THE OUTLAWZ AND EWING MARK TWO DECADES OF “STILL I RISE”
20 Years Later, the Platinum Album is Celebrated as a Historic Collaboration Between 2Pac and Outlawz
As this year comes to an end, Ewing Athletics is celebrating historic rap group the Outlawz and the Platinum album that closed out the greatest decade of hip-hop. Released by Interscope Records on December 21, 1999, Still I Rise was a collaboration album by Tupac Shakur and the Outlawz that saw immediate commercial success; it debuted at #7 on the Billboard 200 chart and sold over 400,000 copies in its first week.
The album’s single “Baby Don’t Cry (Keep Ya Head Up II)” also marked the first time the Outlawz had to compete internally for spots on a record. While songs like “Letter to the President” and “The Good Die Young” featured five verses and even more members, production for the single limited the group to only two verses. The Outlawz all spit but it was E.D.I. Don and Young Noble came out on top and laid down the single with Tupac in 1996. “Baby Don’t Cry” is still remembered as a raw and heartfelt song that addressed some of the difficulties women of color faced in the late 1990s.
“The real-life messages in the music we made over 20 years ago are even more relevant in today’s society,” says Young Noble. “I grew up a fan of Patrick Ewing and I remember meeting him as a kid ̶ he used to come get his haircut at one of our local barbershops in Montclair, New Jersey, so it’s an honor for us to do something classic and timeless with Ewing Athletics, just like 2Pac and Outlawz music!” Still I Rise is the only full album from 2Pac and Outlawz ever released.
“We dropped Still I Rise at the turn of the century,” says E.D.I. Don. “To this day it is a fan favorite and we are very proud of it. That’s why we’ve linked up with Ewing Athletics to drop a limited-edition colorway strictly for our fans that have taken this ride with us.”
Equipped with premium perforated grey suede toes and black nubuck mudguards, the Outlawz x Ewing 33 Hi offers a timeless colorway on a classic silhouette. Fans that pre-order the shoe on December 21 will receive an autographed copy of the historic Still I Rise album.
Pricing: The Outlawz 33 Hi is available now for $140 exclusively at EwingAthletics.com in sizes 5-16.
Photography by Noah Goldowitz