Is Music Making Natural Hair Mainstream?

by Tracey Wallace via NaturallyCurly.com

It’s only been a few months since Lady Gaga debuted her new song, “Hair,” meaning that this curly may be a few months behind. Still, if there is one thing I love, it’s songs about hair! Even better, positive songs about natural hair that reinforce what this entire audience already knows: natural hair rocks!

One of the greatest things about natural hair is that all of us who have transitioned, from flat irons and straightening treatments to embracing what mother nature gave us, have a story, and a personal one at that. Honestly, I don’t know of any other community that can so easily transverse race, sex and age to connect people based on a simple, common thread — except for musicians, that is.

In my mind, the music world and the naturally curly world belong together. Music has a transcending power found in almost nothing else, and curly-haired women and men the world over know that feeling. So, when music sends out a positive message about natural hair, I get all giddy inside, knowing that somewhere, some curly heard the song and found inspiration in it. Add this to an insanely popular music icon and my giddy feeling just became a celebration of massive proportions.

A Journey Through Natural Hair Appreciation Songs

First, let’s back track a bit. My first adventure in this massive celebration of sorts was back in 2006 when India.Arie released, “I Am Not My Hair.” The lyric, “Good hair means curls and waves,” was stuck in my head for — well, it’s still stuck there.

Best Hair Lyrics

“If I want to shave it close, or rock locks, that don’t take a bit away, from the soul that I got.”

“Wear a clippy or in a bow, or let it sit in an Afro, my hair looks good in a cornrow, it does so many things you know, that’s why I let it grow!”

Then, there was the 2010 release of the Sesame Street muppet declaring, “Don’t need a trip to the beauty shop, because I love what I got on top!” The video was so popular, even, that it competed with Willow Smith’s release, “Whip My Hair” for top spot! Funny how, if you watch closely, the muppet also whips her hair.

Now, back in 2011, Lady Gaga is using her outreach and telling her Little Monsters that, “[I] don’t want to change and don’t want to be ashamed. I’m the spirit of my hair. It’s all the glory that I bear.”

One lyric even harkens back to stories about women being fired for their natural hairdos: “I’ve had enough. I’m not a freak. I’ve had enough, enough, enough.”

So, my curly friends, if you have yet to listen to the Queen of Monsters declare her hair as free, or to any of the other songs mentioned, get on board and prepare to be transcended through a stereotype continuum where natural hair is mainstream.

Looks like we here at NaturallyCurly.com are no longer the only ones who believe that day will come. With songs like these springing up to inspire both young and the young-at-heart, that day may be closer than we think. Now, that truly calls for a celebration!