This is a fan concept for a sneaker built around Joey Valence & Brae, imagined entirely by Can You Kicks It. The shoe does not exist. This article is not affiliated with Joey Valence & Brae, RCA, the Beastie Boys, Run-DMC, adidas, Penn State, Red Lobster or any other brand. Nothing here is for sale.
The duo keep getting compared to the era of the first sneaker deal for anyone outside sport, and they have never had a shoe deal of their own. That gap is exactly what makes imagining one worth doing. This piece builds a sneaker concept for Joey Valence & Brae element by element, from the Red Lobster where they met to the Shepherd's Bush Empire they sold out.
Hip-hop sneaker collab storytelling works when every panel, lace tip and insole line traces to a fact only that artist could supply. A logo slap on a stock colourway does not do that. The six elements below do.
From a Red Lobster to a Sold-Out Shepherd's Bush Empire
Joey Valence (Joseph Bertolino) and Brae (Braedan Lugue) met in 2018 as freshmen at Penn State in State College, Pennsylvania. Mutual friends introduced them at a nearby Red Lobster. Remember the restaurant, because it comes back later, in red, on the shoe itself.
Their debut single "Crank It Up" went viral in April 2021. All three albums, Punk Tactics (2023), No Hands (2024) and HYPERYOUTH (15 August 2025), were recorded in Valence's home studio. HYPERYOUTH was their first release with RCA, produced by Joey Valence and featuring TiaCorine, Rebecca Black and JPEGMafia. A deluxe edition, HYPERYOUTH (Afterparty), followed on 27 February 2026.
Joey Valence & Brae's 2026 world tour crossed North America and then moved through the UK and Europe from May to June, with stops including the Roundhouse in London. They had already sold out the Shepherd's Bush Empire. Clash described their look as "baggy jeans, sleek oval sunglasses, and baseball caps" that "recalled the fashion trends of the late nineties and early noughties."
Brae told Louder in July 2024: "My dad had big speakers next to the TV in the house." He also said, "Oh man, shout out to our dads! Our dads are the OGs now." Those speakers show up at the end of this concept, on the box.
The Comparison Everyone Makes
Joey Valence & Brae get compared to the Beastie Boys, mainly because of Joey's higher vocal tone, in his own words to Louder in July 2024:
We get compared to the Beastie Boys, mainly because I just have a higher vocal tone, but obviously they're a huge inspiration for us.
He named The Pharcyde, Tribe Called Quest, Gang Starr and Onyx in the same conversation.
Joey Valence & Brae have no connection to the Beastie Boys, Run-DMC or adidas. They are compared to them, and that is all. It is not a formal or commercial relationship. But the comparison opens a door. If you follow the Beastie Boys thread backwards, you land in 1986.
The Sneaker the Comparison Points Back To
In 1986 the Beastie Boys were on Run-DMC's Raising Hell tour. That puts them inside the exact moment this concept references.
That year Run-DMC released "My Adidas". On 19 July 1986 at Madison Square Garden, with an adidas executive in the building, they told the crowd to hold up their adidas. The deal that followed is listed by Guinness World Records as the first sneaker deal for anyone outside sport.
The shoe was the Superstar, launched in 1969 as a basketball shoe and nicknamed the "shell toe" for its rubber toe cap. That is how a fan-designed sneaker concept for two Penn State freshmen can trace its silhouette back to a stage at Madison Square Garden.
Without this context, design elements are arbitrary details. With it, every panel carries weight.
The Concept: Six Stories, One Shoe
A collab shoe earns its story when every design decision traces back to a specific, verifiable moment in the artist's life. Generic colourways and logo patches do not clear that bar.
This concept has six elements, each anchored to a named fact from the duo's story: the 1986-era silhouette, the single, the dance ethos, the festival entrance, the restaurant and the speakers. Nothing here is a product or a proposal. This is a fan concept by Can You Kicks It, built to show what a shoe for this duo could say if the story was the brief.
1. The Silhouette: A Nod to 1986
The silhouette is in the spirit of a shell-toe Superstar, the shoe of the 1986 era the duo keep being compared to: a low-cut court shoe with a rubber toe cap. The choice is a nod to an era, not to a brand. No brand name, logo or model number appears on the concept. The silhouette speaks for itself.
2. The Heel Tab: Crank It Up
The heel tab is shaped as a volume dial turned all the way to the right, referencing "Crank It Up," the debut single that went viral in April 2021.
It is a functional-looking detail: a moulded rubber element that reads as part of the shoe's construction rather than a graphic appliqué. It rewards the person who knows the story and does not shout at the person who does not.
The April 2021 viral moment is the point from which everything else follows. Punk Tactics, No Hands, HYPERYOUTH, the sold-out Shepherd's Bush Empire. Placing it on the heel tab means every step traces back to the start.
3. Built to Dance: The Pivot Circle
A pivot circle is moulded into the forefoot of the outsole: a smooth, concentric inset in the rubber at the ball of the foot, for spins and direction changes. This is a shoe built to move in.
The design element responds directly to what Brae told Kerrang in October 2025: "Nobody wants to dance anymore." Joey added: "Let's bring that life back into the culture. That's what this album is about." HYPERYOUTH is the album that mission belongs to. The pivot circle is its physical expression.
The insole carries one line, the only text on the shoe, taken from Joey's Creative Loafing interview: "As you grow older, you shouldn't lose that sense of your youth." That sentence is the thematic core the entire concept is built around.
4. The Knight: Chainmail at the Collar
The collar lining uses a chainmail pattern: an embossed or jacquard-woven fabric that evokes medieval armour without being a costume piece. It is visible only when the tongue folds back or the shoe is off the foot.
The reference is Joey walking on stage at Reading Festival 2022 in a knight costume to "God Save the Queen." The chainmail is a hidden detail, inside the shoe rather than on it.
5. Red Lobster Red: Eyelets and Lace Tips
The eyelets and lace tips are finished in lobster red: a specific, saturated red drawn from the colour of a cooked lobster, not a generic accent colour. The reference is the Red Lobster restaurant near Penn State where Joey and Brae were introduced by mutual friends in 2018 as college freshmen. Every pair laced up carries that origin story from eyelet to eyelet.
6. The Box: Big Speakers, Oval Glasses
The box is printed as a loudspeaker grille: a grid of circular perforations across the outside panels, referencing Brae's line about his father, "My dad had big speakers next to the TV in the house." The box looks like the object that produced the sound Brae grew up with.
The lid carries a pair of oval sunglasses printed in outline, the one visual nod to Clash's description of their look, "sleek oval sunglasses."
Nothing on the box names a maker. No brand logo, no trademark, no label mark. The box is the story with no label attached.
The speaker-grille box closes the concept loop. The sound from the big speakers next to the TV in Brae's house ends up printed on the box that holds the shoe.
The accessories
Two extras come in the box. The first is a small keychain shaped like a baseball cap, after the "baggy jeans, sleek oval sunglasses, and baseball caps" Clash described. The sunglasses are already printed on the lid, so the cap gets a piece of its own. The second is a fabric wristband printed with one word, "HYPERYOUTH", after the 2026 world tour that took the album across North America, the UK and Europe. It is the kind of thing you forget to take off, which suits a pair built for dancing.
What Makes a Collab Shoe Work
The one thing that separates a collab shoe people track from one they forget is whether every design decision traces back to a story only that artist could tell. This concept goes from a Red Lobster in State College to a sold-out Shepherd's Bush Empire. That is the whole brief.
The real shoe behind this concept is the adidas Superstar, the shell toe of that era. Look up the adidas Superstar in Can You Kicks It and see what real pairs are worth today.
This shoe does not exist. This article is not affiliated with Joey Valence & Brae, RCA, the Beastie Boys, Run-DMC, adidas, Penn State, Red Lobster or any other brand. Nothing here is for sale. This is a fan concept, not a product.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who are Joey Valence & Brae?
Joey Valence (Joseph Bertolino) and Brae (Braedan Lugue) are a hip-hop duo who met in 2018 as freshmen at Penn State in State College, Pennsylvania, introduced by mutual friends at a nearby Red Lobster. Their debut single "Crank It Up" went viral in April 2021. They have released three albums, most recently HYPERYOUTH (2025), their first with RCA, featuring TiaCorine, Rebecca Black and JPEGMafia.
Is there a real Joey Valence & Brae sneaker?
No. Joey Valence & Brae have never had a sneaker or footwear deal. This article is a fan concept by Can You Kicks It. The shoe described here does not exist and is not endorsed by, produced by or affiliated with any brand.
Why are Joey Valence & Brae compared to the Beastie Boys?
Joey told Louder in July 2024: "We get compared to the Beastie Boys, mainly because I just have a higher vocal tone, but obviously they're a huge inspiration for us." So the comparison comes mainly from Joey's higher vocal tone, in his own words. There is no formal connection between the acts.
What is the connection between Run-DMC and the adidas Superstar?
Run-DMC released "My Adidas" in 1986, and on 19 July of that year at Madison Square Garden, they asked the crowd to hold up their adidas with an adidas executive watching. The deal that followed is recognised by Guinness World Records as the first sneaker deal for anyone outside sport. The shoe, the adidas Superstar, launched in 1969 as a basketball shoe and earned the nickname "shell toe" from its rubber toe cap.