From the beginning there was something different about Korn, and aside from the music, one of the things that distinguished them from the rest of the rock community was their look. As Korn roll out a new collaboration with the ADIDAS athletic wear brand, singer Jonathan Davis took part in a video interview discussing their long history with ADIDAS and how the track suits became their “look.”
Why Did Korn Wear ADIDAS Track Suits?
While Davis admitted there was a Run-DMC influence, he explained, “It was also about Korn always from the beginning going the opposite way and being rebellious and even from the name of the band, we were never what you think a rock band should be, so what would be the polar opposite and at the time everyone was wearing leather and that was super edgy looking, so we would wear sportswear (laughs).”
He later added, “It represented that old B-boy thing from New York. Most of the guys were all into hair metal back in the ’80s, but I was into old school hip-hop and New York. That was that whole dancing, B-boy, Run-DMC, that was that influence, so that’s why I chose the track suit.”
As for how the ADIDAS track suit became Davis’ particular thing, he explained, “I wear a uniform. Everyone thinks I wear the same thing. I have like 20 of everything, the same shirt, the same pants, and with the ADIDAS track suits, I’d just put ’em on. That was my shit. I don’t want to try and sit there and fucking pick out clothes. That’s the last thing I want to think about. Well, I’ll pick a uniform. That was the track suit and I just wore those religiously.”
Who Wore the First ADIDAS Track Suit in Korn?
“I think Fieldy wore the first track suit,” recalls Davis. “Cause I used to wear a green jumpsuit, and then I didn’t want to wear it. I wanted to wear the track suit cause I like the track suit and I just ran with it. The first was a blue and white one and then I found and made a black and red one and that was my shit. I wore that forever.”
Why Did It Take So Long for Korn and ADIDAS to Collaborate?
As Davis explained, ADIDAS were initially supportive of the band wearing their brand, but only to a point. “ADIDAS had given us all this stuff and anything we wanted, but wouldn’t work with me, anything if I wanted to customize it, it wasn’t happening. They said, ‘We’re a sports company.’ That’s what they always told me, so fine,” recalls the singer.
So Davis began to create his own suits with his creative flare as a result. “The first piece I ever did I think was ’96, or it might have been late ’95 was this one [suit with feathers on the lapel],” said Davis. “I go this seamstress and we did this first piece cause I was going for that collared ’70s pimp look. And this was the first piece.”
“I just wanted to take it up a level. Flamboyant, like Liberace. Like I want to make a track suit like Liberace. That was going through my head. And then like Vegas sequins and shit, and then it turned into that. The first incantation was the purple [track suit]. That’s when we did the ‘A.D.I.D.A.S.’ video and that’s the track suit I wore. That was the first one ever made,” says the singer. “I just wanted flashy, but I remembered Vegas showgirls, big performers always had sequins, so I wanted it to be very loud and different.”
READ MORE: See Korn’s Full ADIDAS Collection
How ADIDAS Inspired Korn’s “A.D.I.D.A.S.”
“It was nothing. I think I started with a riff and we did it. It was the second record and I wrote this song. The acronym for it was ‘All Day I Dream About Sex,’ but it could be a million different things. You could say sports,” says Davis about their hit song “A.D.I.D.A.S.” “But it’s just very immature and juvenile and it was very representative of where we were at at that point in time.” He later adds of the song, “I can’t believe ADIDAS approved that.”
The singer did add one piece of trivia fans might not know. “In that song, when I performed it, when you listen, my first-born son Nathan was between my legs when I sang that song and in the breakdown you can hear him cooing in the background,” says the vocalist.
Korn, “A.D.I.D.A.S.”
The initial ADIDAS Original X Korn collaboration sold out, but Davis reveals in the video below that more drops will be coming and that he’s interested in not only revisiting certain eras of the group, but also pushing their collaborations into the future. Check out more of the chat below.
Korn’s Jonathan Davis Discusses His History With ADIDAS
The Top 50 Korn Songs
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Gallery Credit: Loudwire Staff
