New York rapper Fat Joe released his first album in nearly 15 years Friday and he pulled out a special pair of sneakers for the occasion.
In an Instagram post promoting the new album titled The World Changed on Me, the rapper donned a New York Knicks varsity jacket while showing off Virgil Abloh’s unreleased Off-White x Air Jordan 4 in the sneaker’s classic “Bred” (black and red) colorway.
The Off-White x Air Jordan 4 “Bred” shared by Fat Joe has never received a formal release. It was first seen during Abloh’s “Figures of Speech” exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago during summer 2019. The sneaker follows Abloh’s deconstructed design language and features a build similar to the women’s Off-White x Air Jordan 4 “Sail” which was released July 2020.
It includes a black nubuck upper that’s been gutted of its usual padding in the tongue and heel. The shoe’s mudguard is done up in translucent NextSkin fabric and the see-through concept also appears on the heel and TPU support wings. The lateral side of the sneaker features Abloh’s signature “AIR” insignia while the medial netting is printed with Off-White’s branding. The design is completed with an opaque gray rubber outsole.
To this day, the “Bred” Off-White x Air Jordan 4 is arguably the most coveted of Abloh’s unreleased footwear designs. The designer’s widow, Shannon Abloh, wore the shoe in a November 2022 New York Times profile. Other pairs — sometimes of questionable authenticity — have circulated online over the years, but there’s never been an official indication as to how many were produced.
In February ’22, a Jordan Brand spokesperson said that the design was only created in sample form and there were no plans for the shoes to be released to the public.
