Source: Netflix / Netflix
The natural hair movement has encouraged us all to embrace our natural curls, coils and waves; spawning a healthy hair care movement that also changed the way we nurture, protect, and grow our hair. With rising natural representation in the media, books and tutorials both on social media and websites, natural hair is finally getting the glory it deserves. Even more than before, young Black girls are proudly rocking their natural kinks.
As true #girldad, actor and Hip-Hop superstar Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, along with his eldest daughter Karma, created the Netflix animated series Karma’s World to encourage young black girls about the importance of embracing their hair no matter the texture.
“It all came about from my oldest daughter whose name is Karma. She use to interrupt me in the studio when she was younger when I was recording and say I want to do music too and ‘I want to rap like my daddy.’ We came together with this idea and started writing songs about things that she was going through and it occurred to me that there is nothing out in the world like this. It took some time, and we went through a lot of phases but now here we are nearly a decade later with the closet thing to perfect that we could present to the entire world especially for young Black girls to be proud of themselves and to understand that they are not alone. We were so detailed about how the characters would look from their nose, eyes, hair and their clothing that to see where we are at today brings me nothing but joy. It is nothing but queen resemblance. When you look at this on screen it’s just a shining example of how beautiful our texture is.”
Texturism is rampant in the Black community, often with courser textures like 4c hair be labeled with derogatory names like “nappy.” Bridges wants to change the way young black girls see their hair and how they embrace it, he says;
“Black girls deal with a lot when it comes to their hair and it was the most important thing in the world to me to create something that had meaning and something that gives a voice to the voiceless. All black girls dealt with people touching their hair without asking, the combing, and the process of styling to achieve certain looks. Sometimes it’s not the easiest to deal with but the textures are so beautiful. When you understand our heritage and the long line of beautiful textures, hair and strength that you come from it is extremely a moment in time when you start feeling proud about your hair. You begin to understand the resilience that our hair has. As a girl dad, I’m proud to say that all young black girls should be proud of their hair because of where we come from.”
With an all-star cast of voice stars for the animated series including Tiffany Haddish, Danielle Brooks, Dawnn Lewis and Dasha Polanco, Bridges says;
“I didn’t even have in mind to be the voice of the dad, they asked me, and I agreed to do it. But it was a great selection process, a lot of time you try out a lot of people and see whose voice would fit the animated character best and so luckily, we ended up with some great people. I couldn’t ask for a better cast. Inclusion was important because we celebrate diversity and that’s what makes this show special and worldwide in the top 10 spot in over 42 countries on Netflix. So, we got keep this going. It should be in every household, and I won’t stop until Karma is a household name”.
Naturally music has to play a part in everything that the hip-hop legend touches and Karma’s world comes complete with a soundtrack and music video.
“It was phenomenal, but it was different then doing Ludacris music. With Ludacris music I can pretty much say whatever I want but when it comes to this you have to sensor yourself because everything you say has to be particular and very well thought out. It challenged me and I love a good challenge and I think that people will very much so enjoy this soundtrack because it sounds like something that could compete with the present-day music that’s on the Hot 100 Billboard charts only is for our kids even though adults can stream it as well. “Bridges says.
Karma world is now streaming and the latest music video can be streamed on all music platforms.
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Ludacris And His Daughter Karma Release ‘Proud Of My Hair’ Animated Series: ‘It’s A Shining Example Of How Beautiful Our Texture Is’ was originally published on hellobeautiful.com
