WINTER | 2014| 19
The next day I woke up early; despite my head pounding from the previous night’s medicinal treats. I had a big day and I did not want to be late. I was going to Compton. I guess I’m a little weird because I have a list of cities and barbershops that I want to cut in all over the world. Compton was one of them. I reached out to my boy Frog the barber and he opened his shop up to me. Located in the heart of Compton at the Del Amo swapmeet; I can admit that I was ready for the unexpected. I got to the shop about 1130am. I had a bus and a train ride to the shop which game me a lot of time to reflect. Would the shop be crowded? How would the barbers act? How would the clients act? Would I get shot for wearing the wrong color? Well, I wore my lucky green Air Max’s so I thought I was ok. After a lot of unnecessary worrying, I remembered why I was there; to cut hair. I walked into a super crowded swap meet and walked to the back where the shop was located. I was super anxious to show what I could do. As soon as I walked in the open air shop, my boy Frog pointed to my station. I could feel all the barbers looking at me. “Who is this dude?” I thought they were thinking. As I was setting up I could see clients looking at me with a look of wonderment and relief that another barber could get them out of the shop faster. Frog motioned a client to sit in my chair. As he walked to my chair he gave Frog a look that said, “Can this mofo cut?” The owner instantly knew what that look meant and assured him everything was ok with a simple head nod. My client was a early 20’s, swagged out dude with fresh kicks and gold teeth. He wanted a temp; but didn’t call it that. I dont even remember what he asked for but after us going back and forth during the client consultation I realized he wanted a temple taper. He also had a part design that was almost fully grown out but he wanted me to touch it up. Great. My first cut at a new shop is a design. I’m decent with my design parts but I’m no Rob the barber. After I assured my client He was in good hands, I gave him the classic temp taper and easily refreshed his design. when he got the mirror he look a little suprised that it was good. After all, I was in Compton with green kicks and a NY Jets hat looking like a fake Denzel Washington. I knew I looked out of place but there’s one thing about being a barber; if you can cut, you can cut anywhere. I really liked the atmosphere of the Compton shop. Old school music blasted the entire day and my dj self was loving it. Clients constantly came to my chair and did not mind that they had never seen me before. Everyone in the shop was tight too. Everyone. You could tell Frog was the OG tho. Frog is sick with the designs too. Look him up on Youtube; dope! I really respect the brother for allowing me to work in his shop and build with his crew. some of my memorable clients of the day was one guy who said I gave him the best bald fade he ever had; I am Mr. Taper after all (shameless plug). When I was done with his fade he asked me if I knew how to shave him with a razor.I thought that was hilarious. Of course my dude; I got you. My other client I won’t forget is the White dude from Seattle (or was it San Diego? I know it was an S in the city name) who wanted a flat top. He was super cool and his wifey loved the cut even more than him. If you would have told me I would have been cutting a white dude’s flattop in Compton I would have thought you were crazy. But I love it. The places barbering takes you…
My last day in LA was another beautiful, sunny, “I hope I get to go to the beach”, day. What better way to spend a day in LA than to go to Brotherhood Barbershop in beautiful Van Nuys? I reached out to one of LA’s Exclusive barbers, Mr. JC tha Barber. The MTV awards were in town so he was booked all weekend. (I almost went to that Chris Brown/Suge Knight shootout party but my brother was too hungry. Thanks bro!) JC let me cut in his shop that Monday. This was another good vibes, good barbers and great conversation shop. Surprisingly, the barbers in this shop were on that FIFA much harder than that Madden or 2k. They take their soccer seriously in LA. The shop started slow but after lunch, it was booming! A Monday started looking like a Saturday by the after work hours. I only cut a few heads but I was more intrigued by the different techniques and styles these barbers were displaying (Check the pics). Unfortunately, my early evening flight time cut my visit short. I wont forget the love all the barbers showed me. Shout out to Visible Transformations, Takin All Fades, Brotherhood Barbershop and Blind Barber. Special shoutout to my bro Mark for being my personal chauffeur and tour guide and The DO-OVER LA for one of the best parties on Earth. Los Angeles, I’ll be back (Terminator voice).