Run-DMC performs 'My Adidas' at Madison Square Garden — triggers the first hip-hop brand endorsement deal

Why it matters

July 19, 1986. Run-DMC played Madison Square Garden as part of the Raising Hell Tour, with the Beastie Boys and LL Cool J opening. The concert was the moment a thing that had been building all over American arenas all summer crystallized into a specific shot. Mid-set, during "My Adidas," the group asked everyone in the venue to hold up their sneakers. Thousands of people did. In the audience that night was Angelo Anastasio, an Adidas executive. He had been at one of the prior tour dates too. The MSG shot is the one that put it past arguing. He went back to Germany the next week and the company signed Run-DMC to a $1.6 million endorsement deal in 1986 dollars, the first formal sponsorship deal in the history of rap with any non-music brand. You can argue about which exact night the moment happened. The MSG night is the one in the picture. You can find the picture on the internet. Three thousand pairs of shell-toes are in it.