 |
(Photo: Jake Chessum) |
How did you get into hairstyling?
I’m Ghanaian by descent, and most good West African families want their offspring to be doctors or lawyers, not artists, so it was like a rebellion thing to do hairdressing. And there were so many pretty girls when I went to interview at the hair salon.
Tell me about your hair.
Me? I’m a roots man. Dreadlock Rasta. Basically, I use aloe vera as an oxygenator and cleanser. It pumps life back into skin, hair, anything. I’ve had my dreads for about twenty years; it’s part of being a Rasta.
Tell me more about that.
Rastafari is basically a way of life. It’s about getting back to Africa and understanding where you come from. I go back to Ghana normally once a year, but of late I’ve been having children, so it’s harder. I’ve got three boys now.
Do they have baby dreads?
It’s hard enough work to get their hair washed! But I don’t want to make that decision for them. If you’ve got dreads, the other kids are going to be saying stuff, so it’s best to wait till you are choosing it for yourself.
Are there lots of Rastas in New York?
You get yourself out to East New York and up in Harlem, and they’re there. There’s some amazing youngsters coming through.
Email
Print
The Transformation of TV Into an Art Form
The Draw of Dream Worlds in Film
Gosselin, Prince of the Professional Nobodies
A Decade of Defining Moments in Pop Culture
The Invention of New York's Local Cuisine 
Thirty-Five Short-Lived Looks of the Decade
Two Views of a Swath of the Upper West Side
An Older Generation Moves Into Williamsburg
Ten Years That Changed Everything
A Generation of Overparenting
The Sports Rivalry of the Decade
What Is the Point of the United States Senate? 
