Jae Tips brings retro gaming style to Skullcandy headphones

Jae Tips did not stamp his Bronx color code onto a tee or sneaker this time. He put it on Skullcandy’s Crusher ANC 2, turning the over-ear headphone into a transparent emerald object with Nintendo 64-style buttons, floral hits, and Super Mario Bros.-inspired packaging, then priced it at $259.99 for a May 19 launch at Chelsea Best Buy, 60 W 23rd St. in Manhattan, followed by a limited online release on May 20.

That price matters. At $259.99, the pair sits right in Skullcandy’s premium Crusher ANC 2 lane, which makes this feel less like a stunt collab and more like a real purchase for someone who wants design cred without crossing into the kind of resale insanity that usually shadows streetwear-adjacent drops. The emerald shell does the heavy lifting here: it reads like late-1990s translucent tech, the kind of finish that makes a product look collectible even before you power it on.

Skullcandy’s own product language backs up the everyday-use angle. The Crusher ANC 2 is positioned as a flagship over-ear model with Personal Sound, adjustable 4-mic active noise canceling, Crusher Bass, hands-free voice control, and up to 60 hours of battery life with rapid charge. So this is not just shelf candy. It is a working pair of headphones wrapped in a very specific visual memory, one that leans into retro gaming hardware and the glow of old consumer electronics.

The collaboration also lands because it is Jae Tips’ first-ever audio project, and Skullcandy has framed it that way from the jump. For a designer whose name has already become shorthand for punchy color blocking and Bronx-rooted taste, the move into headphones makes sense: same visual language, different object. Instead of translating that energy onto another hoodie or pair of sneakers, he moved it into something people can wear all day, on the train, at work, or at the gym.

That is what makes the pair interesting as more than a novelty. Jae Tips has become a recognizable name through Savior Worldwide and his broader streetwear universe, but this Skullcandy release opens a cheaper entry point than the usual fashion grail chase. It still feels special, still feels limited, and still looks like it came from a designer with a very specific eye. But it also does the rare thing a lot of collaborations promise and few deliver: it gives the fan something useful enough to live with, not just photograph.