I love, love, loves me some Macy Gray. As a musical artist she’s uniquely appealing in a way that is missing from most mainstream music. She’s successfully found her footing in lyrical skill and has not lost her ability to provoke feelings of happiness, understanding love and excitement through her songs. And that voice. It does not occur to me that she probably ever wanted to sound like Mariah or Whitney. She is who she is just like her hair – take it or leave it.
Macy is known as that eclectic natural chick who respectfully and gracefully does not give a [wathchutalmboutwillis?]. The woman who has wild hair that speaks for itself. It says, take me or leave me, those are your only two options, and apparently many people are taking Macy’s hair for all that it is or is not.
Take for instance my run-ins with Macy. No, not the star herself, but her likeness that I exude unbeknownst to me. Often when I’m out doing the big hair thing, I get told how awesome my hair is. It usually starts off like this:
Me, minding my own business while…in cutesy clothing boutique, beauty isle at CVS, Whole Foods cheese section, pumping gas at Shell, ordering a white chocolate mocha at Starbucks, waiting at a cross walk, sitting in a waiting area at the gyno reading “What you need to know right now about your vagina” pamphlet…
person: I love your hair!
me: Thanks!
person: It’s so big and fluffy. I wish I could wear my hair like that.
me: Thank you. *smile*
person: How did you get it to do that?
me: Not much really. It’s kinda roll out of the bed hair. *smile* (okay I know, I know, but who needs to get into braid outs, twist outs and fluff and gos with strangers?)
person: It’s so pretty. It’s like rock star hair. You know it’s like that singer. Uh, what’s the name…
me: *smile* Lenny Kravitz?
person: oh yeah, Macy Gray!
me: I love Macy.
person: Me too! Yeah you look just like Macy Gray!
me: *smile* Oh really now.
*pulls out notebook and hello kitty pen and makes note of this incident which happens to be the 89th time I’ve been called Macy Gray.*
Even though this happens to me often, I reflect on the fact that I’m not alone. Many of my natural friends have experienced the same exact thing. Hair out and the Macy compliments come a rollin’ in. Apparently Macy Gray is THE ultimate natural hair doppelganger in reverse. She is who many people think of when they see a woman with beautiful natural hair and they automatically call up her likeness when interacting with a kinky, curly haired woman. And I gotta say, I’ll take Macy any day over Pauleen, her crazy character in Lackawanna Blues.
Being called Macy Gray is a compliment to say the least and a bit funny seeing as it happens so much. Just for the fun of it, I’ll often beat the commenter to the punch and tell them who they think I look like and the response is straight out of a Will Ferrell movie. They get all wide eyed and smile as big as a cheshire cat like they just won the lottery. “Oh my God! How did you know I was going to say Macy Gray?” “Just a hunch,” I reply.
My doppelganger list is composed not only of Macy Gray, but Kelis, Angela Davis (I usually get this from older white people for some reason) and Chaka Khan. My little eight year old niece once told me that I look like Corbin from Disney channel.
“Who is Corbin?” I asked my sister.
“Honey, some boy that sings. She probably said that because he does have big hair like you.”
“A boy?!” I asked my niece as i laughed and tickled her sides. “Yessss, but auntie angel, he’s cute!”
A “cute” Disney channel boy and a fabulous singer. I guess being a doppelganger is not so bad after all.
CN Says:
I’ve gotten Macy Gray a few times… Diana Ross as well.
And, um, thanks to my five head, I get Robin Givens and ‘Alicia’ from The Wood quite often.
I always get Jill Scott
About 3 months after my big chop, I was sitting at the bus stop when two (non-black) ladies walked by and told me I looked just like Jennifer Hudson. I politely said no, but kept thinking "these women just told me I look Effie!" Now, I like Jennifer Hudson and all, but that was not a huge ego booster.
One of my white coworkers said I looked like scary spice. That was a first for me, so it didnt "go over" very well with me.
The first time I wore a twist out I was told that I looked like Erykah Badu, at first I was in shock, but later I looked at it as a compliment
Apparently, my natural hair looks like no one in particular. When I was relaxed, people would say I look like Aaliyah for the longest time! I used to rock that side-swooped bang all the time. LOL! I prefer to look Me, Myself, and I, to tell you the truth! 😀
During the first few years when I was growing my sisterlocs, I was often told I looked like Whoopi Goldberg. This comment usually came from persons of European descent.
I've gotten Eryka Badu, Angela Davis (with the fist in the air)& most recently Macy Gray! I consider them all compliments….glad to be in the company!
Ive gotten Jill Scott, Macy Grey and "You got Lenny Kravits hair" as compliments and one time someone tried to use them as insults. Didn't work as an insult Cause I thank them for saying I look like such beautiful people. Although I look nothing Like them but there hair is beautiful. Once a long time ago the first time I went natural I blew my hair out and my husband said I looked like Busy Bone from Bone Thugs. Every time I walked in the room he would sing one of their songs.
Hahaha, this post is hilarious. I was on the bus one day and a woman complimented my hair. Then she proceeded to tell me that I look just like Esperanza Spalding. I'm pretty sure if I wasn't natural she wouldn't have said that. But hey, it's alright. Esperanza is cute and talented!
Hair-Rachel True (The Craft, Half & Half), face-Rihanna
My fiance told me I look like Reilly from the Boondocks, and now thinks it is funny to call me that :
Macy Gray. Ugh! I like her, but I am ME!
When I had relaxed hair people used to say I look like Michelle Obama (whom I ADORE)….now I'm just myself with my TWA:)
Umm, a doppelganger?? What a funny word.
Fancy way to say look-alike.
I get Kimberly Elise or Keke Palmer. But mostly Elise when I wear a flat twist out
"Angela Davis (I usually get this from older white people for some reason)"
this is pretty funny/interesting….and weird also because didn't angela sport a giant, combed out afro 99% of the time in the public eye?
I get Jill Scott, just about everyday.. I don't see it, but, it is a AWESOME compliment…
BAPS71
I get a lot of Erykah Badu (even before going natural), Jill Scott and Janelle Monae… but the three don't look alike. smh 🙂
Alicia Keys! Again & again (: Idk why b/c I have about 10 yrs on the girl & none of the talent lol But I do have her coloring & hair (when she wears it curly)
I've been told that my hair resembles Angela Davis
But mostly, I've had people tell me it looks "free and relaxed". (meaning , not uptight or stressed). Ironic, eh? It always tickles me to hear that one.
I get Lauryn Hill ALLLL of the time and I am so flattered. I think Lauryn is beautiful (circa late 1990s) 🙂
As a kid during the Cosby Show days I would get Rudy Huxtable.
Now, my step-mom (who's natural also) will say Angela Davis, if I happen to wear a fro. Fist pump and everything.
I get Angela Davis and India Arie. The latter is strange because I never recalled seeing her with a curly fro, my staple style.
I get Diana Ross mostly.
I am a natural Muslim, so I don't get to wear my hair out. but the way I tie my veils, I get Erykah Badu all the time! I even resemble her somewhat especially when she was in the cover JET magazine. Lol!
—-Serita
I've heard I resemble Sage Steele from ESPN. I'm not mad at cha….she's hot!
Really yall? (I'm from Texas, yall is proper grammar here) I get no one, absolutely no one – ever! : (
I get Marsha Ambrosious a lot..I like her…so that works out!
I get Whoopi Goldberg sometimes. (I don't even have locs). I figure its because I'm always cracking jokes though. I also get Erykah Badu :-).
I get Jill Scott a lot, although I don't think I look like her. Also, when I was relaxed, I mainly wore roller sets, and when they were fresh people would call me Diana Ross….I am sure that reference will return soon because I plan to start roller setting again and I do like to wear the big hair, lol.
India Arie
My hair is natural but apparently my face hasn't changed enough to stop getting kelly rowland and gabrielle union. lol. I haven't gotten any natural hair celeb references yet.
I got Angela Davis (and always with a fist in the air, always!) when my hair was shorter. Now, I get Tracee Ellis Ross (I have big eyes too). My co-worker called me Diana Ross yesterday. I think its cute and a bit funny…people don't know what to say.
I get Corbin Bleu when I just WnG and Tina Turner when I've blown it out.
I get Jill Scott most often. Once I got Angie Stone. I love both but, for the life of me I don't see the Angie in me my husband just laughed! I guess beauty is in the eyes of the be holder huh ?
I get Scary Spice often nowadays… It used to be Kelis when my hair was a lot shorter.
India Arie
I get Angela Davis alot.. I sense a lot of meaning behind that statement from my White colleagues…
I get "You look just like Jill Scott" all the time. So I can totally relate.
I get Corinne Bailey Rae (circa first album). Matter of fact, when I went to purchase her first album in the store, I got to the checkout line, and the cashier kept staring at me, then staring at the album cover…..
Five minutes later, I finally said "no, it's not me." He laughed 🙂
As we walked into Target for back to school shopping in August, my son pointed to one of Target's hanging back-to-school ad/pic of a little boy with big curly hair and said, Mommy that looks just like you. Anyone with a big 'fro looks like me in his eyes. I love it!
I've never gotten Macy but when I went natural in 1998, Lauryn Hill was huge and you guessed it, everyone and I mean everyoneeeeeeeeee used to say that me and my twa resembled Lauryn. I was flattered but we do not look alike.