Jadakiss Discusses His Hip-Hop Connection With Reebok

Allen Iverson, Jadakiss and Reebok have had a long, colorful history together. In 2001, the three parties came together to shoot a game-changing commercial for Iverson's A5 sneaker launch that year. Shot entirely in black and white, Jadakiss penned an original song for the commercial, which showed Iverson displaying his infamous basketball skills while Jadakiss rapped over a Trackmasters beat, cementing Reebok as the first brand to truly fuse hip-hop with the sportswear industry.

To commemorate the historic commercial, Reebok tapped The Lox rapper to help with the rerelease of the 2016 Question Mid A5 sneaker. The shoe takes color inspiration from the OG A5 sneaker, with a sleek black leather and mesh upper accented by reflective grey piping and toe box. With hits of red adorning the sole with a distinctive red Question logo at the collar and a Roman numeral "V" logo at the heel, this marks the first time Jadakiss is heavily involved in a sneaker launch of his own.

While at the Rucker Park last week at the official unveiling event of the Kiss-inspired Question Mid A5, XXL caught up with the one and only Jadakiss. The New York native discusss his role in the classic 2001 Reebok commercial, the brand's historic relationship with hip-hop and the upcoming Lox album. Check out the interview below and don't forget that the Reebok Question A5 is now available for $139.99 at select Reebok retailers and Reebok.com.

XXL: In 2001, Reebok dropped the legendary A5 commercial featuring you and Allen Iverson. Talk about the impact of the commercial and why it was so special?

Jadakiss: That commercial was the set off for everybody. That commercial made the S. Carter sneaker possible. It made G-Unit possible. It made every rapper that you see with a sneaker, it made that possible. It helped bridge the gap between athletes and hip-hop culture. That commercial is timeless. You play it right now and it still gives you goosebumps.

You have your own pair of Reeboks that have been inspired by your commercial with A.I. Talk to me about the features on the shoe and its design.

You know I wanted to keep it retro. I didn’t want to do too much to it. It has a little 3M accents on it. The colors from the shoe are actually from the original A5 Mid that was released in 2001 and I just wanted to keep it clean, you know what I mean? Not too much different. Black is always good on a sneaker and these are must-have sneakers, you know? I checked in with a few of the big sneakerheads and they said this is a must-have shoe, so I love it. I love Reebok. Allen Iverson is my brother.

Why do you think Reebok and hip-hop have had a strong relationship through the years?

I guess Reebok knows what’s going on out here. They get with good athletes and they get with good artists and they fuse them together to make dope things happen.

Music-wise, when should fans expect the next Lox album?

Expect the LP real soon. Real soon. No more EPs for The Lox. The LP is coming and the album will be titled We Are the Streets Part 2.

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