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Over the last year rap aficionado Jay-Z aka Shawn Carter has sprouted a crop of coiled tendrils atop his head, a departure from the closely cropped caesar he’s sported for decades.
But while there are many who enjoy his venture into embracing his natural hair, there are just as many who feel that a man of his stature should stray away from publicly wearing a coiled texture.
Two tweets after Jay accompanied his wife Beyoncé on the red carpet for the London premiere of Disney’s The Lion King seemed to capture the above mentioned resentment.
https://twitter.com/lustforlo/status/1150737304383893504?s=21
“Jay Z is an example that no matter how rich, how old, your man can up and decided to grow dreads at any point in your relationship. that’s scary,” Twitter user @LustforLo wrote.
And a second tweet from @ayo_WPGM which read, “I think Jay Z needs to cut his hair because it looks unkept. My wife says I have a bias against black hair & I have no business commenting on the physical appearance of a billionaire because he doesn’t need my styling tips.”
Naturally his comments are in shambles, with many who opted to agree with his wife, while also pointing out his own personal appearance.
Now while both tweets might’ve been a complete joke, it does speak to a lot of the sentiment around men and women who opt to wear their hair in a natural style.
To sport his hair the way it grows out of his head as one of the greatest rappers of all-time, a billionaire, a cultural icon and a proud Black man. But, after centuries of European beauty standards, his willingness to do so speaks volumes and in turn hopefully presents a strong front for his daughter Blue, who has suffered under the harsh criticisms of those who look at her hair texture with disdain. Men don’t have as much social freedom to sport a variety of hairstyles and I find joy that as he nears his 50th birthday his spirit seems much lighter and enterprising.
However you feel about Jay, I’m proud of the fact that he’s living free and trying something new with his hair, which is all any of us should be allowed to do.
Click through to check out some reactions to the above tweets.
