My first day of 10th grade was a sh*t show. I remember I spent the day in schedule purgatory…I remember attempting to go to my classes but I wasn’t on anyones roster. After lunch, I decided I just wasn’t going to go back to class and ended up spending most of the day walking around town with another kid who had a similar situation going on. I remember the day because I wasn’t a guy who ever really ditched school, but I was feeling fresh to def as I was wearing my brand new FILA Grant Hill 96’s, with a black shirt and some Khaki shorts. We stayed on the sidewalks and didn’t spend too much time in the dirt or on the grass because I didn’t want to mess up my new shoes. It was a fun day and I definitely felt like I was doing something wrong, but I didn’t really know what else to do.
The Grant Hills were just such a simple shoe…when I think of them today I think of The Clipse and ‘Grindin’ – just a minimalist masterpiece. There were no bells and whistles, just a couple of leather panels with a dark outline around ‘em.

I was pleasantly surprised when I copped ‘All Eyez on Me’ at The Warehouse on Scott in San Francisco in 1996, opened the liner notes and saw a pic of 2pac wearing the shoes I was wearing. 2pac was like a god to me (still kind of is), so I felt like I was in good company seeing that pic. In any case, here’s a pic of me in my moms backyard practicing looking hard…pretty sure I’m getting ready to mow the lawn 😂