Dreadlocks frenzy…more questions than answers

Having been considered the preserve of Rastafarians or the ‘patrons of the herbs’ for a very long time, the tables have turned. Dreadlocks formerly worn by Rastafarians has now cut across all boundaries, be they ethnic and religious.

The spate at which the wearing of dreadlocks is going now is very amazing. It has indeed broken boundaries that sporting waves did not break. That is from the youth to the aged. You find it very difficult to say who is practicing the Rastafarian religion and who is not.

It all started about a decade ago when people in the showbiz industry begun wearing it. The musicians were the first to start with this act, which has become the toast of a good number of people. It is very interesting to note that the musicians who wore it first were not reggae singers but Hiplife and sometimes Highlife.

Reggie Rockstone the father of Hiplife is one of the first persons to wear locks on the Hiplife scene. When you take a good look at all the Hiplife musicians in society, you realize that a good number of them are on locks of different kinds. Can one take it that they are following their ‘father’s’ footsteps? Anyway, time will tell, as we shall see those who can keep it and those who will shave it off because mummy says so.

Interestingly, dreadlocks has become very necessary in the showbiz industry that every musician or dancer of a kind tries to wear one. Some are really neat; others are a big no, no. Is it the craze of wearing one or those in it are tired of going to the barbering shop or the salon? Perhaps dread is the only easy way out.

The dreadlocks craze is everywhere. In the football arena, taking Kumasi Asante Kotoko for instance, one will realize that well over four players have dreadlocks on. Now I am very confused. Because I seem not to see who are really competing with the Rastafarians; is it the musicians, footballers or the ordinary Ghanaian?

A good number of prominent personalities can be mentioned when the wearing of dreadlocks is mentioned. B. B. Menson (Radio Gold), Batman Samini, Obrafuor, Juliet Asante (Eagle Productions) just to mention a few. These people are wearing very neat and well-kept locks that will make you feel like wearing one. What really motivated them into wearing locks?

But for the stigma attached to dreadlocks in our society, most people will be wearing it since a second look at it spells money saving. I think it is this other side of dreadlocks that is making a lot of people join in the craze. No time wasting at the barbering shop or the salon. An amount of hair pomade and a look in the mirror and you are good to go.

One of the significant things about most people wearing dreadlocks that keeps me wondering if it’s just the craze is that, when they meet each other or anyone at all, they greet by saying ‘Peace’. I am not saying the greeting is out of place but if you claim you are not a Rastafarian but just wearing the locks, why use their parlance? Or do I take it that everything related to dreadlocks is now very much accepted in society?

My greatest fear about this dreadlocks fever is that, some of the people in caught it are just wearing because some big shots in society are wearing. That is to say, they don’t keep it neat like those they try to emulate, by not attending to it and making it look like a real mess. To compound issues, they don’t dress neatly for you to be able to decipher between them and those on the other side.

I am making this particular point because I once came across a guy in locks who all on-lookers thought was a lunatic but for a Walkman I figured in his breast pocket. This guy who I suppose is crazy about Hip hop music was throwing his hands and rapping loudly in the middle of the street. To make matters worse, he was very unkempt from the crown of his head to the sole of his feet.

So does it mean that all those caught by the locks fever will shave everything off one day? If yes, when is the day? After the dreadlocks fever, what next? Are we going to take a visit to the past, where ‘Punk’, ‘Back-bush’, ‘Half-bow’ and ‘Sakora’ are patiently waiting to be attacked again? Be watchful!!!