Extra Butter presents “Artist on Court” for Anta Kai 1. From his downtown studio to the Marconi Park court he painted in Queens, we catch up with our homie Malik Roberts share his experiences as a visual artist growing up in New York City, and how his creative process mirrors the disciplines of Kyrie Irving’s “Enlightened Warrior” ideology- Strength, Agility, Focus, Speed.

We hosted our Thursday Lowdown to give the very first Anta Kai 1 release a taste of an OG sneakerhead experience. It’s in-store moments like these that our brand was built upon and what we loved about growing up in the scene here in NYC.

From the art installation featuring Malik Roberts, to Kai inspired specialty cocktails by The infamous, to a surprise musical performance by Fivio Foreign, this will live as one of our favorite partnerships, adding to the deep streetwear history here in the Lower East Side.

Led by Black Footwear Design Director Jared Subawon with state-of-the-art design methods and technology, the Kai 1 serves as a conduit for Kyrie’s “Enlightened Warrior” ethos- Strength, Agility, Focus and Speed- words that are cryptically hidden throughout the shoe thanks to a custom glyph alphabet created specifically for the Kai line.