in different colors. When we were in junior high, we used to rock the Reebok 5411 joints. They’re girl shoes, but brothers used to rock those as well for hip-hop dancing. They were extremely comfortable to dance in. I had some black ones, some white ones and some purple ones. Later in our lives, we rocked the Gucci sneakers; you know – the ones that Jay-z bit off with the S. Carter Collection – the ones with the stripes on the back. All he did was basically take the style of the drugdealers and the hip cats with those. I want to say he had to stop producing those because Gucci was like, ‘Yo, you’re ripping our sh*t.’ That’s what I mean as far as styles coming back. All the kicks that cats are wearing right now, we used to wear those a while back. Some of the styles may have gotten a little fresher with the crazy colors, but we were up on those a long time ago. It’s all the same thing.<\/p>\n Snkrs Day: What artists and\/or groups influenced you guys’ style?<\/strong><\/p>\n Shawn Stockman of Boyz II Men: Bell Biv Devoe was definitely influential because of their style. I used to like them a lot because they rocked the adidas Forums a lot. We used to love those. Because Bell Biv Devoe is from Boston and adidas’ main hubs are in Boston, they were able to get a lot of the fresher colors. I remember Biv had the maroon ones with the white stripes, and what was ill is, he would rock them with a Phillies cap. We would be so jealous. We’d be like, ‘Yo, how did you get those sneakers and flip it with our city’s hat?’ Biv would do the maroon and whites, and he had some real dope blue on whites. He also had some white on green ones that he would match with the Celtics’ joints. The Forums, at that time, were the Air Force 1s. That’s all I wore back in the early 90s; those, the Ewings and the Ken Griffeys.<\/p>\n Bell Biv Devoe wearing adidas Superstars ?at the 2009 BET Awards\n <\/p>\n Snkrs Day: What shoe do you guys consistently perform in these days?<\/strong><\/p>\n Shawn Stockman of Boyz II Men: We always try to find sneakers that are not only in style but are comfortable. Outside of the Concords, the shoes we always perform in are the Air Force 1s. They’re comfortable and very versatile. There’s so many colors of those. We’ve been dancing in those for years. Air Force 1s with the outfits we wear just seem more fitting than any other shoe. Some sneaks are just good to rock out in during every other setting, but on stage, we consider the clothes that we wear kind of like our uniforms. We kind of keep certain things traditional.<\/p>\n Nike Air Force 1 “Boyz II Men” Custom Preview\n Snkrs Day: Besides the white on whites, is there a particular Air Force 1 that stands as a group favorite?<\/strong><\/p>\n Shawn Stockman of Boyz II Men: We’ve had a long, long relationship with Jordan and Nike. We’ve done things for them and in return they’ve taken care of us. As a courtesy, they created these Air Force 1s with a Boyz II Men graphic on them. They know that we used to wear the white on whites a lot, especially when we’re performing; we still wear them in different colors when we’re performing today. They wanted to customize a pair for us. Again, it’s just a relationship thing; them doing us a solid and it just being that. You’ll see the entire shoe soon.<\/p>\n Boyz II Men performing in the white on white Air Force 1s\n Snkrs Day: Sometimes, what makes groups great is the ability of each individual in the group to bring their own style to the table. Describe how your guys’ style contrast from each other. Who has the most style in the group?<\/strong><\/p>\n Shawn Stockman of Boyz II Men: We pretty much have the same style. I would say that I’m probably one of the ones that has an extensive collection. I would say me and Wanya are the ones that are kind of more shoe conscious and try to wear different stuff. I’m more upscale though. Wayna is kind of like Jordans and regular boots and things of that nature. I’ll go out and get the Gucci boots, Gucci sneakers, the Louis sneakers and the Paul Smiths as well. I go in like that. I have a lot of shoes.<\/p>\n Shawn Stockman of Boyz II Men leads the group while wearing “Concord” 11s\n Snkrs Day: In your opinion, who possesses the Boyz II Men style in the current music culture?<\/strong><\/p>\n Shawn Stockman of Boyz II Men: I don’t know if I can pinpoint a particular person and say, ‘Yo, that guy is always right,’ but I do like bits and pieces from certain people’s styles that I may think are wearing something ill. At one point, I used to like Jim Jones and Juelz Santana’s styles. They always seemed to come with something real fly. They used to coordinate their hats with their shirts and maybe rock a Hermes belt or a Louis Vuitton belt. There style is very similar to mine in a sense where I like having a little ‘street’ with a little upscale. I’ll wear a white tee, some jeans, some ASICS or Js, and throw on a Louis Vuitton belt or a Gucci belt and a nice piece on my wrist. I call it ‘practical elegance.’ It’s a certain type of style that cats in the streets can rock with but also stuff that they can aspire to. I like those type of cats: Juelz, Jim Jones and even Nas with certain things that he does. He’s more grown up, but just the whole vibe of some of the kicks he might rock and just how he puts his stuff together.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Boyz II Men’s Shawn Stockman talks wearing Concords on stage at the Grammy’s and more. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":149,"featured_media":237450,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[1770,199,1225503],"cultivate_rss":[],"class_list":{"2":"type-post"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
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\nShawn Stockman of Boyz II Men: It was basically all of us. When we first saw them, all of us instantly fell in love with them. We were like, ‘These are the sh*t.’ We knew they would look crazy with tuxes. As far as how we decided, it was just a conversation amongst us as friends. We knew they were dope, we were going to the Grammy’s, and we wanted to look good and different. We were never the type of group, at least at that time, to wear just regular, old tuxes with shoes. So, we wanted to freak the tuxes a little bit with the Concords.<\/p>\n
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\nShawn Stockman of Boyz II Men: You see that everywhere these days. I’m not saying we were the originators; I wouldn’t be that pompous. We were just one of the first groups to do it in this generation. We brought our own certain type of fresh to it. Even though somebody may have done it before us or even after us, we came out with that original vibe and original style. We brought more of that style into the limelight because we were so popular and everybody checked for what we wore.<\/p>\n Dwyane Wade and Chris Paul wearing the “Concord” Air Jordan 11s with formal wear\n