In 2015, looking for a platform to discuss his ideas for his new album ‘If Detroit Were Heaven’, hip-hop artist Khary Wae Frazier ventured into the world of podcasts to express his love for Detroit culture and give artists a platform to express their feelings. art.
Frazier wanted to bring together the separate worlds that exist in Detroit and celebrate how different this city really is.
So “Detroit is Different,” an online magazine and podcast, was born in his grandparents’ house on Detroit’s west side.
“As with everything I do, I believe the best creativity comes from collaboration,” says Frazier.
The goal of ‘Detroit is Different’ is to bring the community together around collective concepts of creativity, and it has led to the creation of events such as the Collard Green Cook-Off, the ‘I’m Scared of Detroit Comedy Show’ – and the My Natural Hair Show, held last weekend at the Andy Arts Center in Detroit.
My Natural Hair Show pays tribute to Detroit’s famous Hair Wars, but unlike Hair Wars, founded by Detroiter David Humphries, aka Hump the Grinder, My Natural Hair Show is not a competition but a celebration of black hair.
Lauren Whitfield, a natural hairstylist at Naked Stylez, says she wanted to be part of the show because she wanted her talent to be seen. She chose the theme ‘God’s promises’. Whitfield sees the hair show as an opportunity to bring together everyone from different lives and different parts of Detroit. “Everyone loves to look beautiful… to embrace your natural hair, the beauty that we have when we are black: our coils, our curls, our textures.”
This summer, Frazier interviewed Humphries and heard stories about how Hair Wars started because stylists exhausted from doing hair on the weekend were just looking for a night to party.
“So then they start their stylist evenings on Monday evening. That movement becomes so big that Hair Wars eventually arises,” says Frazier. “And him telling me those stories and him working and collaborating as not a person from an industry, but as an upliftment of an industry, has been helpful.”
Endia Cloud, from Endia Soniae Hair, is a braider who didn’t grow up with her natural curl pattern. “When I see a show where stylists only do natural hair, it helps me to see that people really love their hair, and shows like this help me to love myself and love my hair.” Cloud’s theme for the show was Black Excellence. “I was inspired by a lot of stylists around me,” she says. “I saw so much creativity in the hairstyles and attention to detail.”
“I’m an Aisha Shule kid” — the now-closed Aisha Shule/WEB Dubois Preparatory Academy School on Detroit’s west side — “so I come from African-focused schools.” Frazier’s childhood was rooted in the Black Revolution, and his heart was captured by hip-hop, a platform through which he saw young Black men who could say and do whatever they wanted.
Frazier says his vision for the show is to introduce the community to Blackness, making them feel welcome, “an experience where they will feel our culture is elevated,” unique and enjoyable.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Natural Hair Show Celebrates Detroit is Different
