A spoof music video about a man’s horrified reaction to his girlfriend’s decision to get rid of her fake long woven hair has been viewed millions of times on Facebook.
“Baby where is your hair? Why you cut your hair?” Top Rope Zeus’ YouTube character croons to his on-screen girlfriend.
“Do you really want to go there?” his girlfriend sings in reply. He does, apparently.
“You’ve joined the natural team. I’m seeing combs broke apart,” he continues, undeterred.
The video on the sometimes fraught subject of Black women’s hairstyling has provoked thousands of comments from viewers – and not all are amused.
“This isn’t all that funny,” YouTube user Uniqua Smith2 comments. “People who struggle with the white version of beauty in this society could see this and believe that Black hair isn’t beautiful, when it is. It’s what African American women were born with!”
The deeper you look into the meaning of this song, she says, the more offensive it seems to be.
And others agree:
“Mmmmkay.. so our natural hair is ugly now people?” says Mai Chi.
But Top Rope Zeus, whose real name is Zeus Campbell and who has a series of relationship sketches on YouTube, says no offence is intended.
Campbell, 27, from Norfolk, Virginia, says:
I was noticing a lot of women on the internet cutting their hair off, randomly – going ‘natural’. It became this hashtag thing: #teamnatural. And I was making a statement that there’s nothing wrong with being natural – that’s great, if that’s what you want to do. But there’s many different styles of natural hair. Not every woman looks good with the same style.
Campbell’s comedy revolves around giving women “the honest male view” – something he says he developed a knack for at university, when his female friends would turn to him for straight-talking advice.
He first posted the natural hair video in 2013, a year before the US Army’s new rules on acceptable hairstyles for African-American women provoked an angry reaction.
Campbell continues:
Here’s the thing about Black women – their hair is a very sensitive topic. I completely understand the conversation it’s driving. I wrote it that way to provoke conversation. And a lot of women commenting say ‘I’m natural and I think it’s funny’.
Many of the people commenting on the video do see the humour – and that Campbell is stirring a debate. “It’s funny but at the same time brings up a serious issue,” says Junette Allen. “More Black women should go natural. It is beautiful.”
A few of the men, who may not be Black, commenting are agreeing with Top Rope Zeus’ contentious declaration that the natural look can be “ugly”, but many Black men are also saying that Black women should be free to their god-given hair without facing criticism or branding.
“It’s a shame we like false beauty,” comments De-Von Marquest Pierce on Facebook. “I can’t mess with a chick with fake beauty. Nothing more beautiful than a Black woman with her own hair. It’s not going natural it’s being who you are.”
A reporting from various channels.
The video is funny. Anyone who thinks it is anything more is being too sensitive. Yes, I said it, too sensitive! You shouldn’t want to cry every time you hear something you don’t like. It’s called life, criticism, perspective, humor… It could be any of these things or all of them. Everything doesn’t have to be taken literally.
That dude got blonde hair, so clearly he’s not trying to say take him seriously. It’s all fun and games. Great video. But for real, can you buy me a new comb?
This is not funny!
Oh that is funny!
Sooo disrespectful. I have broken combs myself but isn’t that just testament to our strong hair? Perhaps that we are stronger? That our hair can break a wooden comb, a plastic comb, hell even a Kevlar one?
Like I said, all fun and games. My girl is natural. In fact, every woman I have dated has braids, locs, twists, or natural hair. I love natural women. And I have asked them to buy me a new comb and they just laughed it off, because it’s a joke. I love strong hair just like I love strong women. Believe that.
Hmm… what you mean by strong women ha? Strong women? Boy shut it. Strong women? What’s that suppose to mean? That if we have natural hair then we are strong? Like strong? Strong in what ways?
Tanya, honey, I just gave you a compliment, but you’re too strong to take it. Black men like me wanna compliment you, but you might have been too hurt by some football player to understand what that is. It’s almost 1 AM here. I’m gonna go sleep next to my strong, beautiful black woman. Good night, sweetie.
Oh you didn’t. Noooo! No you didn’t. You sooo did not! I can’t imagine what strong black woman is sleeping next to that. That! you? I mean you? What? Boy pleeeaase. You talk about me getting hurt by a jersey? Ne’er! I am an independent black woman. And in all the departments too. Yeah, I said it. I date a stronger black woman that your ass cos that’s what STRONG BLACK WOMEN do! Not hide another Leonarrrrd. What kinda name is that anyway?