Reebok Finally Resurrects the G-Unit G6: The Y2K Sneaker Returns After 20 Years

Nike isn't the only company with a rich back catalog of signature sneakers. Reebok has quietly amassed quite an impressive collection of its own, and in recent years it has been reminding people how dominant it was in the early 2000s — from the Iverson Answers to the Shaq Attaqs. But amidst those basketball legends, Reebok was also tapping into the hip-hop scene in a big way. With 2003 partnerships with Jay-Z and 50 Cent's G-Unit, the company was treating rappers like footwear brands in their own right.

While Jay-Z's S. Carter sneaker was the first out the gate, the G-Unit G6 — released only a few months later — became a household name. Soon Reebok released kids' and toddler versions too, and the shoe embedded itself in the culture of the era. The original launched with a reasonable $80 price tag and, according to a 2006 Forbes report, the line sold over 4 million pairs during its brief three-year run. Then, for the last 20 years, the G6 vanished from the current range — until now.

For this reissue, Reebok is faithfully reproducing the white, red, and blue colorway from 2003. Structurally, little has changed: a leather upper with a suede toe cap and a translucent "ice-rubber" outsole. The G6 low-top was never a complex shoe, and that simplicity is on full display here — mostly white with subtle blue and red trim, a blue G-Unit logo at the heel, and a red, white, and blue dubraé at the bottom of the laces. Collectors who missed the original drop finally have a second chance at one of the defining sneakers of early-'00s hip-hop culture.

At the moment, there's no word whether other models like the G6 II or G6 Boot will be revived as well, so this reissue stands on its own as the first official return of the silhouette. That scarcity is part of the appeal: for a generation that remembers summer camp bans and schoolyard flexes, the G6 carries a nostalgia that most modern sneaker drops simply can't manufacture.

The G-Unit G6 is set to drop August 20 at 10 a.m. ET from Reebok's website, priced at $130. Given the 20-year wait and the cultural weight of the silhouette, this is the kind of release that rewards setting an alarm — expect the first batch to move quickly.