DONE: MUSIC KEEPS MY HAIR

I am listening to The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady by American Jazz double bassist, composer and bandleader Charles Mingus. This album released on Impulse Records in 1983, four years after his death, consists of a single continuous composition—partially written as a ballet—divided into four tracks and six movements. It is perhaps the most appropriate and fitting way to introduce this week's guest blogger Mbali Mdluli (pictured), who is also known as Miz Buttons the DJ in the Johannesburg's "underground" music scene. She is as complex as Mingus's jazzy moans, groans and collective improvisation which are once smooth, soothing then wild, violent and free. A symphony of a saint and sinner woman whose love and appreciation of music is both encyclopedic and as red as the hot blood that runs through her veins. She's also a photographer, a filmaker and collector of buttons, clouds and some occassional German words. She generously agreed to share her natural hair journey with us in our third installment of a series of hair pieces inspired by one African American woman's struggle to braid/plait African natural for commercial gain in Texas, USA. In her own words:

As far as I can remember I've always had my hair DONE. I also recall with it the numerous compliments I would receive en route home from my aunt's place. My many "thank yous" emerged from a painful hair line to be later soothed by a wet head wrap. I was 4 years old. Then I wore my hair in cornrows which would sometimes be adorned with beads which were soon alternated with chemical hairdos.

I've had my fair share of weave-like-hair days!

It all started with me sitting on chairs decked to the top with thick yellow telephone directories just so I could dip my head back into the basin for a wash. I was about 7 years old when I had my first perm.Then in my teens, school holidays provided the perfect opportunity to explore different hairstyles in the most popular salons at the time, trying anything from S-curls to the Pineapple ( which made my hair look like frozen or burnt popcorn). Not forgetting iblow and a Cut, the blow and a cut could vary from a German Cut to what is now famously known as is'Chicco. As with most people, my hairstyles we influenced by the times; Hip-hop brought me to Da-Brats-like thick braids which I never did get right!; when Tinting became a fad I chose to dye my hair ginger and kept it short in a brush cut; Chiskops became a representation of my rebellious phase which was accompanied by a lot of angst and the colour Black (nail polish and all goth like tendencies).In retrospect,

I realise that my hairs' history reveals a lot of use and abuse

So my decision to keep my hair in dreadlocks for 8 years became a way of cleansing and getting back to keeping my hair natural. Plus it made me realise that I could also have long hair too. At first, growing dreadlocks had a spiritual element to it. I'd never finished anything I started, so the locks became a constant personal reminder to persevere and to learn to start something and see it through to the end. As with most thigs. all faith tends to dwindle at one point or the other, I grew tired of them and so I happily cut them off. In hindsight, this also taught me how to let go of things. After the locks, which I found heavy and tiring on the neck, I am now growing an Afro. Most times I keep my afro in plaits because when left to its own accord it becomes unruly and hard to comb out. I keep an easy, low maintenance on my hair:

I eat as much vitamin E based foods as possible

Such as spinah, broccoli, almonds, sunflower seeds. I use less harmful chemicals and have found a working shampoo/conditioner formula for my hair - I use white vinegar to wash and when it comes to moisturizing, I only use two products - olive oil or coconut oil. These simple tricks give me more time to style my hair referencing ancient African hairdos - yet on another quest to see how long and how far it'll take me to grow a revolutionary Afro (Angela Davis comes to mind)😃. Mbali Mdluli is a DJ, Filmaker and Photographer based in Johannesburg, South Africa.

#culture #MbaliMdluli #theafrican