NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — On Sept. 11, the hip-hop world took notice when Kendrick Lamar released a new song on his Instagram.
It was the first song released by the 17-time Grammy winner and soon-to-be Super Bowl LIX headliner since his feud with Drake. The five-minute untitled track featured a pair of black Nike Air Force 1's as the cover art.
Internet sleuths quickly deduced that the shoes came from an eBay listing based in North Little Rock, from an account called “Good2BYou.”
That account belongs to Billy Lingo and Darla Wilson, who have been together for 20 years and have run the account since 2021.
Wilson, who took the original photo used by Lamar, recounted the events.
"I sold the shoes... and I said, 'Oh, great. I sold a pair of shoes," Wilson said. "I've got them boxed up, printed the label, and all of a sudden, my phone was blowing up."
Other eBay users let them know that their shoes—which were quickly snatched up for $70 after not seeing any interest since being listed in June 2023—were now a piece of hip-hop history.
“They said, ‘Do you know who Kendrick Lamar is?” Lingo said of the messages the couple received. “I said, ‘Yeah, I'm reading the emails.’ They said, 'You’re on his cover page. Congratulations!’ Blah, blah, blah. I said, ‘How do I see this? Where's it at?’ They said it was on Instagram, and so I went to Instagram, and there they were.”
The couple said they have no connection to Lamar, and his use of their photo was completely unexpected.
"I'm not going to lie to you; I didn't know a whole lot about him," Lingo said. "I knew who he was... my son had told me about him, and my daughter had told me about him, but I really know about him now."
Once they figured out what was happening, the couple canceled the initial $70 order. They're now trying to sell the shoes in an auction, starting at $5,000 and with a buy-now price of $75,000.
“Keep in mind that Billy owns the shoes,” Wilson said. “And he said, ‘Yeah, you need to cancel those shoes.’ And then we took about two days doing due diligence and talking to some people, and we decided to do an auction.”
They said they weren’t sure how much to sell the shoes for, since they’ve never been in a situation close to this one.
According to the couple, if the shoes, which Lingo said he “either bought at a thrift store… or a yard sale”, don’t sell, they may change the price and try again.
"We had an opportunity put before us,” Billy said. “And I'm not a greedy person, you know. I’ve got the buy it now for… $75,000, and I know that's probably not going to happen, but it could."
The couple also said that since they own the image, they plan to sell t-shirts. Lingo already has one.
Meanwhile, Lamar’s song has garnered much attention since its release, with over three million likes and 120,000 comments.
“These things will happen,” Lingo said in response to millions of people having seen his pair of shoes. “It’s just so random.”
If you’re interested in purchasing the shoes, the link to the new listing can be found here.