Reebok is bringing back the G-Unit G6 on August 20 for $130, in the same white, blue and red colorway the shoe launched in more than twenty years ago. The retro carries style code 100289469 and releases through JD Sports and select retailers, online and in store.
What Reebok rebuilt
This is a 1:1 recreation rather than a reinterpretation. The upper is white leather with a light grey suede toe and perforated venting across the toe box and midfoot. A red, white and blue stripe badge sits on the leather just behind the toe. "G Unit" is embroidered in royal blue script at the heel, above a royal blue lining and a tri-color heel tab. The silver lace dubrae carries the "G-6" mark on a red-white-and-blue plate.
Underneath, the white midsole carries the "Rbk" logo on the lateral side and sits on a translucent blue outsole stamped with the Rbk circle mark and a "G Unit" script in the tread. Nothing has been modernized, resized, or turned into a lifestyle silhouette. It follows the Air Jordan 13 "Flint" OG, which returned August 1 at $215.
The G6 is not Reebok's only August archive move. Five days later the brand releases the 3D-printed Question 96/26 with Zellerfeld on August 25, marking 30 years since Allen Iverson's 1996 Question.
What the G6 was in 2003
The G6 arrived alongside Get Rich or Die Tryin'. It was one of the first signature sneaker lines built around a rapper rather than an athlete, and it ran directly against Reebok's other marquee music deal of the era: Jay-Z's S. Carter. 50 Cent has claimed the G6 outsold the S. Carter six to one, and the G-Unit partnership reportedly generated close to $80 million at its peak — figures that come from 50 Cent and from reporting on the deal rather than from Reebok's books.
Jay-Z has had his own anniversary year. He spent the summer on the Reasonable Doubt 30th-anniversary run with Roc Nation, which included NYC pop-ups, a Bowery Station takeover and Yankee Stadium shows.
How the return got out
Reebok did not break this news. Tony Yayo revealed the comeback on The Real Report, the podcast he co-hosts with Uncle Murda, in May — ahead of any brand announcement. 50 Cent's response, "I can't tell Yayo nothing," as Complex reported, did not deny it. The date and price were confirmed at the end of July, roughly three months after the leak. 50 Cent has stayed visible through the run-up, including a courtside reunion with Eminem at Pistons-Cavaliers Game 5 in May.
September brings its own anniversary release: adidas and Pokémon launch a 30th anniversary collection spanning the Superstar, Samba OG, ZX 8000 and F50 Tunit Mega.
The shoe, in detail
Source: Complex
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