It’s like something that we find beautiful, is…you know deemed dangerous or scary to somebody else

Below is the link for the audio, Enjoy!

Overview:

Raoul is a long time friend and local artist known as Razah Ade.  He’s been producing and mc’ing for quite some time and has a passion for hip hop and history.  He has had his dreadlocks for 7 years and it was a pleasure to interview Raoul and super fun to get to know more about his experience through his own lens. I hope to do more interviews with him and look forward to keeping up with his progress. He was very open and he’s down for the cause!

I’ve been profiled because I had dread locks

He has been discriminated and profiled against and his hair was even touched a few times where he attended school. He described that experience as being ” far out”. Raoul is able to laugh these things off and still sees his hair as apart of who he is and where he comes from. Locs aren’t something new to him nor his family.  Although he has had some negative experiences, he continues to have the love and support from his family and friends as his hair is embraced (as well as his two sisters previously having locs). Raoul has a love for and collects vinyls so I thought it was only right to ask what vinyl would represent his locs most.  Raoul described his locs to represent ” Hip Hop for Respect”. This album incorporated the work of many hip hop artists including Talib Kweli and Yasiin Bey (Mos Def). This album reflects trials and tribulations of being discriminated against while  simultaneously representing the beauty and power of black people. Raoul encourages others to pursue a journey of dreadlocks and to keep pushing through because those phases of awkwardness or discomfort are only temporary. In the words of the artist, “Just Do It”. 

Black people are particularly beautiful and powerful…they have to be, because they’re always the target

You can follow Raoul via Instagram @ra_zvinylz and/or @razah_ade