Which sneaker did Kanye West debut with Nike at the 2008 Grammy Awards?

Kanye West debuted the Nike Air Yeezy publicly at the 2008 Grammy Awards.

The Nike Air Yeezy was a collaboration between rapper Kanye West and Nike. West wore an early version at the 2008 Grammy Awards, bringing the unreleased basketball-inspired design to a large audience before its retail launch in 2009. The shoe used a padded upper, a prominent midsole, and a glow-in-the-dark outsole detail in its best-known versions.

The release was significant because it gave a musician a major performance sneaker partnership outside the traditional athlete endorsement model. Nike produced the Air Yeezy in limited quantities, making it highly visible in sneaker culture despite its restricted availability.

The Air Yeezy is often confused with the later Nike Air Yeezy II or Adidas Yeezy models. The first Nike model came before West’s Adidas partnership and is specifically identified by the singular “Air Yeezy” name. It also predates the commercial Yeezy Boost line.