Marcel Winatschek

The Aztrek Again

Cardi B hit number one with Bodak Yellow in 2017, the first solo female rapper to top the chart since Lauryn Hill in 1998. So naturally Reebok dressed her in a ’90s sneaker. The Aztrek ’93 came back, and there’s something perfectly cynical about it: she’s the sound of right now, and they’re pulling her backwards into a dead decade.

She was born in 1992, technically a child of that era. The Aztrek debuted the same year. She probably doesn’t remember the ’90s, has never owned one, but who cares—authenticity is just a branding problem. The shoe is exactly what you’d expect: chunky sole, aggressive colors, that visual weight that defined mid-’90s design. Reebok kept some Hexalite tech in the heel for actual engineering, but it’s the silhouette that matters. The Aztrek looks like what the ’90s sounded like.

It’s bittersweet watching someone break through and then immediately get sent backwards to authenticate a dead decade. Or maybe that’s just how things work now.