Image courtesy of Nike.

In honor of the 45th anniversary of the Nike Cortez, the running shoe that made its first appearance during the 1972 Olympic games, Nike has released the images for a Long Beach edition of the track-shoe-turned-mainstream-footwear, “this pair pays tribute to Snoop Dogg’s birthplace and possibly references his affiliation with the Crips,” wrote Hypebeast. 

The Cortez, the classic shoe that “is as West Coast as a clean G-funk beat,” wrote BoomBox, features “LBC” stitched in gold on the rear panel, “Long Beach” printed in black on the rear heel tab, the years 1972 and 2017 on the inside of the tongue tabs and “XLV” on the insoles.

Designed by Bill Bowerman, the original Cortez was meant to be as comfortable as it was durable, giving runners, especially endurance athletes, a product that would last for miles and miles.

It was adopted into hip-hop culture starting on the feet of West Coast’s Eazy-E, then in 1991 sported by Whitney Houston during her Super Bowl XXV halftime performance, and worn by Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump, according to Complex.  Recently, the shoe has housed the famous feet of Kendrick Lamar, Lil Wayne and more.

The Nike Cortez Basic Nylon Long Beach will be released to purchase on June 1 at select Nike retailers, Nike’s website, as well as Snkrs, for about $100.