Editor’s Note: This interview was originally published as a podcast in 2019 and has since been updated and condensed. To read the rest of our Creator Mag coverage, click here.

Given the amount of unboxing videos, performance reviews, and sneaker shopping now uploaded to YouTube every day, it may not seem that weird for a creator to be hyper-focused on covering the kicks world.

Yet in August 2012, Jacques Slade — better known by his social handle @kustoo — posted his first video reacting to sneaker news, as he questioned why the LeBron Xs were selling for such a high premium at $315. It was a pretty niche topic for a creator to cover at the time, but his reputation as an OG has persisted throughout the years, with Complex dubbing Slade the “King of Unboxing Sneakers” in 2019.

Since then, Slade has amassed 1.3M subscribers and nearly 210M views on his channel while building a devoted community from around the globe. As an entertainer, he’s also started to branch out, partnering with eBay on their efforts to make their platform a top destination for sneakerheads as well as hosting a show on Snapchat covering the 2020 Olympics for NBC.

I talked with Jacques about his journey through the entertainment world, from rapping on the hit sitcom Community to interviewing NBA superstar Anthony Davis to unboxing some of the rarest sneaker samples in the world.

Nathan Graber-Lipperman: Starting off, I scrolled all the way down your YouTube channel to find the first video you ever posted. Do you remember what it was?

Jacques Slade: Gosh, that's a great question. I think it was a rap video that I did…yeah, it was. I wanted to be a rapper when I was younger, and I paid for a rap video to happen. And I think that's the first video. I'm almost sure.

It was! Your first upload was on February 12, 2006. It was a music video for “Get Your Hands Up.”

Wow. Wow. Goodness gracious. 13 years ago. Wow.

This was back when YouTube was first beginning. And as an artist, you went by the name of KU which, by the way, that's a reference to Jacques Cousteau, right?

That is a reference to Jacques Cousteau, yup.

So is Jacques Cousteau, like, the second most famous Jacques after you are what? Like, what's the order there?

(Laughs) I would probably say Jacques Cousteau is the most famous, and I'm somewhere down in the 25-to-30 range.

Back in the mid-2000s, you were an aspiring rapper, but as you’ve said in interviews, a career in rap wasn't really in the cards for you. You put out an album, however, and some sort of movie exec picks up on it. They then hire you to teach actors on how to pretend to be rappers for their movie. Is this a true story?

Yes. The album didn't do very well—did terrible, to be honest. But it started getting picked up for film and television stuff. And there was a film coming out called Drillbit Taylor, which featured a freestyling scene between three of the kids. And I was hired to coach the actors on how to rap.

Were they any good?

They were actually pretty good! I mean, these guys are really good actors. So they picked it up pretty quickly and got right into it without hesitation.

So through that, you met someone working on Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. It’s gotta be one of the most underrated movies of all time, right?

100 percent. Like, it's an amazing, amazing parody, but it never got the love that it deserved, which made me so mad. Super, super funny. The music is great. It was just, like, a perfect storm for a movie, but it just didn’t resonate with the public [at the time]. But the flip side of that is when you see people talk about it now, when people talk about it in retrospect, they love it.

Every time I watch the scenes with Jonah Hill playing the ghost, it has me dying.

Yeah, it was so good.

John C. Reilly starring in *Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story* (2007)

You play the rapper who, at the end of the movie, samples Dewey Cox and brings his music back for younger generations. What was it like working with John C. Reilly?

I only saw him once when he came on set, and he was like, “Yo, love the song!” which obviously was super cool for me. Like my first movie, you know, and he knew some of the lyrics of my song. He even asked for actual clarification on some of the lyrics…it was one of these moments that I never really expected to happen. It was definitely really cool.

So your career starts to pick up a bit, and you turn the Walk Hard gig into a stint on Community. Out of your four appearances on the Season 1 soundtrack — “Pierce You Are a B,” “Pierce Raps,” “Night Cap,” and “I Never Die” — which is your favorite?

Probably “Night Cap” because it was just so ridiculous and super energetic. Like, it was a rap song about going to sleep, but the energy on it is crazy. It’s always funny to me, and I actually just listened to it a few days ago!

I feel like that’s sorta emblematic of Community as a whole. You know, making something really serious about something so silly.

I mean, that's what Community was kind of built on. The premise was, like, these super serious things but done in a super funny way. Shout out to Dan Harmon.

When you look back at the cast and crew at the time, you know, Dan Harmon goes on to create Rick and Morty. The Russo Brothers go on to direct the biggest movie franchise of all time [Avengers: Infinity War]. Donald Glover becomes a worldwide phenomenon, Alison Brie and Ken Jeong blow up. You even got to work directly with Ludwig Göransson, who won a Grammy for producing “This Is America” and an Oscar for composing the Black Panther soundtrack. Was it a really special time to be working with so many talented people on Season 1?

For me, it was such a blur just because it was something I was a part of. I just never expected to be a part of a show on television — you know what I mean? So, like, as cool as it was to be a part of it, I didn’t really have a chance to take it all in because I was just so excited about it all. And then sitting down to watch an episode and seeing the song I wrote appear on a TV show, that energy…I was so excited about it.

Circling back to the beginning of our conversation, at what point do you kind of decide to transition away from a music/entertainment role in this capacity?

I don’t think I’ve ever really gone away from music — other things just, you know, started to take precedent. It more just became a paying-the-bills kind of thing, which is why I shifted focus.

For sure. Getting into your current role as a creator, what’s your background with sneaker culture as a whole?

I was someone who grew up loving basketball, you know, literally my favorite sport ever. I idolized my older cousin, he was really good, and he was who I wanted to grow up to be. Fashion-wise, basketball-wise, school-wise. So they all wore cool sneakers when they would play, and they were dunking and talking trash to each other. And when I was super young, seeing how well they played and how fast they were, a big part of my love for sneakers was sparked because of watching them.

I know a lot of sneakerheads that got hooked through playing and watching basketball. Was there a first pair that got you hooked?

The first pair that got me hooked was the Air Jordan 11, man. It was amazing. But I think the first sneaker that really just blew my mind was the Air Max 95. I remember seeing it in a store and just being blown away by the design…it stopped me in my tracks.

Even as you’ve grown this reputation of being the “Sneaker Unboxing King,” you’re taking on so many different ventures and exploring a lot of unique things with your content. How would you describe your brand to someone who’s never watched your channel?

When I think of my brand, I guess the hope for me is that I come across as someone who’s relatable. Like, I try not to present myself in a way that because I have all these sneakers or because I’ve done all these things, it makes me any different than anybody else. You know, I still put my pants on one leg at a time, just like everybody else. And I struggle with things just like everybody else.

[To my viewers,] I want to encourage you to be the best version of yourself, and do whatever it is you need to do. To be better and to reach your goals. So I guess that would be my brand, just a regular person who’s extremely grateful and feels super lucky to be able to do things he loves and make a living from it.

That’s awesome. Yeah, and I know you recently got to interview Anthony Davis about not just sneakers, but also his life and career overall. What was that like?

When it comes to my brand, what we were just talking about, it’s like, we’re starting with sneakers and pop culture, but the conversation is really about just getting to know people on a one-on-one basis. Like, I just want to have honest conversations with people about their lives, about what it took for them to get where they are. What are their fears? What are the things that make them happy? What disappoints them?

I want [my content] to resonate with people not just because I’m showing these people who are huge stars. Yes, they’re huge stars, but at the same time, they’re regular people, too. Like, during that interview with Anthony Davis, he talks about mental health and how social media affects basketball players. That’s not a conversation you normally have. But in that same conversation, we talked about his love for Air Jordan 1s.

So it’s like, really, my goal is to show that these people are more than just one thing, that we see the entire map. He’s a basketball player, but he’s also scared of clowns. Just being able to tell those bigger stories about people…because, as we talked about, you see the good but don’t necessarily see the bad in today’s world of social media. You don’t see the struggle a lot. And I think it’s important that we relay the conversation around that struggle as well so that people don’t feel alone.

You’ve really started to upload more content in a nighttime talk show type format called “Hard Pass.” What’s the idea behind this?

It’s really just me, riffing at a desk about things I have an opinion about. It’s a little different than the normal unboxing videos on my channel, and it allows me to have a little bit more personality and highlight things I think people could afford to think about more objectively. I’m also trying to turn the consumer side of sneakers, the consumerism of it, and show people more of the passion side of sneakers and the culture around sneakers.

And also show that I’m into more than just sneakers! I’m into cartoons, I’m into technology, and cameras and sports and all of those things. It allows me to show those different sides of me, as well as show people that I can put together a talk show and see where that leads and what opportunities it might get.

Who’s the best sneaker YouTuber in the game right now? Other than yourself, of course.

Foamer [Mr Foamer Simpson on YouTube]. Nightwing is the best from a performance review standpoint, but yeah, I would give it to those two guys.

You said your favorite sneakers are the Air Jordan 11s. What’s your favorite colorway?

It’d have to be the Breds. That’s the first one I had, and it’ll always be my favorite.

Last question — what’s next for Jacques Slade?

To be honest, I don’t know! Because I’ve been able to do what I do, between Community and all of those different things, the way I kinda look to the future is that it’s wide open. I’d love to be on a sitcom, I’d love to do a movie. I’d love to host a show and continue growing on YouTube.

There’s so many different things I want to do, and I think the future is really just wide open. I feel very blessed and lucky that I’m able to do what I’m able to do, and I’ll go where that leads me as long as it’s something I feel I can do a good job at. Maybe I’ll even be across from The Rock in Hobbes & Shaw 5!

How many more of those movies do you think they have in them? What’s your over/under?

I think they’ve got three in them, and then there’s probably gonna be a crossover.

I’ll take the under on that one, so that if we ever do another interview, we can re-approach that.

There you go (laughs). It was a pleasure, I appreciate you taking the time today!

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A Conversation With Jacques Slade, YouTube's Sneaker Unboxing King

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