Rappers Start Beef With Sneaker Store on Social Media

Rappers start sneaker store beef on social media; owner fires back.

Rappers Sneaker Store Beef
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Rappers Sneaker Store Beef

New York rap vets Jadakiss and Styles P have been airing their grievances with independent sneaker chain Social Status on Instagram and Twitter over the past two weeks, registering complaints of poor customer service. But the store's owner, James Whitner, says its manager followed proper procedures, and that the rappers were upset about not being able to buy limited product early.

According to Whitner, Jadakiss is a frequent customer at the Social Status store in Charlotte, North Carolina. He says the rapper came by on March 24, mentioning that he was leaving town the next morning and wanted to come shop at the store before his departure. Whitner says the store manager agreed to let Jadakiss and his entourage in early the next morning, but mentioned that they wouldn't be allowed to buy the "Master" Air Max 1, a coveted Nike style that shoppers lined up to buy. 

Come the next morning, they were asking for the "Master" Air Max 1s. Whitner says Social Status' manager refused, despite being heckled by the rapper's entourage.

"We got kids outside. The kids camped out back all night," Whitner tells Sole Collector. "The kids are now going crazy 'cause they think we're selling Jadakiss shoes early, and in all actuality we're not. So, one of the people on my team went out and said, 'Listen, we're not selling them any shoes early.'"

A rep for Jadakiss did not immediately respond to a request for a comment. In an Instagram post on March 25 though, Jadakiss and Styles P say they understood not being able to buy the shoes, but felt they were treated poorly.

The duo posted a video the next day praising the Social Status store in Raleigh.

"Social Status, we all good now," Styles P says at the end of the clip.

After seeing the post from the Raleigh store, Whitner was surprised to find the rappers disparaging his business on social media again almost two weeks later. In the below tweet, posted on Thursday, the duo is seen giving Social Status the thumbs-down.

Jadakiss Social Status Sneaker Store

Despite the social media shots sent at Social Status, Whitner is sticking with his conviction to serve regular customers first over celebrities. It's those customers, he says, who mean more to him than any rapper co-sign. "Kids sleep in the rain and all the elements for these shoes, and we're supposed to grant [celebrities] access for stuff the kids line up for days for? They're disrespecting everything that this is built on."

UPDATE 4/6: Jadakiss sent out a new tweet saying that the previous tweet criticizing Social Status was sent out in error. The rapper says the issue was taken care of the same day it happened. His tweet from Thursday criticizing Social Status has been deleted.

All love @TheSocialStatus that tweet got posted from my drafts. We fixed our problem the same day it happened. PEACE!