Best Foot Forward: Vybz Kartel’s Clarks Obsession

words by Eddie STATS Houghton

As if the recent Nike-off wasn’t props enough, Vybz Kartel has single-handedly (single-footedly? double-footedly? you get the point) re-ignited the Clarks-wearing phenomenon in the caribbean and every urban center where dancehall is played. No sooner did his Popcaan and Vanessa Bling collabo “Clarks” (or “Clarkes” if you’re litigious) drape up the imagination of ghetto youth by their name-brand lapels then he turned around and dropped “Clarks Again” over a beat from our favorite young producer Russian (more on him soon).

The lead single dropped on iTunes today thanks to Brooklyn blastmaster Johnny Wonder (more on him soon, too) so go cop it. Even if he never made a dime off digital distribution, though, Vybz might be due a check from the British shoemakers themselves, once they feel the impact on their sales numbers. Best of all, it makes those of us who stay incorporating sand-colored Wallabees into our uniform game look like clairvoyant footwear wizards.