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Nice Kicks: 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?
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.
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.
Nice Kicks: Which kicks are you referring to?
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.
Boyz II Men pictured alongside Mariah Carey during a video shootNice Kicks: What are some of the kicks you guys, as a collective group, were into growing up in Philly during the 80s?
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.
Nice Kicks: What artists and/or groups influenced you guys’ style?
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.
Bell Biv Devoe wearing adidas Superstars ?at the 2009 BET Awards
