Author: Bradley Martinez
When you think Hip-Hop connoisseurs within the UK, Ted Draws is the go to name. Having his own NTS residency covering all aspects of the genre that you can think of, from unknown artists from some of the most recognised eras, as well as busting out our favourite classics there isn’t a time you can’t listen to him!
As our next installment and guest mix for our Frequent Players channel we had the chance to spend some time with Ted to talk all things music, as well as talk about his career as an illustrator and artist having produced multiple pieces of work.
Take a look at our exclusive interview feature with the Hip-Hop Scholar himself whilst taking it back to the old school with these special guest mix feature.
Footpatrol: Ted Draws it is a pleasure to be able to welcome you to Footpatrol’s Frequent Players Channel! How has 2021 been treating you so far?
Ted Draws: Best year ever, …well better than last year anyway everything’s opening up again, summer of love ’21, let’s go
FP: Part of the NTS crew having hosted plenty of shows most, if not all showcasing your love for Hip-Hop music from every state, rapper, year, the UK essentially almost anything you can think of when it comes to the genre! Where did this passion for music come from?
TD: My Mum is a big Blues enthusiast/expert, she knows a song or artist after 1 bar of music, I think I inherited that type of ear from her. I was much more into the Soul and R&B she would play, when I first heard pop rap songs in the late 80’s, that was it for me, I was in. When I got older and started buying De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest albums, there wasn’t an obvious way to find out about similar artists, so I had to study liner notes for shout outs, and read Hip Hop Connection and The Source magazine cover to cover, so I built up a pretty comprehensive knowledge (until about 2001).
FP: Would you say your love for DJing stemmed from Hip-Hop?
TD: 100%, but more in the way the DJ can rock a party, or make a mixtape, rather than the DMC world champion scratch DJ type. I never had any decks, so had to focus on bringing the big tunes, instead of mastering how to scratch. I actually started DJing in clubs playing other stuff (Prince, New Wave, Electro, Grime, R&B), with a little bit of Hip Hop laced in, but it’s nice to have a radio show where I can go deep into the raw shit I love.
FP: Who were your earliest influences when you were starting out?
TD: DJ wise, I used to like Shortee Blitz as he would mix in older 90’s tunes that still worked in the club.
Mixtapes were big for me, DJ Premier: Crooklyn Cuts series, Tony Touch, PF Cuttin, The ‘5 Deadly Venoms of Brooklyn’ Mixtape had them all on there, played that to death, Evil Dee Soundbombing vol 1 was huge.
FP: I want to talk about your residency at NTS a little bit. I have listened to quite a few of your shows and always find myself finding out something new to listen to. How did it all come together to produce such an in-depth look in the Hip-Hop genre for the last 5 years?
TD: That’s the idea really, play something most people haven’t heard before. I get bored hearing the same songs, there’s more to Hip Hop than just the hits. I would listen to a different show that might play old tunes, and it would be all the same ones everyone knows, I wanna hear album tracks or B-sides. ‘Stretch & Bobbito’ was the show that probably influenced me the most, as they were doing that back in the day, you can find a bunch of their shows online.
FP: One thing I love is the start of the bios on your NTS shows starting with – Hip-Hop Scholar. I can’t imagine a title like that comes easy! Where did that amazing title come from?
TD: They gave me that title, but I like it, as it’s a quote from one of my favourite songs: A Tribe Called Quest – Steve Biko.
Phife raps;
“Did not you know that my styles are top-dollar?
The Five-Foot Assassin knocking fleas off his collar
Hip-Hop scholar since being knee high to a duck
The height of Muggsy Bogues, complexion of a hockey puck”
FP: Being the scholar that you are regarding the genre, are you able to name your 3 favourite MCs or is that too hard of a question to answer?
Nas
Pharoahe Monch
KRS One
FP: I know as well you also are an illustrator and have worked with Palace and Le Coq Sportif just to name a couple brands and have your own line as well on your website. Was this your first venture before DJing or have the 2 always gone hand in hand?
TD: No, I got into it from drawing with fabric pens on a white tee, to have something to wear while DJing, or drawing flyers for nights. Both my parents are artists, so I’ve always done it, but I didn’t fancy it as a job, because neither of them made a decent living from it. I always saw it as a way to stay in poverty. Turns out I have my Dad’s illustrative side and my Mum’s graphic side, so it’s going alright in comparison.
FP: In terms of projects you have been able to work on over the years has there been one that stood out to you the most?
TD: Yes, I did murals on the walls of Virgin EMI’s new offices in Kings Cross. 4 big walls based on the Virgin back catalogue, all with Posca pens. Had to get people in to help me get it done in time.
I love doing something big on a wall, takes me back to being a half arsed graffiti writer when I was a teenager.
FP: Ted it’s been great to be able to speak to you finally! Before we let you go is there anything that you want to share with the Footpatrol and Frequent Players listeners and readers before you go?
TD: Summer Of Love ’21, let’s do this. Also, Shop at Footpatrol, shout out all Soho crew, street drinks sessions.
The YEEZY BOOST 700 Bright Blue features an upper composed of full-grain leather and suede overlays that offer a premium finish, soft hand feel, along with a supportive and durable wear. Mesh underlays provide lightweight breathability and comfort where it is needed while reflective material on the heel adds unique design cues and visual interest. The BOOST drop-in midsole offers the ultimate underfoot cushioning experience.
PLEASE TAKE TIME TO READ THE BELOW!
RAFFLE CLOSED!
To enter, you’re required to sign up via the above form, this WON’T be available in-store to sign up on.
To sign up to the Online raffle, you will be prompted to complete a pre-authorisation payment of the retail price of the product plus shipping costs. This will be held until raffle completion. Those successful will have their raffle win posted out to the address entered during sign up. Those unsuccessful will see a return of their funds, this can take up to 5 working days from when the winners have been drawn. The raffle is limited to one entry per household! Multiple entries will be cancelled!
When it comes to Jordan Brand and female collaborators, there has been one over recent years that has caused quite a storm and that’s LA native model and stylist, Aleali May. Having already built up quite the portfolio with her past Jordan collaborations, Aleali May returns once again to lend her diverse range of talents to one of their latest silhouettes, the Air Jordan 1 High Zoom.
The Air Jordan 1 High Zoom first came about as part of the brands 2019 ‘Fearless’ collection. It saw them bring the iconic design that was first seen back in the 80’s up to date with the addition of an upgraded Zoom Air cushioning within the midsole and now, its time for Aleali May to add her take to the silhouette. Looking back at her roots and from her time in high school and her drill team, Aleali May brings her unique levels of self-expression, community and leadership into this latest collaboration.
PLEASE TAKE TIME TO READ THE BELOW!
RAFFLE CLOSED!
To enter, you’re required to sign up via the above form, this WON’T be available in-store to sign up on.
In-store winners will be contacted via email informing them of their win. Within this email, winners will be given a set of dates in which they must collect their win from our London store. To collect, you will need to provide the winning email and a valid photographic government ID matching the winners name. NO ONE can collect on the winners behalf. Failure to provide this, or failure to collect within the given dates will mean failure to purchase your win.
Seen as one of the most popular models within the Air Jordan signature collection, this silhouette was also worn by Michael Jordan in the 89 season where he made ‘the shot’ against the Cavaliers. In addition, it was part of pop culture when seen in the movie ‘Do The Right Thing’ directed by Spike Lee.
Over the years, the classic silhouette has seen OG colourways retro, a host of new iterations as well a small handful of collabs such as Travis Scott and Union LA, respectively.
For SP21, Jordan brand return with their latest release in the form of a University Blue colourway. This specific hue has been thoroughly used due to MJ’s alma mata but also beloved to Jordan collectors.
With a familiar colour scheme to the UNC PE version, with the upper dressed in monochrome blue, hits of the fan favorite White Cement print is featured on the wings and midsole, offeting a perfect combination. Furthermore, the tongue tab branding strays from the originals, opting for a white-on-grey label that ends at its side with the jock tag of a jersey. Elsewhere, black eyelets and midsole trims add contrast adjacent to a number of cement-hued, paint-speckled fixtures.
Take a closer look at the Air Jordan IV ‘University Blue’ below and make sure to get your entries in!
PLEASE TAKE TIME TO READ THE BELOW!
RAFFLE CLOSED!
To enter, you’re required to sign up via the above form, this WON’T be available in-store to sign up on.
In-store winners will be contacted via email informing them of their win. Within this email, winners will be given a set of dates in which they must collect their win from our London store. To collect, you will need to provide the winning email and a valid photographic government ID matching the winners name. NO ONE can collect on the winners behalf. Failure to provide this, or failure to collect within the given dates will mean failure to purchase your win.
The Air Jordan 1 OG High continues to consistently makes strides in 2021 with a few iterations already released, not to mention the Zoom CMFRT variants.
With the AJ1 High ‘University Blue’ releasing not too long ago, Jordan Brand continue within the same hue in the form of ‘Hyper Royal’.
Baring a similar aesthetic to the 2019 ‘Turbo Green’, the upper features a white leather underlay whilst a two-tone blue suede is used for the overlay combined with hyper royal contrast stitching. The ankle collar utilizes a subtle grey tone, with further grey hits are also found on the Swoosh and outsole. With the nylon tongue and midsole in white, hyper royal is also used on the original tongue tab.
PLEASE TAKE TIME TO READ THE BELOW!
RAFFLE CLOSED!
To enter, you’re required to sign up via the above form, this WON’T be available in-store to sign up on.
In-store winners will be contacted via email informing them of their win. Within this email, winners will be given a set of dates in which they must collect their win from our London store. To collect, you will need to provide the winning email and a valid photographic government ID matching the winners name. NO ONE can collect on the winners behalf. Failure to provide this, or failure to collect within the given dates will mean failure to purchase your win.
At Footpatrol, we would like to hope that our love for Mizuno is hugely apparent! Bringing a mix of technical breakdowns, a collaboration and also history posts surrounding this long running and technologically advanced brand.
This time though, we bring to you a Footpatrol UK Exclusive in the form of a Mizuno Wave Prophecy. One of the brands most forward thinking designs and sole unit technologies traditionally made for performance, has been brought into the light of the going successful lifestyle range that the brand has been taking the market by storm with.
This futuristic design features Mizunos full Wave midsole technology and pieced together with the super lightweight and breathable AIRmesh uppers. This pair brings you all the technically exciting benefits used for their performance models partnered with a flexible synthetic panelling creating extra detail in the shape of the shoe itself. This Mizuno Wave Prophecy model introduces the maximum performance in everyday use.
Shop the Mizuno Wave Prophecy here!
The Air Jordan V ‘Toro Bravo’ was originally released in 2009 as a two-pack alongside its 3M counterpart. Dubbed the ‘Raging Bull Pack’ by fans, this dynamic duo was part of Jordan Brands lineage of ‘Defining Moments Packs’ which was a consistent run of two pairs of Jordan silhouettes to honor his dominance on the court.
Releasing in a special box stateside, the pack released as a double pull out-type packaging whereas worldwide they’d release as individuals. As part of the Raging Bull Pack, the Toro Bravo iteration was often favoured due to its stand-out look. Dressed in an all red suede upper, it was undoubtably a shoe to catch attention, especially during a time where all red shoes was a popular trend. The Toro Bravo was and is one of the most sought after pair of AJV’s throughout the years.
12 years on and Jordan Brand have announced their intention to re-release the popular AJV. Similarly featuring its signature all red suede upper, a few tweaks have been made in contrast to its original version. With a higher cut and tongue, the up and coming Toro Bravo silhouette also accommodates an updated tooling around the toe box. In addition, an icy blue is used for the outsole and the trademark ‘23’ heel stitching is slightly larger. Lastly, the box is an ode to the original special packaging that is dressed in constructed wooden panels with ‘Toro Bravo’ etched on the side to commemorate its nickname.
PLEASE TAKE TIME TO READ THE BELOW!
RAFFLE CLOSED!
To enter, you’re required to sign up via the above form, this WON’T be available in-store to sign up on.
To sign up to the Online raffle, you will be prompted to complete a pre-authorisation payment of the retail price of the product plus shipping costs. This will be held until raffle completion. Those successful will have their raffle win posted out to the address entered during sign up. Those unsuccessful will see a return of their funds, this can take up to 5 working days from when the winners have been drawn. The raffle is limited to one entry per household! Multiple entries will be cancelled!
The A-ZX series is now in full flow and after a series of collaborations and in-line designs celebrating the iconic ZX series, we now come to the letter ‘W’. To celebrate this, adidas called upon a past collaborator that goes by the name Sean Wotherspoon.
A man that needs no introduction to the sneaker community, his latest collaboration with the Three Stripes follows on from where they left off with their 2020 Super Earth Superstar. Founder of thrift store ‘Round Two’, Sean takes on the fan favourite ZX 8000 and applies a DIY aesthetic with the use of mixed materials, rugged canvas’ and exaggerated frayed stitching that drape down from the illustrated floral design.
Take a closer look below and make sure to sign up to our raffles for your chance at adding this to your collection!
PLEASE TAKE TIME TO READ THE BELOW!
RAFFLE CLOSED!
To enter, you’re required to sign up via the above form, this WON’T be available in-store to sign up on.
To sign up to the Online raffle, you will be prompted to complete a pre-authorisation payment of the retail price of the product plus shipping costs. This will be held until raffle completion. Those successful will have their raffle win posted out to the address entered during sign up. Those unsuccessful will see a return of their funds, this can take up to 5 working days from when the winners have been drawn. The raffle is limited to one entry per household! Multiple entries will be cancelled!
One of the most sought after silhouettes at the moment, the Nike Dunk has been making waves since its resurgence in 2020 and after a host of collaborations and revisits into Nike’s archive, it seems there is no hold it back.
Ever since its introduction, the Nike Dunk has become known for its simple use of colour blocking and its ability to be be worn with anything, this week we welcome a trio of women’s colour ways to Footpatrol. Consisting of two lows and a high, each features a predominately white leather upper with a contrasting colour on top.
Take a closer look at the three individual styles and make sure to get your entries in!
PLEASE TAKE TIME TO READ THE BELOW!
To enter the ‘Green Glow’ ONLINE RAFFLE (UK Only), CLICK HERE!
To enter the ‘Photon Dust’ ONLINE RAFFLE (UK Only), CLICK HERE!
To enter the ‘Dark Sulphur’ ONLINE RAFFLE (UK Only), CLICK HERE!
To enter, you’re required to sign up via the above form, this WON’T be available in-store to sign up on.
To sign up to the Online raffle, you will be prompted to complete a pre-authorisation payment of the retail price of the product plus shipping costs. This will be held until raffle completion. Those successful will have their raffle win posted out to the address entered during sign up. Those unsuccessful will see a return of their funds, this can take up to 5 working days from when the winners have been drawn. The raffle is limited to one entry per household! Multiple entries will be cancelled!
The Nike Huarache is another of those timeless Nike collections that we have Tinker Hatfield to thank for. The sneaker appeared in 1991 in the form of the Nike Air Huarache, that runner that was one of the earliest examples of Nike will-fully creating a sneaker that was “stripped to the bare essentials”.
Tinker and his team scaled back the Swoosh coverage to create something that could better rest on the laurels of its technology. That technology was one that actually was in danger of not making it to retail at one point in production; the legend goes that Nike was weary of bringing the model to market, but a test run sold at the NYC Marathon in the early 90s which had athletes alike fixated on the silhouette. Thus, in turn being given the greenlight.
Although initially inspired by water-skiing (Tinker loved the neoprene fit from there and borrowed it for his creation) the ‘Escape’ edition didn’t come to market until 2003. Now with the re-issue beckoning, we can take a further look at the outdoor-inspired Escape iteration of the Air Huarache.
Done in a Bisque, Storm Grey, Rope, and Black color scheme. this version of the model starts off with a Grey neoprene bootie paired with the Green hue noted on the tongue and ankle region of the upper.
Two shades of Earthy Brown appear on the leather overlays and toe box respectively. A translucent Black supportive ankle strap add some contrast to the upper.
Finishing details include White laces, a White midsole and Black rubber outsole.
