Latest / The Tight Curls Project / Calling His Own Plays | Hair, Expectations & Life in College Football

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Calling His Own Plays | Hair, Expectations & Life in College Football · The Tight Curls Project

• 0:00
  And then it gets to my turn to like try on the helmets, and like they, they get
• 0:03
  the biggest helmets, biggest helmet size.
• 0:05
  And I already have a big head, like without the hair so like I, I, I
• 0:09
  try to go and put on the helmet.
• 0:11
  , And the helmet is like just not fitting.
• 0:12
  like we put water on my hair, like we try to compress the hair down and everything,
• 0:16
  like it's just, it's just not going on.
• 0:18
  It's not fitting the guys on the football team, like here at Duke, I feel like
• 0:21
  one of like the biggest discussions that we have is haircut prices.
• 0:24
  And just how much a cut is nowadays
• 0:35
  Hello, and welcome to the Tight Curls Project podcast.
• 0:38
  I'm your host, Shadia, and I have a special guest today.
• 0:41
  We have
• 0:42
  Até
• 0:42
  Kara.
• 0:43
  Welcome, Até.
• 0:44
  Hey, happy to be here
• 0:45
  Yeah, we're so happy to have you.
• 0:47
  So let me tell everyone a little bit about you.
• 0:50
  Bariaté Kara is a student athlete at Duke University playing defensive
• 0:54
  tackle for the men's football team.
• 0:56
  Yes, let's go, Duke.
• 0:57
  Let's go, Duke
• 0:58
  We have that in common.
• 1:00
  Ate is entering his mid-sophomore year and is majoring in psychology
• 1:03
  with a minor in economics.
• 1:05
  He's originally from Atlanta, Georgia, and hopes to pursue a future in finance.
• 1:09
  But for now, he has picked up a new hobby, which is fishing.
• 1:12
  We love that.
• 1:14
  thank you for having me
• 1:16
  Yeah, we were so excited.
• 1:18
  We got introduced by a mutual friend, Mike, from Ver Coaching, who works with
• 1:23
  athletes, and we really wanted to talk with a male athlete who's gone through
• 1:28
  the experience of f- figuring out how to take care of their hair as they're in
• 1:33
  college, and you were the perfect person 'cause you have some great stories, right?
• 1:38
  Uh huh
• 1:39
  So let's just start from little Até.
• 1:42
  Little Ate in school figuring things out.
• 1:46
  Do you have any early memories of you and your hair?
• 1:50
  Yeah, um, I would say my earliest memory with my hair would always be
• 1:54
  me going to the barber shop with my mom, and I wanted to keep the top of
• 1:58
  my hair, like keep, keep something up there, but my mom my mom is Nigerian.
• 2:01
  She came over here in 2003, and her biggest thing was no.
• 2:05
  Every time we'd go to the barber shop there'd be, like, no argument, no nothing.
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  , Whenever I tell the barber I wanted to keep a little something on the top,
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  he… Uh, my mom would just instantly just say, "No. Give him, give him the
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  zero," which is everything just complete- completely, completely, completely bald.
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  And, um, it, it, it would always, it would always suck so much 'cause
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  and then I would go to school, and everyone's like, just like smacking my
• 2:24
  head and stuff, like calling me Peanut, calling me Peanut Head and everything.
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  So I… It always it was terrible, and , I never really got a say in my haircut and
• 2:31
  what I wanted to do with my hair until middle school, like seventh, eighth grade.
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  So that always, that always sucked, but you know, I just got over it, had
• 2:39
  had a template.
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  She's like, "You know what? Give him zero. This is what it is." We have a
• 2:43
  couple pictures of you, little you, uh, in the hood, in the little hoodie jacket.
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  How old do you think you were here?
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  I think I was probably, I think that w- I was like five or six in that picture.
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  Oh, so already.
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  You always had the low hair.
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  Always.
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  Always.
• 3:00
  And I love this one.
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  This one you can really see how low it is.
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  Yeah.
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  So you couldn't really pinch your hair or anything, it's that
• 3:07
  short
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  nothing, nothing.
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  It was because like in like Nigerian culture, like they think like having
• 3:11
  a low bald cut, like that's like very clean and, like that's just
• 3:14
  what, like that's just what it is.
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  And like anything like your hair growing out or like dreads or twists or anything
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  like that, like it's just too much.
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  Like
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  it's
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  yeah, it's just like a clean cut is completely bald, you know?
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  like, even to like till this day, whenever I come home, like I, I
• 3:27
  get a fade or anything, my mom's like, "Where's your haircut?" Like
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  she just be like, "There's nothing.
• 3:30
  You didn't cut anything off," "what-- There's a problem," you
• 3:32
  I'm like,
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  " What did they do?
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  You're paying money for it and you still
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  have long hair."
• 3:35
  Well, I think that's really interesting because it basically, you said
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  other kids didn't really have that short hair, so that was not popular
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  when you were coming up in school.
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  Okay
• 3:45
  no.
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  I would see my friends like come to school with like mohawks, the high tops, like
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  have like braids and everything, and I'm like, "I want that." I wanna have that.
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  And but like anytime like I bring up anything like that, it was, it's
• 3:56
  always just get shut down immediately.
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  And like, and like I'm in, I'm in second grade, like what say do I have, but like
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  I always, I'd always see my team, like my classmates and my friends have like
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  the coolest haircuts and everything.
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  Yeah, like they'd get patterns and stuff like that in their hair, get
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  a little mark something like that.
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  And, and I, I never got that, and it was just always so sad for me.
• 4:15
  Oh, yeah.
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  So you wanted to play around and experiment and try different things.
• 4:20
  Okay.
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  So, but your mom wasn't having it.
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  It's also less time, I think, too.
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  When your hair's really that short, your getting ready for school time is
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  Oh, yeah.
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  Yeah.
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  Mm-hmm.
• 4:32
  you're ready to go.
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  And so what do you think changed for you?
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  When did this start, changing?
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  'Cause you said it was elementary even, people were experimenting.
• 4:41
  So when did that start changing for you or your thoughts about your hair?
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  Did it increase as you got older?
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  Yeah.
• 4:49
  No, yeah.
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  So um, it really just got to like a point in like middle school like my
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  seventh or eighth grade year, like my mom like was like, she's still taking
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  me to the barber shop and everything.
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  I'm just "Mom, I'm, I'm like, I'm becoming a teenager. Let me like have a little say
• 5:00
  in like what I wanna do with my hair," and um, and, and she like, she gave in.
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  She finally gave in, and like I started like growing out my hair a little bit,
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  started… I, I experimented, like when I first started growing out my hair, I had
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  the high box top and everything, like just cut like the fade completely on the side.
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  And you like I
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  for the first style?
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  'Cause that's a big deal.
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  What was your inspiration for, for the first style for the
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  That's just that was like k- that was like kind of popular at the time.
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  I thought that, I thought it looked, I thought it looked good and everything.
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  But look- looking back at pictures from that time, it's oh my
• 5:28
  God, like what was I doing, you
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  Aw.
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  Is
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  this like it makes, it makes me cringe so hard.
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  But like that's that's what middle school's
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  That's what middle school is for,
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  yeah.
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  Yeah.
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  So uh, I just like I, I started off like with the high top and
• 5:39
  everything, like was rocking like, was rocking like the box cut.
• 5:42
  Like I don't know, h- have you ever played Subway Surfers?
• 5:45
  Like the guy with the big boombox.
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  Like that's kinda
• 5:47
  okay.
• 5:48
  Okay.
• 5:48
  I don't.
• 5:49
  Emily over here is nodding, so she knows, okay.
• 5:51
  That was after
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  that's the type of vibe, of vibe I
• 5:54
  really-- That was big.
• 5:55
  Yeah.
• 5:56
  Okay.
• 5:57
  Yeah
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  um, so then after, like after I got to I, I would say like , um, around
• 6:02
  tenth grade year, like I started like just growing into like my body like
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  maturity, like growing my face and everything, and how about from like
• 6:08
  the high tops, like getting like a, like a little taper and everything.
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  Like that's kinda like what I'm still going with like
• 6:12
  to this
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  day.
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  But yeah,
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  like that's
• 6:14
  you tell them that?
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  You'd go with your mom still and you'd tell them what you wanted?
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  Or how did that go?
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  like, like my mom, like she, she's like to this day, she's like always
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  wants me to like just cut all this off.
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  But like, you know, and every time, like she's she tries to be like, " Are
• 6:27
  you sure?" Like every time we go to the barber shop like at, at high school,
• 6:30
  she goes like, "Are you sure you don't wanna like just take a little bit off?"
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  I'm like, "Bro, Mom, no.
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  I'm, I'm okay.
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  No, no." I remember, um, like just going to the barber shop and like I
• 6:39
  remember like my friend like telling me, "Oh, I get like a taper fade
• 6:41
  and everything." But like really I didn't know what a taper fade was.
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  So then I get to the barber shop and everything like, um, like my barber like
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  pulls up like different like taper fades.
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  I'm like, "Okay, I think like it's, it looks something like this one." Uh, I
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  think I want that, and like this, we, we just just kind of figured it out together.
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  'Cause like I didn't, I didn't really know what I was like looking for, 'Cause
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  like I, I'm just like used to like just getting like the, just fade the side and
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  The whole time everything went yeah, so you had to figure out, okay.
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  And so you think it's, it's kind of a two-way, like if you have a picture of
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  it in your mind and then talking to the barber together to try to get what it is.
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  Okay.
• 7:14
  So then now you have an idea.
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  Do you ever, do you ever change it up or
• 7:18
  Nah, nah, now I don't need to do that.
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  Like now like the line setting and everything, like they just, go
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  ahead and just like just they, they know what to cut and everything.
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  I go to the same barber too now,
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  I see you got it figured out.
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  Okay, awesome.
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  So that was you.
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  You had to figure out how to convince your mom to let you do something
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  different, and started growing your hair out, so then you had high top,
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  then
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  what else happened in high school?
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  I think maybe, were, were you doing sports at this point?
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  How did
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  that, when did
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  that play a role in your hair
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  Yeah, so I started, I started playing football my, my
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  junior year of high school.
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  Um, yeah, it's pretty, it's pretty late, it's pretty late.
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  But, um, like I just like I wanted to try it out and everything.
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  But so like the first day like that we're go- like the first day of football
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  and everything, like they're giving everyone helmets and pads and everything.
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  And then it gets like to my turn to try on the helmets, and like they, they get
• 8:08
  the biggest helmets, biggest helmet size.
• 8:10
  And I already have a big head, like without the hair so like I, I, I
• 8:15
  try to go and put on the helmet.
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  I go, I try to go and put on the helmet, and the helmet is like just not fitting.
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  Like no matter like we put water on my hair, like we try to compress
• 8:22
  the hair down and everything, like it's just, it's just not going on.
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  It's not fitting properly.
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  So, um, my coach had to order a custom helmet for me, like with,
• 8:31
  like 'cause, 'cause of my hair.
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  'Cause like I'm like, I'm not cutting my hair just to play football.
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  Like that's, that's just not, that's not an option, honestly.
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  Um, so like my coach like ordered a, ordered a custom helmet for me.
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  Um, and then even like with like that, like the helmet still like barely fit.
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  So I was like, "Okay, like it's gonna be super unsafe like to have a helmet
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  that doesn't fit properly in football."
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  So I'm gonna, I, I decided I'm gonna put my hair in twists.
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  But like the problem with that though was my mom… so Nigerians
• 8:56
  like again, like it's always, always comes back to being Nigerian.
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  Nigerians like they have like a, a thing, like a huge thing, like they like, um,
• 9:03
  not, I'm not gonna speak for everyone.
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  But like most parents, like most parents that come to America, like
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  they don't like twists at all.
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  They don't like dreads.
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  They think it looks like unprofessional and just not right, um, so like my
• 9:12
  mom, like she like anytime I'd ask her if, "Oh, can I do twists? Can
• 9:15
  I do braids or anything like that?"
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  She'd be like, it'd be a, a, a instant no.
• 9:18
  And like this is like a, like this, this was very different.
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  This was like a non-negotiable.
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  Like my hair, like me growing out my hair and everything, "Okay," she
• 9:24
  can like, she can live with that.
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  But like seeing me with twists, oh my God, like it, it make, it
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  would make, it made her so mad.
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  So I remember I went behind her back and I just, I went behind
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  her back and got the twists.
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  She come,
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  yeah, uh, come back, I come back, she comes back from work, and she
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  just is just starts screaming at me.
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  Like it's the worst thing.
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  And I'm just trying to explain like, "Mom, I need to do it for
• 9:46
  football, da, da, da, da, da, da."
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  And she's just not having it at all.
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  So then I call, I call one of like my good family friends, like, "Hey, can you please
• 9:54
  talk to her? Like just explain it to her." I call, I call my, I'm calling my coaches.
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  I'm like- "Just, explain to her." And she's like, "If, if twists is gonna,
• 10:01
  if you doing twists is gonna make you, let you play football, then you're
• 10:03
  just not gonna play football at all.
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  Like this is this is, this is not a no- not even negotiable."
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  And she was just, she was fuming.
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  She was so mad.
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  But eventually after hearing like my family friend and the coaches talk to her
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  and everything, like she finally gave in.
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  But like her, her deal was like as soon as football season was over,
• 10:20
  the twists are coming out like
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  Oh, wow.
• 10:22
  So that's a whole journey.
• 10:24
  So just backing up, you were trying to do football.
• 10:28
  You start as a which is very late for people who, kids start
• 10:32
  at elementary school, right,
• 10:33
  Yeah,
• 10:33
  often.
• 10:34
  So you're like, "Let me try this out," but then the helmet would not fit.
• 10:37
  And so h- was this pretty early?
• 10:39
  I mean, that's like the beginning, right?
• 10:41
  The
• 10:41
  Yeah,
• 10:42
  just
• 10:43
  figure out how to deal with your hair.
• 10:45
  Okay.
• 10:46
  And so what made you think that twists was someone… Did
• 10:49
  someone else recommend that?
• 10:50
  Did you have the high tops still at this time, or was your
• 10:52
  N- no, no.
• 10:53
  So like now I had, my hair was like kind of, kind of like this.
• 10:55
  Like I look, I look a lot different still, but like it was like somewhat like this.
• 10:59
  Um, but like my sister was just like, "Okay, like if you don't
• 11:02
  wanna if like a scarf or like a durag, if that's not working, like
• 11:06
  just put your hair in twists."
• 11:06
  And I was like, great idea." And again, like this is like, this
• 11:09
  had always been something like I wa- I always wanted to try
• 11:11
  twists,
• 11:12
  but my mom
• 11:14
  like
• 11:15
  now it was like I had like a, like a strong, strong reason like in my head.
• 11:18
  Like not to my mom, my mom did not care.
• 11:20
  But in my head I was like, "I have a strong reason now to to go get twists
• 11:23
  and like just go try something."
• 11:25
  And so like, so like then I just went and did it.
• 11:28
  Oh, I think we have some pictures.
• 11:29
  It's the basketball picture.
• 11:31
  There's a p- picture of you in a
• 11:32
  basketball
• 11:33
  no.
• 11:33
  So, uh, so basketball, basketball was my main sport, um, before football.
• 11:37
  So even like, so like during like, during like the season, like there
• 11:40
  was like basketball camps and stuff like that that I would go to.
• 11:43
  And so it's still like during football, like while football is So I would go to
• 11:47
  like basketball camps and stuff like that.
• 11:48
  I was still trying to get recruited for basketball and whatever, and then
• 11:51
  that's one of the pictures from there.
• 11:52
  Yeah,
• 11:53
  yeah.
• 11:54
  And then we have a picture of you in a helmet, and I see the twists.
• 11:57
  You're putting
• 11:58
  yeah.
• 11:58
  In the back.
• 11:59
  Uh-huh.
• 12:00
  Yeah
• 12:00
  So that w- they look great.
• 12:01
  So you had single individual twists.
• 12:04
  So you, you had a plan.
• 12:06
  You're seeing it through.
• 12:07
  You found someone to do the twists.
• 12:09
  You time to get off and get it.
• 12:10
  You got the money.
• 12:12
  Mm-hmm.
• 12:12
  so you had this whole campaign.
• 12:14
  Did you think you would have to rope in your coach and family friend?
• 12:17
  Did you have a sense that you needed other people to try to change the perception
• 12:22
  of what this hair could mean for you?
• 12:24
  I didn't know that I was gonna have to do all that, honestly.
• 12:27
  I thought I was gonna be able to persuade her enough myself, but like once I saw
• 12:30
  like she was like seriously planning on pulling me out of football, I was
• 12:33
  like, okay, like this is pretty serious.
• 12:35
  I need to call my coach like to like just give her a call.
• 12:37
  And like I was like, okay she's gonna, like she's not gonna listen
• 12:39
  to me, but like she like respects and loves this family friend a lot.
• 12:42
  So her name is Damisi.
• 12:44
  So she's , so like she's gonna like, Damisi, she's gonna listen to Damisi.
• 12:47
  Like she's not gonna listen to what I have to say.
• 12:48
  But if Damisi's like, "It's okay, everyone's doing it," like she's gonna
• 12:52
  listen more than she's gonna listen to me.
• 12:53
  So then yeah, yeah, it just worked out.
• 12:56
  Very wise.
• 12:57
  You're very persuasive.
• 12:58
  That's a good skill.
• 12:59
  And I interesting, I get the cultural point, my- I'm, I'm half Nigerian.
• 13:04
  I understand this idea of the longer hair and, you it short, and I, I think
• 13:09
  that's, that's very, um, typical that that's a challenge and a resistance.
• 13:14
  But it's kinda funny, could've been a lot of other things behind
• 13:17
  your mom's back, your hair braid- braided so you could play football.
• 13:21
  But that was a step you, you needed to take to get there
• 13:24
  to be able to, wear the play
• 13:27
  bit.
• 13:28
  Mm-hmm.
• 13:29
  And so it seems like football's going pretty well.
• 13:33
  No, yeah.
• 13:33
  Uh, it, it worked out for me obviously.
• 13:35
  After, after my ju- junior season, I got a, I got a bunch of offers and a bunch
• 13:39
  of interest and everything, and then it just like kind of worked out for me.
• 13:42
  And like I ended up choosing Duke obviously, and it just I thought it was
• 13:45
  the best fit for me and like just wanting to pursue like a, a higher education,
• 13:49
  like higher education, great football, great coaches, great environment for me.
• 13:54
  So like it just worked out.
• 13:55
  And yeah.
• 13:56
  That's amazing.
• 13:58
  So if you think about, your experience trying to get the ability to have some
• 14:02
  say in your hair from, the bald cut to, growing it out to then trying twists
• 14:07
  and doing something like this, if you're thinking about other young boys maybe who
• 14:12
  grew up with parents who have a similar attitude for, whatever reason, what advice
• 14:16
  would you have to some other kids who want to persuade their parents to let them
• 14:21
  experiment and try different hairstyles?
• 14:24
  Well, number one, don't go behind your parents' back and you know?
• 14:28
  just, just, I, I would say, I would say just have have a, have a conversation
• 14:31
  about it and like just explain like they- everyone like they like is
• 14:34
  coming from different backgrounds and different like traditions and Like
• 14:37
  that's like what I realized it was like really understanding like with my mom.
• 14:41
  Um, like she like she came from a different time and everything
• 14:43
  and completely different tradition from America, obviously.
• 14:46
  So like just explaining why you want it and like just how it make you feel and
• 14:49
  like, and like just how you're, you're not trying to play against like the like
• 14:52
  the typical social norms or whatever.
• 14:54
  But like you just wanna do something that makes you feel
• 14:56
  better, and a- applies to you now.
• 14:57
  So that's, that's, that's my, my biggest advice, honestly, just
• 15:00
  having a just good open conversation.
• 15:02
  And, and if need be, like just call, call the people that they will listen
• 15:05
  to you if they're not gonna listen
• 15:06
  I like that.
• 15:07
  And you conversations.
• 15:09
  You didn't give up, it was a wear campaign probably, and
• 15:11
  definitely in middle school, right?
• 15:13
  Yeah.
• 15:13
  Uh, exactly.
• 15:14
  Exactly
• 15:15
  And I think also, this generation, your generation, if, and, maybe the
• 15:19
  past 10 years, you see a lot more boys and men, from high school, probably
• 15:24
  middle school up, wearing hair.
• 15:26
  If you go back the early 2000s and you look at what athletes are wearing, of
• 15:30
  course there's some football players, who had, had locks and had longer
• 15:33
  hair, wasn't the norm like it is now,
• 15:36
  Yeah.
• 15:37
  Now, yeah, and now it feels like every almost like all my teammates,
• 15:40
  like all my like Black teammates of course, like they have like locks or
• 15:44
  like dreads or twists or something, something going on, and like it's,
• 15:46
  like it's very, very common honestly.
• 15:48
  And like you just see like just all across like college football,
• 15:50
  professional sports like you said, yeah
• 15:53
  So maybe it'll be easier for, um, boys coming up now to get helmets fit.
• 15:58
  Mm-hmm.
• 15:58
  to fac- factor that in.
• 16:00
  So now that you're playing collegiate level, you have
• 16:03
  access to helmets and things.
• 16:04
  How Do they have more sizes or how do they g- make sure there's something
• 16:07
  that's gonna work for all the types?
• 16:10
  Yeah, so like here at Duke, like the finding like a helmet, like
• 16:13
  that wasn't a problem at all.
• 16:14
  Like it wasn't a problem like how it was in high school.
• 16:16
  Um, like they scan our, they scan our heads and do stuff like that,
• 16:19
  and like we get custom fitted for helmets and stuff like that.
• 16:21
  So it wasn't a problem at all.
• 16:23
  Um, I was able to get a helmet like no issue.
• 16:26
  Uh, yeah, yeah.
• 16:27
  So they're making it custom, I think that probably just eliminates
• 16:31
  that challenge as versus having
• 16:33
  to fit into
• 16:33
  something.
• 16:34
  Okay.
• 16:34
  ha- also have a big head and I have big hair often.
• 16:39
  So I, I mean, even just getting a bike helmet.
• 16:42
  So I remember I had my hair in a fro and I was like, "I
• 16:45
  can't get this bike helmet on."
• 16:48
  going snowboarding and I was renting a helmet and I was, it
• 16:51
  was like, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo.
• 16:52
  I'm "This is not
• 16:55
  um,
• 16:56
  safe."
• 16:56
  but it's still, it's still a problem, whenever I go go-karting I'm like,
• 16:59
  like it's, it's not safe at all.
• 17:00
  My head is like barely in the helmet.
• 17:02
  It's just no, I, I completely understand.
• 17:04
  Like stuff, it's
• 17:04
  stuff like that.
• 17:05
  It's like little things like that.
• 17:06
  It's just always…
• 17:07
  Like I can, I've never been able to like, ever since I started like growing
• 17:10
  out my, my hair, like I've never been able to find a hat that, that fits
• 17:12
  me properly or anything like that.
• 17:14
  Like it
• 17:14
  Oh,
• 17:15
  it just isn't, just doesn't work.
• 17:16
  Yeah
• 17:16
  I think people are trying to make more hats for people with fros,
• 17:21
  bigger hair, because it's, it's true.
• 17:23
  A lot of people do, so what are we doing?
• 17:25
  It's a whole opportunity to have a whole, fashion line for people.
• 17:30
  So I've Googled, when I've gone camping and I wanted a ball cap, I
• 17:33
  Googled big head hats on Amazon, so then I got one, and works pretty well.
• 17:39
  I mean, you're not getting the, the styles, the variation, but
• 17:43
  that was my, that was my trick, so
• 17:44
  you know, keep
• 17:45
  that in mind.
• 17:46
  I might need to tap in with Get some, get some good fishing hats, like good bu-
• 17:50
  good bucket
• 17:50
  fishing
• 17:51
  yeah.
• 17:51
  Um
• 17:52
  I love that.
• 17:53
  That's great.
• 17:53
  That's a good hobby.
• 17:54
  You could do that forever.
• 17:55
  Exactly.
• 17:56
  Exactly.
• 17:58
  And then I did wanna talk to you one more topic is, how do guys, your peers,
• 18:03
  how are they talking about hairstyles?
• 18:05
  How are you learning about hair, discussing it?
• 18:08
  'Cause that's
• 18:08
  Yeah
• 18:09
  For social media, for TikTok, for the videos, you see a lot more featuring
• 18:13
  women and girls trying stuff.
• 18:15
  And so I'm not sure.
• 18:16
  I'm curious to learn, like, how are guys figuring things out?
• 18:19
  How are you talking about it?
• 18:21
  What's that discussion look like?
• 18:22
  Yeah.
• 18:23
  I feel like, um, like being like, just like being around like the guys like on
• 18:27
  the football team, like here at Duke, I feel like one of the biggest discussions
• 18:30
  that we have is like haircut prices.
• 18:32
  I'm like you like you have a bunch of guys like from different places like
• 18:36
  Atlanta, mount of different parts of North Carolina, Florida, like
• 18:40
  Jersey, Philly, like all the things,
• 18:41
  and it's just like guys like coming like from like everywhere and like they like,
• 18:44
  like some guys are talking about, "Oh, I only paid $20 for a cut. I only paid 40, I
• 18:48
  paid $50 for a cut back home," everything.
• 18:50
  It's just like the different like price scales.
• 18:52
  I feel like that's that's one of the biggest conversations I would say like
• 18:55
  in like the locker room like, like here at Duke, just like how like how
• 18:58
  much a cut is like nowadays and like just how like inconvenient it can be
• 19:00
  at times, but yeah, like teammates like talking about "Oh like, oh,
• 19:03
  like I wanna try this with my hair.
• 19:04
  Like I, I think I'm, I think I'm gonna cut everything off," or "Should I grow it out?
• 19:07
  Should I keep it?" Da, da, da.
• 19:09
  Like I again one of my friends his, his, hairline's receding a
• 19:12
  little bit and he's always asking like, " should I just cut it off?
• 19:15
  Like Is it time?" like, "Nah, you still like, you still have
• 19:17
  a couple years," like you know?
• 19:20
  but like, like in five years, like it's gonna, it's gonna be gone.
• 19:22
  It's, it's a wrap.
• 19:24
  He can go to Turkey.
• 19:25
  He can go to
• 19:26
  But he can go to Turkey.
• 19:28
  He's gonna need to make that trip eventually,
• 19:30
  honestly.
• 19:31
  Um, but yeah, like just like, just I mean, just getting like opinions like
• 19:35
  how mu- like they think we should
• 19:36
  Like I remember like I was, I would ask my teammates like before I got
• 19:39
  like braids, 'cause this was my first time getting braids ever.
• 19:41
  And I was like asking and my team was like, "Oh, do you think this will
• 19:43
  look right on me?" Like da, da, da.
• 19:44
  Like some guys were like, "Yeah, yeah, you should do it." Some guys
• 19:46
  were like, "No," and everything.
• 19:47
  Like obviously got full sent with it.
• 19:49
  Um, but just like I just feel like that's the biggest way,
• 19:51
  just ask like for opinions.
• 19:52
  "What do you think I should do?" "Does this look right?" "Did, did he
• 19:54
  get me right?" Like all the things
• 19:55
  yeah.
• 19:56
  So you guys talking to each other, getting feedback.
• 19:58
  And then in terms of getting recommendations, how did
• 20:00
  you find your braider?
• 20:01
  Was that from someone you got a
• 20:04
  Yeah, so I, I knew um, I just talked to people on campus.
• 20:06
  I was like, "Where are you getting your hair braided at?" And people like, like I
• 20:09
  found like, I found like a girl on campus who like, who braids hair and everything.
• 20:13
  That's how like I found like the person to braid my hair.
• 20:15
  And um, um, for getting like my hair cut and everything, so for
• 20:19
  finding a barber, I'll, I would just ask guys on the team like, "Hey,"
• 20:22
  "Where would you get your hair cut?"
• 20:23
  "Who do you go to? Who do you go to?" And every- like most of the guys on
• 20:26
  the team, like most like the, like the Black guys on the team, like they all
• 20:29
  go to like this like one guy called Slick Cuts, and he like, he gives one
• 20:32
  of He gives like really good cuts.
• 20:34
  Um, yeah, it's like I just like, just I just asking around, like that's
• 20:37
  like just really like just how,
• 20:39
  Mm-hmm.
• 20:39
  Word of mouth, talking to
• 20:40
  Word of mouth.
• 20:41
  That's the easiest way.
• 20:42
  And you can see it in real life how their cuts look versus, you
• 20:45
  Exactly.
• 20:46
  Exactly
• 20:47
  TikTok.
• 20:47
  And then in terms of your season and schedule, is it s- do people try
• 20:52
  to time their cuts to a big game?
• 20:55
  I don't know.
• 20:56
  It's high definition now, so I don't know if that's something
• 20:58
  that you have to think about.
• 21:00
  You have a helmet on at least.
• 21:01
  Yeah, it's funny.
• 21:02
  We have, So we have media day, we have media day up, like, all, like, all this
• 21:06
  week, and everyone's timing up their cut to be, like, the day before media day,
• 21:09
  and like, like, the day before they're getting their pictures taken and all that
• 21:13
  Um, I know um, most guys will time it up get like, a cut before a game
• 21:16
  or something like, but like, like, me like, I like to get a haircut
• 21:18
  every three weeks and everything.
• 21:19
  But I timed up my, my haircut my hair- my media day pictures are
• 21:23
  gonna be on Friday, so I'm getting my hair cut Thursday evening,
• 21:25
  so yeah that's why I'm, like, it's look- it's looking bad right now,
• 21:28
  but you know, in, in, in three days hopefully I'll get right.
• 21:31
  Yes, I love that.
• 21:32
  Okay, so you have media day.
• 21:33
  That's a, that's a whole nother thing you have to think about.
• 21:35
  Okay.
• 21:36
  And
• 21:36
  then you have to fit it around your travel, right?
• 21:38
  Because you guys travel throughout the school year and school, so
• 21:43
  making sure you have time for that.
• 21:44
  Do they come to your campus to do your hair or you have to go off
• 21:47
  campus?
• 21:47
  The only time I think that we've ever had a barber come to us is, like, when
• 21:50
  we went to our bowl game in El Paso.
• 21:52
  There was, like, barbers there.
• 21:54
  Yeah, yeah.
• 21:54
  Uh, it's like the barber came to us out there, but everyone's usually just,
• 21:57
  'Cause it's it's right here in Durham.
• 21:59
  It's like we all go to the same same, um, place here in Durham.
• 22:01
  Yeah.
• 22:02
  That's, that's great.
• 22:03
  That's
• 22:03
  convenient.
• 22:05
  So you have had quite a hair story.
• 22:08
  You have the signature look now.
• 22:10
  Yeah, yeah
• 22:11
  getting ready for media day in this, in this year's season.
• 22:14
  So if you look back from where you were as a little kid, what
• 22:17
  do you like about your hair now?
• 22:18
  How has that cha- your relationship changed as you've grown up with your hair?
• 22:23
  I like having hair.
• 22:25
  I like, I like,, I like having hair and like having like some like, some
• 22:30
  play like just like actually having something like, and not being bald.
• 22:32
  Like I, I, I, I hated like the jokes that were made to me like when I was
• 22:35
  little and like, and then I was like just so bald were actually cruel,
• 22:39
  so like just like, just having hair, like having that confidence, like it's
• 22:42
  just, it's, it's a game changer, and like it makes me feel like, feel good
• 22:45
  and play good, it makes me feel good,
• 22:46
  I love that.
• 22:47
  And you can just show up as you wanna show up,
• 22:50
  Exactly.
• 22:51
  Exactly
• 22:52
  how to do that, and you're been able to do that.
• 22:54
  That's wonderful.
• 22:55
  love that.
• 22:56
  So when you do have your season, you have your practices, - do
• 23:00
  you have a routine for your hair?
• 23:02
  It's, it's actually really bad.
• 23:03
  I don't have a routine whatsoever.
• 23:05
  I just I wash my hair once a week, once every two weeks,
• 23:08
  and that's pretty much it.
• 23:09
  I just put shampoo and conditioner in, and that's, … my, every time I
• 23:11
  go home or every time I got FaceTime or call my sister she she takes
• 23:14
  care of her hair very, very well.
• 23:16
  And she always makes like, slick comments about like, like, what
• 23:18
  I, what, what I need to be doing.
• 23:20
  Like, like, "Oh," like, "Oh, your, your tips are dead," or
• 23:22
  something like that, you know?
• 23:23
  Like, just saying like, yeah, yeah like, that like dead ends
• 23:26
  or, or whatever like, you know?
• 23:27
  just like, obviously like, "Oh, your hair looks dry," or whatever.
• 23:29
  I'm like, "Okay," "All right.
• 23:30
  Leave me alone." But , I don't, I don't have a routine, but like,
• 23:33
  this season I'm trying to like, try to like, freeform my hair kind of.
• 23:36
  I'm trying to like, just like, be more intentional about getting a routine
• 23:38
  and you know, like, doing it properly
• 23:40
  Yeah.
• 23:41
  Okay.
• 23:41
  So you, time is probably a little bit of a limit, right?
• 23:45
  So how much time does it take you to do what you're doing now?
• 23:50
  When I, like, when I really dedicate like, a day to washing my hair,
• 23:53
  like, probably about an hour to, I, I think about an hour and everything
• 23:56
  to really just washing my hair.
• 23:58
  But like, day-to-day though, like, when I'm just wetting my hair okay
• 24:00
  that's it really it just takes a long time for my hair to dry.
• 24:03
  Like, … 'Cause like, it's a quick transition from going like, from
• 24:06
  football to class or going from like, football to doing other stuff.
• 24:09
  So usually um, my hair will still like, be, like, wet.
• 24:12
  Like, There'll like, be like, , water like, dripping down my neck
• 24:14
  and like, my face and everything.
• 24:15
  It looks like I'm sweating, but I'm not.
• 24:16
  I got shower.
• 24:18
  yeah.
• 24:18
  Okay
• 24:19
  Uh, but, um, that's that's really it.
• 24:21
  It doesn't it doesn't take, it doesn't take too long what I'm doing right now.
• 24:24
  Yeah.
• 24:24
  I don't it, it needs to be better.
• 24:25
  I know it needs to be but,
• 24:27
  okay.
• 24:28
  We got I got some ideas for you.
• 24:29
  So you do practice before school, okay, come out.
• 24:35
  Do you, towel dry your hair at all or do you, what do you do?
• 24:37
  You just shake it dry or what do you do?
• 24:40
  So my, I remember like my sister, like my sister told me like in like high
• 24:44
  school like that like it's like terrible.
• 24:46
  I didn't, I, I didn't know.
• 24:46
  It's like, it's like really bad, it's bad to be like towel drying your
• 24:49
  hair and it's like if you wanna dry your hair, like use like a, like a
• 24:52
  bad shirt or something like that.
• 24:53
  And for a long time, like for like really like for a long, long time I
• 24:57
  didn't towel dry my hair and then I did once like we started like doing
• 25:00
  practices, um, before class and everything, like I was like, okay, like
• 25:04
  I can't be going to class, with my hair wet and everything just air drying.
• 25:08
  So yeah, like now I usually just shake it out like I'll just um,
• 25:11
  just touch it up with a towel or something just to make it more dry
• 25:14
  Yeah.
• 25:15
  Yeah, 'cause if you think about it, I mean, if you stretched your
• 25:17
  hair out, it's probably very long.
• 25:20
  know, it's probably, what, five, six inches long because, your
• 25:23
  hair's tightly curled and a lot of shrinkage and so that all the water
• 25:27
  is right there and so there's not a lot of air that gets through.
• 25:30
  So I I'm wearing my hair out in a fro, it'll be… it might be, two
• 25:34
  business days before it's fully dry.
• 25:36
  Yeah.
• 25:38
  And, um, so I'm thinking for you, even if you got, um, a T-shirt or
• 25:44
  a microfiber towel and just did
• 25:46
  a light
• 25:47
  squeeze to get some of that water out, that a little bit.
• 25:50
  Um,
• 25:51
  and then I think, you said a little bit about…
• 25:54
  So you, you mentioned something about wanting to see your curls and then also
• 26:00
  you, you like how it feels once you f- first get out of, after you wash it and
• 26:04
  condition
• 26:04
  yeah.
• 26:04
  yeah.
• 26:05
  Uh-huh.
• 26:05
  Yeah, like I like, like the look of like being like my curls like being like very
• 26:09
  defined, like right after like getting out like the shower and everything and
• 26:13
  like you could see like all like the locks and everything, like very well.
• 26:16
  Yeah.
• 26:16
  Yeah.
• 26:17
  And are you, you want to have l- you wanna keep locks or do
• 26:20
  you wanna have curls that clump?
• 26:23
  Um, I guess I, I, I think you could say like curls that clump, honestly.
• 26:26
  I, or, or like the locks.
• 26:28
  I just I don't want like full-blown like locks like where
• 26:30
  like it's like hanging out.
• 26:31
  I just want like the like that spiky,
• 26:34
  Yes.
• 26:34
  always feels weird saying the spiky, but like that spiky hair looking like,
• 26:37
  and like the, the fro, the fro look
• 26:40
  Yes.
• 26:40
  You want a textured fro is how I describe
• 26:43
  Exactly.
• 26:43
  Yeah.
• 26:43
  Exactly.
• 26:44
  Exactly
• 26:45
  for you, because you're not using product after you get out of the shower, right?
• 26:48
  You're just washing and conditioning it.
• 26:51
  I think there's a leave-in product, and I was doing some research
• 26:54
  thinking about your hair, what your goals are, your time, right?
• 26:57
  don't want… No one, you don't have time or probably wanna do like a four-step
• 27:00
  routine or have do a lot things, right?
• 27:03
  Keep it
• 27:04
  simple.
• 27:04
  And so this is a leave-in conditioner.
• 27:07
  Um, it's Pattern.
• 27:09
  Okay
• 27:10
  and I can… We'll, we'll send you that link.
• 27:13
  And I
• 27:13
  use this.
• 27:13
  These are, these are my products.
• 27:15
  And
• 27:15
  so
• 27:16
  one of the things about this, it can help with curl definition
• 27:19
  and it has a light hold.
• 27:21
  So what I'm imagining for you, you wash your hair, you condition it, you rinse it
• 27:25
  out, and then just doing a light squeeze.
• 27:28
  You're trying to reduce the water 'cause you don't wanna
• 27:29
  have it dripping down your neck.
• 27:30
  And putting some of this in your hands and rubbing it through your hands
• 27:34
  Do you like, do you like put like a handful?
• 27:36
  Like how, like how much like do
• 27:37
  Um, I would say, I would start for your hair, you probably… I would start with
• 27:41
  a quarter size amount, or would probably, 'cause I would do not all one time.
• 27:46
  So do a little bit less than like a dime, rub it in and do one
• 27:48
  section
• 27:50
  try to get it.
• 27:51
  Thing.
• 27:52
  this leave-in is gonna help put actual um, moisture in your hair, so it has
• 27:56
  some water, also has some oils in there and to keep your hair soft.
• 28:01
  But it has little bit of hold, and that will help the curls, clump together
• 28:06
  Yeah
• 28:07
  stay soft and keep more of that definition.
• 28:10
  Yeah.
• 28:10
  Uh
• 28:11
  what does that… Does that sound doable?
• 28:13
  that sounds very doable.
• 28:14
  Yeah, that's like like just very chill to do like after like getting out the
• 28:17
  shower and before class and everything
• 28:19
  'Cause it's one product, so I would start there.
• 28:22
  should I be using that every day?
• 28:24
  . So if you're rinsing your hair, say maybe like you rinse your hair every
• 28:26
  day, you could you could just do a l- actually you could do a little bit
• 28:30
  'cause you can even use this on dry hair.
• 28:31
  So a little bit, but the most when you wash your hair, and then if
• 28:34
  starts feeling like, okay, oh yeah, my hair's feeling a little dry,
• 28:37
  just add
• 28:38
  that
• 28:39
  Yeah.
• 28:39
  and rub it between your fingers and then apply it.
• 28:42
  So and when I'm applying it, it's like patting it or like just like
• 28:45
  getting like really like in there?
• 28:47
  How would you describe it
• 28:47
  Yes.
• 28:48
  I think getting in there and it through because
• 28:51
  you want it
• 28:52
  to coat, to
• 28:53
  Got it.
• 28:53
  Got
• 28:54
  and
• 28:54
  then that way you're getting it from root to tip.
• 28:56
  So for tightly curled hair,
• 28:58
  more you can get it distributed, and especially if
• 29:01
  You get it all the way through, it'll be moisturizing your hair.
• 29:05
  So I think that's a good product to try.
• 29:09
  Um, the other thing is, I think when you go to the barber, if they're
• 29:13
  not trimming your hair, trimming the
• 29:16
  Yeah.
• 29:17
  Yeah
• 29:17
  an opportunity, um, depending on what your look is, 'cause your hair looks great.
• 29:21
  If you, if you like it and it's working for leave it,
• 29:24
  um,
• 29:24
  But if you, if you want to get more of the curl definition and, um, to have that, um,
• 29:30
  going longer, the curls coming more on the
• 29:33
  tips,
• 29:33
  I think you probably need to make sure it's fully detangled
• 29:37
  And so
• 29:38
  The last time, the last time I detangled my hair to get braids, it's
• 29:40
  literally took I think two, three hours.
• 29:42
  It was so long.
• 29:43
  So, so bad.
• 29:43
  Yeah
• 29:44
  how did you do it?
• 29:45
  Did you do it on wet hair or what'd you do?
• 29:47
  I did it on wet hair, and then, um, I got the person that was, like, braiding
• 29:50
  my hair was like, "You didn't do a good…" I did it on wet hair and was
• 29:53
  just picking it out, and the person that was doing my hair was like,
• 29:55
  "You didn't do a good enough job."
• 29:56
  So they had to get their blow-dryer too and they could just really just,
• 30:00
  Straighten it up.
• 30:01
  Yeah.
• 30:02
  Yeah, that's usually how they- most braiders want your hair straightened.
• 30:05
  So that's what I was thinking.
• 30:06
  If you wanted to wear braids and things like that, yeah,
• 30:09
  you would have to do that.
• 30:10
  And I have this brush called a Tangle Teezer.
• 30:12
  We can also sh- I can share it with you.
• 30:14
  Mm-hmm.
• 30:15
  Um, I think it's…
• 30:16
  I've tried a lot of brushes.
• 30:18
  Maybe you'll like it, maybe not, but that one is easier than a
• 30:20
  comb, 'cause comb is painful.
• 30:22
  Yeah.
• 30:23
  Mm-hmm.
• 30:24
  It really is
• 30:25
  but you can decide how much you wanna do that.
• 30:26
  If you're doing a freeform loc situation, maybe you don't.
• 30:29
  Or if you say, "I wanna get braids," what I would do, 'cause this is my lazy man,
• 30:34
  lazy woman hack for is I would get a trim,
• 30:39
  Okay
• 30:39
  and then, and then detangle it after,
• 30:42
  Yeah.
• 30:42
  Yeah.
• 30:43
  be gone, so you don't have to deal
• 30:44
  with that.
• 30:44
  Yeah.
• 30:45
  That's
• 30:45
  how, that's how I would do it.
• 30:47
  Yeah.
• 30:48
  Yeah.
• 30:48
  That's not crazy
• 30:49
  Yeah.
• 30:50
  Well, that's awesome.
• 30:51
  Okay, so hopefully that was helpful.
• 30:53
  Um, yeah.
• 30:55
  . Well, this is such a great conversation.
• 30:57
  Thank you so much.
• 30:57
  Thank you so much for having me.
• 30:58
  This is great.
• 30:59
  This is
• 31:00
  I learned so much.
• 31:01
  It's like an insight, don't wanna assume.
• 31:03
  We don't know what like, so that's why wanted to bring this up because especially
• 31:06
  with more men wearing their hair longer, like how do you take care of it?
• 31:09
  How do you make those decisions?
• 31:10
  So we much from you today.
• 31:13
  Yeah.
• 31:13
  Thank you so much for having
• 31:14
  Yeah.
• 31:15
  Well, everyone, thank you so much for joining us.
• 31:17
  This is the Tight Curls Project podcast.
• 31:19
  I'm Shadia, and make sure you subscribe and like so you can find us next time.
• 31:24
  And if you have any questions or comments, we'd love to hear from you.
• 31:26
  And till then, take care and show your curls some love.
• 31:30
  Thank you.