South African rapper and hip hop artist Aka has revealed that he was not paid a single cent by Reebok for the marketing he did for their sneaker. A Twitter user posted Aka Reebok sneakers and wrote, “Those air forces are fire but the SNEAKA is special because it represents one of our own. And it’s more comfortable than any pair of air forces that I own.” Aka replied, “Can you believe they didn’t pay me a single cent for this? … not one cent.”
Aka will not release Reebok sneakers again
Aka was asked by a fan about the dates he will release another designer Reebok sneakers, he responded, “Probably never again. They refused to give me any sort of payment or royalty.”
Reebok thinks they are doing Aka a favour
Aka reveals the reason he wasn’t paid is because Reebok thinks they are doing him a favour.
“Sh*t happens. *shrug* …. in their mind they were doing me a favor,” he said.
Aka’s dream to have his own sneaker
Another fan asked, “Doesn’t sound like something you’d let them do you, hectic.” Aka replied I had no choice … it was always a dream of mine to have my own sneaker. I guess that’s why I took a shitty deal in exchange for doing something for the culture.
Decoding from Aka’s response, it might have been contractual that he was not going to receive any royalties from the sale of the sneakers as he was being marketed by the Reebok.
Aka went on to say, “Well, same thing that happens most of the time … you bring a brand back from the dead and someone in some office in Cape Town can’t stand to pay you more than they make in a year.”
He added that the deal expired in December last year and he is no longer part of Reebok. He was only a brand ambassador of the company. He said, “There was no contract. Only my contract as an ambassador. A contract regarding the #SNEAKA doesn’t even exist. The only comfort I take from the whole experience. At least I got to design and release my own sneaker. That’s about it. At the end of last year they told me they wouldn’t be renewing my contract because “the brand” wasn’t about the Reebok “classic” direction anymore … they were now geared towards selling gym clothes to women predominantly. I was then told I would be offered free clothing every month but i would no longer be paid my monthly retainer. Oh well … lesson learnt. So yeah, that’s the story. Hold onto those pairs … they will definitely be a collectors item one day.”
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