Edited by Azizi Powell
This pancocojams post presents an article excerpt about "nappy hair" and documents the use of the term "nappy hair" as a general referent for Black people in The Fugees' 1994 Hip Hop song "Happy Heads" and as a self-descriptor in Zay Hilfigerrr & Zayion McCall's 2016 dance challenge record "JuJu On The Beat (TZ Anthem)".
The content of this post is presented for socio-cultural purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all the composers of this music and these poems.
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Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2019/07/childrens-rhymes-that-mention-people.html the related pancocojams post entitled "Children's Rhymes That Mention People With A Bald Head Or People With Nappy Hair"
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ARTICLE EXCERPT ABOUT NAPPY HAIR
From https://www.curlcentric.com/natural-hair-movement/ by Kenneth [No date for this article is given, but comments are posted dating April 21, 2011.]
The natural hair movement is focused on encouraging women with African ancestry to celebrate and enjoy the natural characteristics of their kinky, curly, hair texture.
..."The Term Nappy is Often Considered a Pejorative
“Nappy” is a term that’s been used to describe natural hair since the days of slave trading.
When used to emphasize the difference between natural hair and European hair, it took on a derogatory meaning. Today many African American women are reclaiming the word.
There are some women who identify themselves proudly as “nappy girls” and have given up relaxers and other extreme treatments in favor of growing their hair out in its natural state.
The potential hairstyles available to naturals range from the very simple TWA to more sophisticated styles like bantu knots.
Braids (e.g., box braids and crochet braids), hair twists (e.g., Senegalese twists) and dreadlocks are also common styles.
As you can see opting for natural hair doesn’t necessarily mean abandoning cute hairstyles or even flat ironing your hair.
There is no hard-and-fast rule about which products and styling habits are “natural” and which aren’t natural.
Historical Perspective on Natural Hair
It’s useful to examine the complex relationship between women of African heritage and their hair in a retrospective way, working in reverse chronological order.
2005 saw the promotion of an underground, independent documentary titled “My Nappy Roots: A Journey Through Black Hair-itage”.
The film won many awards on the independent film circuit and played widely at colleges.
The documentary used years of research to uncover the deeper meaning of the term “nappy.”
Covering more than 400 years of history, My Nappy Roots culled the highlights from 200 hours of footage to paint a realistic portrait of Afro hair culture and its journey from Africa to the Americas via the slave trade.
The film’s thorough and unflinching look at the way black hair was manipulated (both literally and metaphorically) made it the definitive work on the subject.
According to tradition, the source of the word “nappy” is tied intimately to the production of cotton on slave plantations.
The tuft of cotton which forms on the plant prior to harvesting is called a nap. The term was adapted to described textured hair because of the supposed similarity to the tuft of cotton.
Due to the power disparity between the slave’s culture and that of their masters, straight “white” hair was cast as desirable while natural hair was demeaned.
This labeling of “good” and “bad” hair grew particularly divisive as mixed-race children became more common. Natural “nappy” hair was firmly cast as unacceptable.
My Nappy Roots, despite its underground popularity, was never released commercially.
The introduction of film on a similar topic (Chris Rock’s 2009 release “Good Hair”) sparked a very well-known lawsuit and finally brought the debate about nappy hair and chemical straighteners into the public spotlight.
[...]
As with earlier trends in textured hair, the natural hair movement has gained momentum today thanks to its adoption by some notable celebrities.
Examples include Erykah Badu, Lupita Nyong’o, Janelle Monáe, Solange Knowles, Tracee Ellis-Ross and Viola Davis.
Now that “going natural” has turned into a popular trend, manufacturers, and retailers of hair products are seeing sales of harsh hair-straightening chemicals (i.e. relaxers) rapidly decline.
From an all-time high of more than $750 million in sales, the amount of hair relaxers sold has dropped by more than 25 percent in the last five years.
Some future projections estimate that sales will be only 45 percent of their historic high by 2019. Though this particular type of product has fallen out of favor, women who prefer natural hair are spending more on hair care than ever before.
Suppliers and marketers have certainly not let this fact escape their marketing plans. Consumers with natural hair make up a lucrative market for hair products."...
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I believe that the use of the term nappy hair as a self-descriptor in the Fugees' 1994 song "Nappy Head" and Zay Hilfigerrr's & Zayion McCall's song "JuJu On The Beat" can be largely attributed to the influence of the natural hair movement in the United States and throughout the world.
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REFERENCE TO "NAPPY HAIR" IN THE 1994 HIP HOP DANCE SONG "NAPPY HEADS" BY THE FUGEES
WARNING: The Fugees' song "Nappy Heads" contains profanity & sexually explicit references and therefore may not be appropriate for children. The excerpt of that song that is provided in this post don't have lyrics with profanity or sexually explicit references.
Information about this record:
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nappy_Heads
" "Nappy Heads" is a song performed by Fugees, issued as the second single from the group's debut album Blunted on Reality. The song was co-produced by Pras and Wyclef Jean and written by Lauryn Hill.[4] Recorded in 1992 but not released until 1994,[3] the song became the group's first entry on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 49.[5] The song also reached #1 on the Billboard dance chart.[5]”…
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Pancocojams Editor's Note:
Since pancocojams is a family centered blog, I chose not to include a video or sound file of the Fugees' Nappy Head record because some of its lyrics may not be appropriate for children.
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Lyric excerpt:
[Hook: Wyclef Jean]
Yo Mona Lisa, could I get a date on Friday?
And if you're busy, I wouldn't mind taking
Saturday-ay-ay, ay-ay-ay
Round up de posse, Fugee comin' around the way
(Wyclef) Yo, hey nappy head
(Lauryn) Yo whashup?
(Wyclef) What you got there?
(Lauryn) Hah, I got some of that lyrical cheeba cheeba
(Wyclef) Worrrrrd?
A cheeba cheeba y'all, well I'm a Libra y'all
A cheeba cheeba y'all, well I'm a Libra y'allcerpt from Fugees’ song “Nappy Heads”
[...]
[Wyclef:]
(I got the slang to make the chitty-bang-bang
A-rid-dang-de-dang, the nappy head bang)
[Lauryn:]
No I, got the slang to make the chitty-bang-bang
A-rid-dang-de-dang, the nappy heads reign!
[...]
[Hook]
Nappy heads in the zone and we're not goin' home!
[...]
(Yo some nappy heads need to check they necks for red)"...
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Lyrics source: https://genius.com/Fugees-nappy-heads-remix-lyrics. Here's some information about that record from that same source:
"About Nappy Heads (Remix)
2nd single from ‘Blunted on Reality’
The beat samples: ‘Santa’s Birthday’ by The Caroleer Singers and Orchestra
Also interpolates ‘I’ll Fly Away’ by The Humbard Family, ‘The Hump’ by Buster Williams and ‘Sunglasses at Night’ by Corey Hart
Intro inspired by ‘Smokin Cheeba-Cheeba’ by Harlem Underground Band (1976)"
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Information about the term "cheeba cheeba"
From https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=cheeba%20cheeba
cheeba cheeba
Synonym for Marijuana used in Harlem/Bronx in the 1970's
You got that good Cheeba Cheeba?
by Glory128 January 06, 2016
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"Cheeba Cheeba" - the title of a 1989 Hip Hop record by Tone Loc
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I believe that the term "nappy heads" in the Fugees' record with that title is a general colloquial, positive referent for "Black people", substituting for "the n word" (as in Hey, my "n word" - with that word fully spoken) without racist intent). That term is accepted by those it is addressed to, in contrast to its historical use by African Americans as an insult.
I believe that the line "Yo some nappy heads need to check they necks for red" means that some Black people don't accept the current Black street trends, and therefore are suspected of acting like "rednecks" (i.e. White people).
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REFERENCE TO "NAPPY HAIR" IN THE 2016 HIP HOP DANCE SONG "JUJU ON THE BEAT (TZ ANTHEM)"
Pancocojams Editor: While "JuJu On The Beat" (TZ Anthem) is technically considered Hip Hop/Trap music, it may be more accurately categorized as a dance trend song with Hip Hop lyrics.
Information about this record
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juju_on_That_Beat_(TZ_Anthem)
""Juju on That Beat (TZ Anthem)" (also known simply as "Juju on That Beat",[1] "Juju on the Beat"[2] and "Juju on dat Beat"[3]) is a song by American hip hop duo Zay Hilfigerrr & Zayion McCall. The song was originally posted to McCall's YouTube channel on July 8, 2016, as a track from his mixtape Why So Serious?, where it received over 18,000 views.[4] It was posted to his channel again on August 11, 2016, where it received over 45 million views.[5] The song became a viral dance challenge.[6] The entire song is a freestyle over the beat of the song "Knuck If You Buck" by Atlanta hip hop group Crime Mob featuring Lil' Scrappy.[7]
The single charted on the US Billboard Hot 100, where it peaked at number 5.[8]
Music video
On November 2, 2016, the music video for Juju on That Beat was uploaded to Zay and Zayion's YouTube channel, The ZayNetwork, where it received over 290 million views.[10] The video is potentially based on the film Neighbors... The video won the 2017 Kids Choice Award for Favorite Music Video.[11]"...
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The "nappy hairstyle" that Zay Hilfiger wore in the video is multiple short braids with small red beads (or small white beads). Based on my direct experience mostly in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and based on my online and off-line reading and viewing, while a small number of Black American males (regardless of their age) wore and still wear their hair in multiple short braids, it was and still is rare for beads or any other adornment to be added to males' braided hair. Beaded braids are usually considered a young Black girl's hairstyle*. That said, a young Black male has two beaded braids in his natural (afro) hair in Ayo & Teo's hit 2017 dance tread video "Rolex" and one of those rappers has his hair in unadorned braids (dyed red) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwk5OUII9Vc. I've also come across one 2019 video of a young adult Black rapper with small braids wearing beads or small clips at the end of those braids. There are probably other examples of Black teenage and young adult men with that beaded hair style, but I don't think that hairstyle is that common.
In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania anyway, but I think throughout the United States, wearing short or long braids with beads is a very popular hairstyle for Black girls up to around eight years old. I've noticed that after around age eight years old, Black girls stop wearing beads in their hair, and instead have their braids adorned with tiny colored plastic clips, or very narrow gold or silver colored string, or small imitation cowrie shells.
*This custom of only young girls wearing beaded braids is different from the 1970s & 1980s when wearing beads at the end of long braids was a (mostly Black) hairstyle for females from young girls to young women. It was rare for males to wear beads in their braids. Stevie Wonder and Rick James are the males who I can think of who wore that hairstyle.
(Additions and corrections about these hair styles are welcome.)
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Zay Hilfigerrr & Zayion McCall – Juju On That Beat (Official Music Video)
Zay Hilfiger, Published on Nov 2, 2016
Zay Hilfigerrr & Zayion Mccall’s official music video for their viral dance challenge “Juju On That Beat”
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Statistics as of July 14, 2019
total views -399,455,359 views
total likes- 2.9M
total dislikes - 210K
total comments-
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Lyric excerpt:
"[Intro: Two Girls]
Girl 1: Oh my god, oh my god. Girl ain't that Zay and Zayion?
Girl 2: Yas
Girl 1: Don't both of 'em got a girlfriend?
Girl 2: Girl I don't care
Girl 1: I don't care girl, he still cute
Girl 2: Oh yes, he is!"
[Verse 1: Zay Hilfiger]
Walked in this party
And these girls lookin' at me
Skinny jeans on and you know my hair nappy
Hey, hey, hey"...
Source: https://genius.com/Zay-hilfigerrr-juju-on-that-beat-tz-anthem-lyrics
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This is the only use of the term "nappy hair" and the only references to the rappers' appearances in this song.
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Click https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juju_on_That_Beat_(TZ_Anthem) for information about the song "JuJu On The Beat (TZ Anthem)".
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"Skinny jeans" are currently in style as are natural hair styles. I consider the inclusion of "nappy hair" in a Black man's self-description to be a positive departure from the ways that African Americans have previously used that term as an insult directed at other Black people.
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