HAIR WARS U.S. Media Coverage

HAIR WARS ~ The Documentary

Hair Wars

The Movie!

Detroit, Motown, the Motor City, Hockeytown, the birthplace of techno and the prestigious Hair Capital of the World. Detroit has always played an influential part in defining trends and standards in art and culture, so it should be no surprise that The D has also been at the forefront of hair culture. Yes, Detroit is thought of by many as the hair capital of the world — a town where trading business cards of stylists is as popular as adolescent boys swapping baseball cards. Where some towns produce coiffures that turn heads, Detroit’s hair art stops traffic.

The city that birthed such celeb bands as The White Stripes, The Supremes and Eminem has also spawned celebrities of a different realm — “Hair Stars.” In the flamboyant, fantasy world known as Hair Wars, personalities like “Little Willie” and “Big Bad D” have become celebrities for their ingenious, over-the-top hair designs. Hair Wars isn’t the place for a pristine prom updo. This showcase, spanning an impressive 25 years, is an avenue for artists of a different medium to flaunt hairstyles that defy gravity and imagination.

The brain child of native Detroiter David “Hump the Grinder” Humphries, Hair Wars set its roots in Detroit nightclubs in 1985. After traveling as a promoter with the New York City Fresh Festival, the world’s first rap tour, Humphries had a "Eureka!" moment. “Every time I came home, I realized that Detroit had hair culture like nowhere else in America.” What started as a simple insight and gimmick to liven up the then-DJ’s parties, transformed into a cultural phenomenon. “It was new and fresh — I try to be original, so there was hair just sitting on people’s heads with nothing to do and getting very little attention.”

The attention that Hair Wars would acquire, nobody expected. Throughout the years, Hair Wars celebrities and Humphries have been featured on Oprah, NPR and America’s Next Top Model.

So, how did a DJ with no experience in hairstyling end up founding the most creative hair showcase in the world? Many of the stylists that would transform the hair industry and become hair entertainers, were regulars at Humphries' parties. “They would follow me from club to club and party to party. It was them who made me think about giving up the stage, to show what they could do.” And that’s exactly what “Hump” did.

Hair entertainment, as it has been dubbed, has continually been underestimated as a legitimate art. “I feel like hair entertainment has been treated like a bald-headed stepchild. It’s rarely considered an art form, but people who appreciate art, they understand,” the Don King of hair entertainment admits.

Hair Wars provides a unique beauty and creative aesthetic within the world of visual arts, with a dash of humor. From hairstyles that can be unzipped to reveal anything from a live python to a bottle of champagne, to a 'do styled like a BBQ grill, spatula and tongs included, it’s difficult not to see the artistic value in such thoughtful pieces. “These hair stylists are more than just stylists. Many of them are artists — but it’s something relatively new to mainstream America; it’s still an underground thing.”

On April 19th, the Main Art Theatre in Royal Oak will premiere The Hair Wars Story, a documentary about the history of the Detroit-born phenomenon. Unveiling the story through a plethora of photos and show footage, and narrated by the founder, it’s a film that shouldn’t be missed. Humphries says, “It was extremely hard to make a movie about something that has been going on for 25 years, but I told the story the best I could while keeping it entertaining.” How could Hair Wars be anything less than entertaining?

The movie premiere is open to the public, but the back row of seats is reserved for “extreme hairdos” only. | RDW

The Hair Wars Story Premiere • 4/19, 6:30 p.m. • Landmark Main Art Theatre • 118 N. Main St., Royal Oak • hairwarsustour.com landmarktheatres.com • $5, running time 90 minutes

http://www.realdetroitweekly.com/content/article_6359.shtml

"This Business of Hair" Audio Show

Show Two: David Humphries (Hair Wars)

You can listen to the broadcast by going to...

http://www.thehotcomb.com/audioshow2.html

Coming from TheHotComb.com producer Joseph Butts in Atlanta, GA --

Just wanted to take a minute to let you know that I just uploaded a new episode of our audio-magazine to our website. Our guest for this broadcast was David Humphries, the founder and creator of Hair Wars (www.hairwarsustour.com). Hair Wars is a hair event that you would have to see to believe. It's all about hair stylists expressing their creativity through hair. And they DO express themselves! (Check out the pictures on the website, their amazing.)

In this show you can listen as David talks about:

How he built Hair Wars into a success business and brand
What were the challenges that he faced while building his business
What cities, in his opinion, have the best hair stylists
What it was like to get a call from the producers of Oprah
Why he's turned down multiple Hollywood offers for his own reality show
What role did having a mentor play in his success
What direction does he see the hair industry moving towards in coming years
And a whole lot more...

Powell's Books

Cleopatra's Nose: 39 Varieties of Desire by Judith Thurman

What Humans Want

A Review by Brigitte Frase

Judith Thurman's book of essays possesses the three cardinal virtues of nonfiction: Its prose is stylish and often witty; it delves into various topics with hungry curiosity, and it is very, very intelligent. Thurman takes her subjects seriously, giving the same respect and in-depth analysis to "Hump the Grinder's Hair Wars" as she does to the novels of Gustave Flaubert.

All but one of the pieces were first published in the New Yorker magazine over the past 20 years. They begin as reviews -- of books, art, fashion -- and then ripen and deepen into psychologically astute essays. As the...

The annual event known as Hair Wars is a touring showcase of African-American hair styling that celebrates and rewards outrageousness. Stylists compete to create the most unusual and memorable looks. Gravity is routinely defied.

This event grew out of a weekly event from the 1980s in Detroit into a phenomenon that spawned a documentary, and now a smashing coffee table book of photography by David Yellen, with an introduction by Johanna Lenander. A great, big mashup of oversized hair, biggie-sized personalities, and joie de vivre in equal measure.

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