On the Couch with Ledisi- Natural Hair Celeb

After the highest charting album of her career, Pieces of Me, which debuted in the Top 10 on the Billboard Top 200 chart and was the No. 1 iTunes R&B Album, four-time Grammy®-nominated Verve Forecast recording artist Ledisi is proud to announce her first headlining tour, “The Pieces Of Me” 2011 North American tour! The 20-city tour, which will crisscross the Southeast, Northeast and Midwest, begins on October 20, in Raleigh, NC, and concludes on November 23 in Baltimore, MD. Before things get too crazy with her schedule, I thought it’d be amazing to get this fellow natural On the Couch!

On her natural hair…

I relaxed once years and years ago and didn’t like it. I relied on the pressing comb for a while and then I went natural. I started wearing styles like Bantu knots in 1999. Close to 9 to 10 years ago I started locking my hair. My hair is very curly, very wavy and although it took a minute to loc , when it did, it was beautiful.

On why she loc’ed…

I don’t know, it’s not deep… I loved Bob Marley a lot and my mom tried locs on her hair and it didn’t work out so I wanted to see how it would look and feel on me. I used to wear Bantu knots a lot and they’d always start to loc if I wasn’t careful and one time, I just let them.



On her current routine…

You know, I don’t do my hair. This has been the busiest time in my career… the busiest time in my entire life. I have to have my hair done by a stylist only because the hairstyle, the up-do, is hard to braid and maintain. They know the products they use, but I use Carol’s Daughter Tui spray to keep it moisturized. I have two hair stylists, Michelle London is the one who created my hairstyle, and Tika in Washington D.C., does my color. I don’t like a lot of people in my hair. I’m very particular and really don’t like people in my head at all. I think 5 people total have done my hair in my entire life.



On her regimen while touring…

Michelle and I are working on me wearing my hair down more so when I’m on the road, it’s not a big issue. My schedule always revolves around me getting my hair done, and I don’t like it. I never had things revolve around my hair, so we’re working on me being able to keep it up on my own. I’m experimenting with braiding my locs, so when I let them loose, I get an effortless curly, wavy effect. Michelle wants me to let my hair breathe instead of always doing the up-do, which has become my signature. When I’m off I just let my hair down and I’m liking it.

On nighttime protection…

I make sure it’s moisturized and wrapped up in a scarf. I love how people don’t like wrapping their hair up because they think it’s ugly, but I love it as long as you find the right scarf!

On retaining moisture…

I use Carol’s Daughters Tui spray to moisturize it between salon visits, but that’s about it. I go to the salon every 2 weeks or every other week, depending on what’s going on. It’s a lot of stress on my hair, which is why when I’m off, I let my hair down so it can breathe and flow free.

On the best thing about being curly…

For me, I just think it’s a stench of freedom. I was just talking about this to a friend last night, it’s like everywhere I go, in certain circles, I’m probably the most inventive with my hair and that’s pretty cool.