Queens, New York, just a few minutes after 4 PM. The bright summer sun beats relentlessly on the sidewalk, with nary a spot of shade on the compact street in Laurelton, a neighborhood that’s stone’s throw from the ever-busy JFK International Airport. It’s largely silent, save for the ever-expectant hum of possibility that always seems to linger in the NYC air — that is until the throaty growl of an engine is heard down the street. A pristine matte grey Mercedes G-Class AMG 63 roars into view, stopping by the curb in front of what has to be the most famous green fence in all of the five boroughs.
“What’s the good word, y’all?” Nigel Sylvester exclaimed as he hopped out of the driver’s seat, jewels glistening, spotless Rolex shimmering, Mets hat confidently perched on his head and a brand-new pair of his Air Jordan 4 RM collaboration on his feet, before heading around to the trunk to grab his bike. We’re at Miss Jo Marie Payton’s — Nigel’s grandmother — house to discuss the very shoes he’s wearing: the Nigel Sylvester x Air Jordan 4 RM “Grandma’s Driveway” in its forthcoming “Driveway Grey” colorway, just two days before the release of the model’s other “Fence Green” makeup.
Nigel wanted to bring us out to where he grew up for several reasons. First and foremost, so he could show and tell the inspirations behind the shoe, from the exact patch of asphalt on the driveway that inspired the box design to the bicycle hit cleverly hidden on the heel tab, and, of course, the signature “Bike Air” graphic on the heel. Secondly, to continue the ethos from the viral campaign video he’d launched a few weeks back (we even sat in the same chairs, in the same spot used in the video). Last but not least, it would serve as a full-circle moment in the truest sense of the phrase. He and his crew used to go on BMX missions from this very driveway into Manhattan, all-day excursions that saw them trek through Queens and across the 59th Street bridge, hitting spots, getting footage and making memories along the way. Less than 48 hours earlier, Nigel had taken a much different trek, celebrating the inaugural “Grandma’s Driveway” launch with a GO! Ride event that saw him bike across New York City and London alongside hundreds of other riders in each city, all in less than 24 hours.
Despite the whirlwind of activity around Nigel, he’s sanguine and intently focused on the present moment. Neither the hum of his grandmother’s window air conditioning unit nor the piercing sunshine could break his focus as we discussed his BMX career, the inspiration behind and design process of his Air Jordan 4 collaboration and some of his earliest BMX memories in this very driveway. The only pause came when Nigel’s grandmother’s neighbor, a young boy, came teetering down the sidewalk on his bike sans training wheels, his father following closely behind. “That’s sick,” Nigel said, a broad grin breaking out across his face.
Gratitude of this nature is the key for Nigel, and a focal point of the conversation. “It’s such a blessing to see how people have received this shoe so far, and now we have the second ‘Grandma’s Driveway’ colorway releasing soon,” he said. “To say it’s a dream come true would be an understatement.”
How does it feel to be back here where it all started after everything that’s been going on recently: the GO RIDE day event, your shoe’s release right around the corner, this new colorway being revealed?
It feels incredible, man. When Jordan Brand and I started discussing this shoe about a year and a half ago, all these things you see happening right now are things that I wanted to execute at a very high level, and coming back here to shoot the hero campaign with my grandmother, Miss Jo Marie Payton, was insane. It was a surreal, full-circle moment for me. My earliest childhood memories occurred right here, on my bicycle, in this driveway, and the bicycle has taken me on such an incredible journey since then.
Do you still feel a specific energy coming back here after everything you’ve done and all that’s transpired since those days of you riding in the driveway?
Of course, man. I feel that energy any time I jump on my bicycle. It takes me to a place that nothing else can. So when I come back here, to where it all started, so many memories come flooding back. I’d stack cinder blocks and put a board on them, start at the garage [gestures back] and jump out, find specific pieces of the curb and sidewalk that stuck out for bump jumps, all that stuff. Those days taught me to keep an exploratory mindset and always be curious, both on and off my bicycle.
Among all those early memories, do you recall your first slam? That first hard slam is a litmus test, where you’re like, “Do I really love this?”
[Laughs] I took a crazy one in front of my mom’s house. There was this giant crack in the sidewalk that I’d use to pop up — one day I came home with a new bike and went to jump it, but I guess the handlebars weren’t tight enough, so they flew straight out of the stem when I pulled up. I was in the air holding the bars, but the bars weren’t attached to the rest of the bike. I’ve still got a really big scar on my leg from that slam.
Even still, falling down and taking those slams is just part of the game. As long as you learn from those failures and don’t let them define you, you’ll be good. I look at them as a blessing in disguise because there’s a lesson in every one, and as long as I can continue to ride, I can’t complain.
On that note, what did your family think of your love of biking? There’s a great moment from the campaign film where your grandma mentions that you were “always on that bike flying through the air” and that you “scared the mess out of her,” but no matter how many times you fell you’d always get up even more determined.
When I was a young kid, they never really saw it as a thing because it’s like, you’re a kid — of course, you’re just going to be riding your bike around. It wasn’t until I was about 15 or 16 years old that my mind was set on becoming a professional BMX athlete, and nobody could tell me otherwise. Coming from a Caribbean background and being a first-generation immigrant, my parents didn’t really understand the potential in BMX. That was completely understandable then because there weren’t many examples I could show them, especially examples of young Black kids from Queens who’d made a career of BMX. There were no skate parks around here, no trails. The bike shop was cool, but it wasn’t really that cool, you know what I mean? The path was mostly paved by self-determination, optimism and belief back then.
And all of that is distilled into the shoes.
Exactly.
So, the Air Jordan 4 RM “Grandma’s Driveway” was revealed in a “Fence Green” colorway, inspired by the fence to the side of your grandma’s driveway. This “Driveway Grey” colorway, the second “Grandma’s Driveway” style, draws from the pavement of the driveway itself. Can you tell us a bit more about that storytelling and doing it over multiple models instead of a single pair?
I was presented with the opportunity to do two colorways, so I wanted to take the challenge on and pull from different elements of this driveway for inspiration. Of course, the green was a no-brainer. The fence is a core childhood memory for me, because between the fence and the house was where all the action went on. And that action also went down on top of the concrete. I feel like if this driveway could speak, it would say so much, so it was very important for me to symbolize that on the “Driveway Grey.” It also nods to the Air Jordan 4 “Bred,” so between the driveway and the “Bred” we came up with this. Together, both colorways tell the complete story.
Looking back at your past work with both Jordan Brand and Nike — your 6.0, the SB Dunk High “SOMP,” your Air Force 1 ID options, your Air Jordan 1 and even the Air Ship you did last year — those were largely collaborative reinterpretations of silhouettes people were already familiar with. Here, you’re introducing an entirely new silhouette, so how was the process and experience different from your previous collaborations?
There are so many unknowns when you’re working with a new silhouette, right? I feel like when you’re working with some of the classic Jordan Brand or Nike silhouettes, there are a lot of examples of things that already worked, so you can take a more calculated guess of how your project may be received. Here, though, we had a blank canvas — and that was such a unique opportunity and challenge that I just couldn’t turn it down.
It’s a blessing because you have an opportunity to shape and craft how people receive this new shoe and how they think about it from the very beginning. The team at Jordan Brand and I really embraced that. I’m happy with how it all came together, and the reception has been dope.
The people want to know: what does RM stand for?
Remix.
Makes sense — a remix of a classic silhouette through the lens of another sport.
Right. The midsole and outsole are the same as a classic Air Jordan 4, but the upper draws from BMX and bike riding. There’s even a little bicycle here [pulls back heel tab to show a graphic on the inner half]. The midfoot cage is inspired by a bicycle frame as well, so there’s a lot of bicycle design language on this shoe. The team did a great job of remixing and evolving the classic Air Jordan 4 upper as well — the cage has a kind of extended Air Jordan 4 “wings” element to it, and even the eyestays up front still have that classic Air Jordan 4 design language. Tweaks like those make a new style more palatable for people.
Tell us about the “Bike Air” hit on the heels. What was it like bringing that to life?
I feel like it was one of those things that was right in front of our eyes for a long time, but materialized at exactly the right time. When I finished working on my Air Jordan 1, the concept of “Bike Air” came about, and I was like, “Man, if I ever get an opportunity to do another shoe, I’d love to put Bike Air on it.” I just feel like it makes so much sense: people have seen me on a bike, in the air, my entire life and career. It’s just such a seamless tie to Nike and Jordan Brand heritage as well. When we first had the opportunity to do it on the Air Ship, I was like, “We can’t not do this,” and when Jordan Brand approved it, I was like, “It’s up. People are going to see this and instantly get it.” There’s not much explaining that needs to happen when you hear Bike Air and know it’s attached to Nigel Sylvester.
How does the Air Jordan 4 RM meet the performance needs of a BMX shoe?
The Air Jordan 4’s outsole has a lot of surface area, which gives it a really good pedal feel, and we made a few minor updates to both the outsole and insole technology as well. Then, the upper: even though it’s a lower profile than a traditional Air Jordan 4, it gives you some flexibility and room to move around. I need that for when I’m doing high-impact tricks like tailwhips or positioning my body in different ways, and combined with the extra padding on the tongue and collar it’s really comfortable, even for someone like me who’s used to riding in high-tops like the Air Jordan 1.
When we did GO RIDE, I was riding from 10 in the morning till 10 at night, and we rode 15 miles in London, then flew to New York and rode 15 miles there too, so it’s definitely tested … globally tested [laughs].
The packaging is highly detailed as well. How did you use that to tell a complete story in a way that you couldn’t on the shoes alone?
I feel like when you think about sneaker culture, us as fans fall in love with details, storytelling, materials, the thought process that goes into things. Of course, the colorway of the shoe references a story from my life, but taking it a step further and diving into the story through the packaging as well really got me excited. I’m the type of person who keeps my shoeboxes [laughs], so seeing the Bike Air box next to the classic Air Jordan boxes I have was a moment for me.
We decided to pay homage to the classic Air Jordan 4 box, so we kept the black lid but swapped the logo to a Bike Air one. It’s crazy to think about: the classic Nike Air lockup logo is so iconic that even making a minor tweak like that speaks volumes on so many levels. Then, we took the actual concrete from my grandma’s driveway and used it for an all-over print on the box. I think the actual slab we referenced is up there [points to the front of the driveway]. I remember leaving Portland after a meeting with the Jordan Brand team about the box design, and the first thing I did when I got back to New York was drive here, take a photo of that slab and send it to the team.
Then, on the inside of the lid, you have the GO! logo, a nod to my BMX/sport-inspired travel brand, and we’ve done so many things under it for the past 10 years that I had to have it in there. Then, there’s the sticker pack. As a kid, I’d be in this very driveway putting stickers on my bike, which is a staple of BMX culture. Lastly, the photo on the tissue paper — it’s a moment that happened just a few feet away from where we’re sitting right now, and is one of the photos that inspired the entire project. I remember pulling it up in a design session and saying that I wanted to pull color references from it. It’s really just taking these moments and putting them into both colorways of the shoe and their packaging, all of which lends itself to an elite level of storytelling.
Taking all of that storytelling and history and distilling it down into one thing: if these shoes were a trick, what would they be?
[Laughs] That’s a really good question, man. One trick? Sheesh. It would have to be one of the illest combos ever. A few manuals in there, a few grinds, a few barspins. Definitely a fire line because there are so many elements to the project.
You’re a man of many hats, from BMX to creating content, walking in runway shows and everything else. Do you still feel like everything you do is rooted in BMX?
Always. That’s where it all started from, and no matter what I do my bike is always present in my life. I tell people sometimes that I can be riding a handrail in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn on Monday, sitting front-row at the Louis Vuitton show on Wednesday, designing shoes in Portland on Friday and sessioning a ledge in Jamaica, Queens, on Sunday. There are other things that I love and am passionate about as well as other mediums that I want to explore creating in, but the bicycle will always be there. That’s the power of bicycle riding: no matter what you’re doing or what type of bike you’re riding, it releases these endorphins. That’s why I believe in it so much, and am so happy that biking found me.
Last question: What do you hope the legacy of your shoe is?
I just hope people love them. I’m curious to see how the world embraces them and how people create with them. People are starting to get them in hand, and I’m seeing how they style them, how they create content with them. That’s one of the most exciting things, right? You put all your energy into creating something, then you put it out into the world and see how people embrace it and adopt it in their own way.
For me, it’s beyond the legacy of this first release: it’s the legacy of Bike Air. I think there’s a tremendous opportunity and endless runway for it. I want to continue to pour energy into it and grow it into something that stands the test of time.
The “Driveway Grey” colorway of the Nigel Sylvester x Air Jordan 4 RM “Grandma’s Driveway” releases August 3 for $150 USD.
