FLOAT 100 · Sneakers · No. 34
Eminem x Air Jordan 4 'Encore'
Twelve years after Eminem's blue Air Jordan 4 became a 50-pair legend, Jordan Brand made it again in a run of just 23, and gave the public exactly one chance to win a pair for a $10 donation.
- Year
- 2017
- Maker
- Nike / Jordan Brand x Eminem
- By price in sneakers
- 20 of 100
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Create a free account- Official name
- Air Jordan 4 Retro 'Encore' (2017), Eminem x Jordan Brand
- Production code
- 912853-783902
- Colorway
- Blue Ribbon/Varsity Red-Black-Stealth
- Pairs made
- 23, distributed mainly to friends and family
- Public access
- One size 12 pair, won by raffle in a $10-per-entry charity campaign, December 14-20, 2017
- Tied to
- Eminem's ninth studio album, Revival, released December 15, 2017
- Original
- The 2005 'Encore' Air Jordan 4, about 50 pairs, made for the album Encore
- How to tell them apart
- The 2017 pair has a slightly lighter grey on the heel tab and wings, and a lighter blue overall
- Beneficiary
- The Marshall Mathers Foundation, which supports disadvantaged and at-risk youth in Detroit
- Highest reported price
- $30,000, size 10, at auction in Toronto, 2024
A blue shoe that was meant for someone else
The Air Jordan 4 was designed by Tinker Hatfield and first released in 1989. It was the second Air Jordan he designed and the second to show its Air cushioning, and it launched in four colorways: white and cement grey, white with black and red, off-white with military blue, and black and red.
The 'Encore' color scheme began, according to a 2025 retrospective, as a sample for someone else. Some time in the early to mid-2000s Eminem visited Nike's headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon, and came across a blue Air Jordan 4 in 'Blue Ribbon/Varsity Red/Stealth/Black.' It was a sample for Undefeated's Air Jordan 4 project. Undefeated's released shoe, in olive and orange, landed in July 2005 as Jordan Brand's first collaboration. The blue sample was passed over, and people privy to the talks say Eminem worked out a deal with Undefeated's Eddie Cruz to use the look himself. The same account concedes that the specifics of the timeline have been lost.
The result was the Air Jordan 4 'Encore,' named for Eminem's fifth studio album, Encore, released November 12, 2004, and originally meant to be his last. About 50 pairs were made and given to friends and family. One 2015 report dates the original's debut to 2006 rather than 2005, and a 2017 campaign page repeated a legend of 52 pairs. Most sources say 50 pairs and 2005.
The 2017 return: 23 pairs and one raffle
In December 2017 Eminem and Jordan Brand brought the shoe back for his ninth studio album, Revival, released December 15, 2017. The new run was smaller than the original: 23 pairs, distributed primarily to friends and family.
Exactly one pair, a men's size 12, went to the public. From 2:00 p.m. Eastern on Thursday, December 14, 2017, through 11:59 p.m. Pacific on Wednesday, December 20, anyone could make $10 donations to the Marshall Mathers Foundation for entries. There was no limit on donations, and referring a friend who donated earned extra entries. Only U.S. residents 18 or older could win, and all net proceeds went to the foundation's work with at-risk and disadvantaged youth in the Detroit area.
The shoe headlined nine prizes, all from Eminem's own archive. Nine winners were drawn at random and chose in order. The others included a Shady Records Air Force 1 signed by the whole Anger Management 3 Tour lineup from summer 2005, split into a left shoe and a right shoe so two people could win; the Air Max Wright Eminem wore on stage at Comerica Park on September 2, 2010, opening night of his Home & Home Tour with Jay-Z; Converse 'Bad Meets Evil' sneakers from 2011; and crew-only gear from his 2016 South American tour.
The rest of the 23 pairs went mainly to people close to Eminem. One went to LeBron James, who posted his pair on Instagram ahead of a game against the Indiana Pacers on January 26, 2018, and called Eminem the greatest of all time.
How to read the shoe
The 2017 'Encore' keeps the original's blocking: a blue upper with black, grey and red accents. Factory boxes carry production code 912853-783902 and the colorway 'Blue Ribbon/Var Red-Black-Stea.'
Published descriptions of the 2017 version say it differs from the 2005 pair only in shade: a slightly lighter grey on the heel tab and the side 'wings,' and, according to one description, a lighter blue throughout. Every other detail stays true to the original.
Some pairs carry the name of the person they were meant for. A size 9.5 pair from Eminem's own collection, offered at auction in 2026, had a box label suggesting it may originally have been designated for former NFL player Brian Mitchell. The listing worded that carefully, and so does this page.
Where the pairs have gone
Because so few pairs exist, nearly every public sale is a single traceable event. A U.S. men's size 12 sold for $17,468 on a resale platform on May 13, 2021. It is the same size as the 2017 raffle pair, but the sources do not say whether it was the same shoe.
At a sneaker, car and memorabilia sale held May 31 to June 1, 2024, in Toronto, a size 10 pair with its box sold for $30,000. The collection was auctioned at its home, a 17,000-square-foot exhibition space in the city.
On August 25, 2026, the signed size 9.5 pair from Eminem's own collection sold for $19,200 against a $15,000 to $25,000 estimate. It was one of more than 100 signed pairs Eminem consigned, with all proceeds going to the Marshall Mathers Foundation. One published tally of the results found it was the only one of the 115 lots that sold to finish inside its estimate instead of above it, and linked that to reports, 17 days earlier, that the 'Encore' was headed for a general release.
The 2005 original sits at a different level. A 2017 report said it was then reselling for about $70,000, and a signed 2005 pair sold at auction in December 2023 for $50,800.
A grail that keeps almost coming back
Eminem's work with Jordan Brand continued: an Air Jordan 2 called 'The Way I Am' in 2008, a Carhartt Air Jordan 4 in 2015, and a 'Slim Shady' Air Jordan 3 he wore during the Super Bowl LVI halftime show on February 13, 2022.
On August 8, 2026, reports said the 'Encore' would finally get a retail release in May 2027 under style code JJ3098-400, in 'Blue Ribbon/Game Purple/Stealth/Black,' with purple replacing the original's red. Reports put the price at $230 or around $225. Jordan Brand never confirmed it. By September 23, 2026, the shoe had reportedly been pulled from the Summer 2027 calendar, after Eminem's manager, Paul Rosenberg, answered reports of the release with one word: 'Nope.'
For now the 2017 'Encore' is what it was in December 2017: a shoe that 23 people were given and one person won.
The numbers
- Release
- December 14, 2017, by charity raffle only; no retail release
- Retail price
- None; raffle entries were $10 donations
- Production
- 23 pairs
- Public pairs
- One, men's size 12
- Production code
- 912853-783902
- Colorway
- Blue Ribbon/Varsity Red-Black-Stealth
- Raffle window
- December 14, 2:00 p.m. Eastern, to December 20, 2017, 11:59 p.m. Pacific
Timeline
The Air Jordan 4, designed by Tinker Hatfield, is first released.
Eminem releases his fifth studio album, Encore.
The original 'Encore' Air Jordan 4 is made, about 50 pairs, for friends and family. One source dates its debut to 2006.
Undefeated's olive Air Jordan 4, Jordan Brand's first collaboration, is released; its passed-over blue sample is said to have become the 'Encore' scheme.
Eminem and Jordan Brand follow up with the Air Jordan 2 'The Way I Am.'
Ten pairs of the Eminem x Carhartt Air Jordan 4 are auctioned online for charity.
The 2017 'Encore' is unveiled with a $10-per-entry raffle for one size 12 pair, benefiting the Marshall Mathers Foundation.
Revival, Eminem's ninth studio album, is released.
The charity raffle closes at 11:59 p.m. Pacific.
LeBron James posts his pair of 2017 'Encores' ahead of a game against the Indiana Pacers.
A size 12 pair sells for $17,468 on a resale platform.
Eminem wears his 'Slim Shady' Air Jordan 3 at the Super Bowl LVI halftime show.
A signed 2005 original sells at auction for $50,800.
A size 10 pair of the 2017 shoe sells for $30,000 at auction in Toronto (sale held May 31 to June 1).
Reports say a retail 'Encore' (JJ3098-400) will release in May 2027.
A signed size 9.5 pair from Eminem's own collection sells for $19,200 at a charity auction for his foundation.
The 2027 retail release is reported pulled from Jordan Brand's calendar.
The world in 2017
Donald Trump is sworn in as the 45th president.
The Golden State Warriors beat Cleveland in five games for the NBA title, going 16-1 in the postseason.
A total solar eclipse crosses the United States, the first visible from the continental U.S. since 1979.
Hurricane Harvey makes landfall in Texas as a Category 4 storm.
A gunman kills 59 people at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip, the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.
The Houston Astros beat the Los Angeles Dodgers in seven games to win the World Series.
The Senate passes the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the biggest overhaul of the tax code since the Reagan era.
Price record
| Date | Price | Kind |
|---|---|---|
| May 13, 2021 | $17,468 | Private saleU.S. men's size 12, sold on a resale platform. |
| Jun 2024 | $30,000 | Sold at auctionSize 10 with box, sold at auction in Toronto (sale held May 31 to June 1, 2024). |
| Aug 25, 2026 | $19,200 | Sold at auctionMen's 9.5, signed by Eminem, from his own collection; estimate $15,000 to $25,000; proceeds to the Marshall Mathers Foundation. |
A realized auction price is what a buyer actually paid on the date shown, including the buyer's premium where the sale reported it. It is the strongest kind of reference price, and it is a record of one sale of one object on one day, not a promise of what the next example will bring.
By reference price, Eminem x Air Jordan 4 'Encore' is number 20 of 100 in the sneakers entries of the FLOAT 100. 22 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (34 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.
Did you know
- The 'Encore' colors are said to have started as an Undefeated sample that lost out to the olive pair that became Jordan Brand's first collaboration.
- The 2017 run of 23 pairs was smaller than the roughly 50-pair original it revived.
- The public's only shot at a pair was a $10 donation, and there was no limit on how many times you could enter.
- One raffle prize was a single signed Air Force 1: the left and right shoes were split into two prizes so more people could win.
- LeBron James got a pair as a friend of Eminem and showed it off before a game in January 2018.
- A pair from Eminem's own closet had a box label suggesting it was first meant for former NFL player Brian Mitchell.
- A 2027 retail version was reported in August 2026 and reported pulled by late September, after Eminem's manager replied 'Nope.'
How this page is made
- The figure
- One reference price, shown with its own kind. FLOAT does not average it with anything or adjust it for time.
- Realized or not
- A realized price is a completed sale. An asking price, an estimate and a price-guide value are not sales, and are labeled as such wherever they appear.
- The story
- Researched from published records and checked fact by fact. Updated Oct 1, 2026.
- Archive
- Oct 5, 2026