Don’t Let Mr Kendrick Lamar’s New Nike Sneakers Give You The Slip.

Mr Kendrick Lamar is a man with many strings to his bow. He is a rapper at the top of his game; his work is cerebral and visceral, often at the same time. Not content with producing the decade’s most celebrated albums of any genre, he also oversaw the soundtrack to this year’s Marvel movie masterpiece <Black Panther>.

So, strings to bows, yes, but laces? This polymath is a busy man and has no time for them – as can be seen in his fourth collaboration with Nike. Because Mr Lamar also designs sneakers, and he has come up with a twist on the sportwear giant’s classic Cortez silhouette. Originally designed by Nike co-founder Mr Bill Bowerman and released in 1972, the Cortez was the first shoe to feature what has become one of the world’s most iconic examples of branding: the Swoosh. And now, in the hands of the Pulitzer Prize winning rapper (yes, Mr Kendrick has one of those, too), it no longer has laces.

This new iteration of the legendary shoe – one that Mr Lamar has previously listed as part of the uniform in his hometown Compton – is instead a slip on, with a cosy slipper-like styling.

A scholar of hip-hop history, Mr Lamar will be aware that the likes of Run DMC pioneered the lace-less sneaker look back in the 1980s as a nod to vast numbers of African Americans confined within the prison system (where the laces were removed from their shoes). Given that in 2013, African Americans accounted for 37 per cent of the male prison population (despite making up just 13 per cent of US males in total), the socially conscious rapper will also know that that problem hasn’t exactly gone away.

But fear not punters in the front row of his next gig: this sneaker is not likely to fly off when its wearer performs a roundhouse kick as his live-show alter ego, Kung Fu Kenny. The Nike X Kendrick Lamar Cortez boasts a drawstring toggle to keep it firmly planted on your foot.

Did we mention Mr Lamar is also an actor now? At the peak of his powers, this summer he appeared in the drama series <Power> playing a Dominican drug addict. Called, funnily enough, Laces.