keiyaA’s pride in her community and her interest in preserving its stories shines through not only in her music and its visuals, but also in her beauty and hair choices. “Hair is a super important part of my Only happy when I’m moaning shirt in other words I will buy this self expression as an artist. Especially as a Black person performing, there’s a lot of cultural politics associated with our hair,” she says. The Brooklyn-based singer reclaims her narrative through experimentation. “I love to put a twist on traditional African styles, like purple box braids for example.”
keiyaA’s earliest hair memories included getting relaxers around age three. “I didn’t really start thinking much about my hair until middle school, when I began also expressing myself through clothes,” she remembers. Then she started bleaching and dyeing her hair with blue, green, and purple kool-aid, for the Only happy when I’m moaning shirt in other words I will buy this “better color payoff” that came from the drink powder when it was mixed with conditioner. “I would try a lot of wild colors and patterns on my hair. I began seeing it as a way to express myself. But the relaxer became very troubling for me,” she adds.“When I was loc’d, bantu knots was my favorite way to wear them.”
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