Jay-Z’s Afro Required 6 Days of Work

After seven long years, Jay-Z has returned to the stage, headlining The Roots’ annual music festival Roots Picnic in Philadelphia over the weekend. And what better way to mark the significance of his return performing than by debuting a new look: a lush, full combed-out afro.

Since growing out his hair around his 4:44 album era, Hov’s freeform locs became as iconic as his catalog of rap classics. Inspired by Jean-Michel Basquiat, whom Jay had considered to be his spiritual predecessor (“It ain’t hard to tell, I’m the new Jean-Michel,” he raps in “Picasso Baby”), his locs became a signature during each of his public appearances. The years of growth and maintenance of the locs is why it took six days to comb them out into the afro that you see on the stage, according to natural hairstylist Letisia “Lety” Ravelo, who’s worked with the Carter family for years. And given Beyonce has her own line of haircare products, Cécred, it would make sense that Ravelo would use the concoctions on Jay.

“We used all Cécred products to be able to achieve that look,” Ravelo says, “and we did a combination of scalp treatments once all the hair was out, just to make sure that his hair and scalp was properly taken care of. Because I am a natural hairstylist, my main thing is the health of the hair before anything else.”

Jay’s locs might’ve required fairly constant upkeep, and his afro (should he choose to keep it) will require just as much care and attention.

“Wash it every couple days,” Ravelo says. “If you want to leave it in its natural state, make sure that you fully blow it out with tons of leave-in conditioner, just so you can get that moisture into the hair. A lot of people get confused with a protective style, just thinking that you just blow it out and just braid it. In order for you to have a proper protective style, you have to incorporate all of the good things and nourishments into the hair, and that includes leave-in butters and oils for the scalp.”

Given his aptitude as a style influencer, Jay’s afro is likely to influence a slew of copycats as he has in the past.

“This is such a beautiful way of expressing yourself and letting your hair just be natural and just let it do what it naturally does, like it’s such a cool thing,” Ravelo says. “It’s beautiful how the texture just takes its toll and evolves throughout the day, and I really hope that this is like a natural-hair wave.”

Along with his afro, Jay-Z sported Fear of God’s Japanese washed crinkle canvas workwear set, layering the jacket over a black denim selvedge over-shirt. As Jerry Lorenzo captioned on Instagram: “From our @palaisdetokyo showroom in paris, directly to philadelphia, now to the @jayz archive.” And as his wont (and birthright, given his New York City roots), Jay finished off the look with a pair of black Timberland work boots.

Lorenzo and Jay have a long history of collaboration, and the designer helped to bring the self-made billionaire’s merch for 4:44 come to life. “I think he’s one of the very few men that have matured elegantly in the rap game,” Lorenzo told GQ during a conversation on Hov’s enduring influence on style.

“When I think about Jay, I don’t think about fits,” Lorenzo said. “I think about his approach. You know what I mean? I feel like it’s always been authentic—just like his albums, it’s always authentic to where he is within his journey in life. They all feel honest. He’s never felt like he’s trying. It’s super effortless, which I love about Jay.”