If there were ever a completely objective measure of how hard a musician rocks, it would probably be the afro. Well, either that or how many live chickens they’ve bitten the heads off of. I want to take a second to commemorate some of the most awesome afros in rock music.
Let’s start with the most famous afro of the 20th century: Jimi Hendrix.
Taking it back to the mid-to-late 60s… this is the afro that started it all. Wielding left-handed guitars is almost as awesome as a kick-ass ‘fro. Burning said left-handed guitar after unleashing a wall of feedback, and simulating masturbation with the whammy board? Yeah, that might be on par. Whether or not you’ve seen it before, it’s always worth another look:
If you want more, take a look at his rendition of ‘All Along the Watchtower.’
Coming up next? Why, the MC5, of course.
Making white-boy ‘fros awesome since the 60s, this band was all about harnessing hair power at its most radical. A seminal protopunk band, this group has had an incredible amount of influence on the music we hear today but is rarely given the props they deserve. Energy like this only comes from afro-laden attitude:
In the later 70s and 80s, afros became much less a part of the rock scene and really shone in the Funk, R&B and Soul departments. Nothing against those genres, but we’re looking at rockitude here–and therefore they don’t apply.
Reemerging in the 90s, we have a new wave of Afro-sporting badasses.
While Zach de la Rocha of the 90s band Rage Against the Machine is much more famous for his dreadlocks, I always knew he had it in him for a killer latino-fro. I was pleasantly surprised to see that when Rage reunited recently, he decided to ditch the ‘locks and rock the ‘fro. However, his antics are a little toned down for this reunion, so maybe there’s something to be said for dreadlocks after all… check it out here:
It could also be argued that boy-scout uniforms infuse you with guitar prowess. Perhaps we’ll investigate that at a later date…
Moving on…
The Roots are a hip-hop group, but their focus on using live instruments instead of sampling (or at least not as much sampling) during their live shows puts them on the list, in my opinion. Their drummer, ?uestlove, has one of the best afros I’ve seen in a while. He definitely lays it down, and you get some good clips amongst the talking in this interview:
I’m sure Neil Peart secretly has an afro.
This next band has so many afros in their midst that they almost collapse under the collective awesome. However, the frantic energy that is stored in their ‘fros is more than enough to keep them going.
I’m talking, of course, about The Mars Volta. Formed in 2001 out of the ashes of post-noise-rock-screamo-punk-etc. rock band, At the Drive-In, this band is chock-full of spastic craziness which takes its roots from prog rock, math rock, latin-beat, jazz, and punk rock. It’s not often that you see a band with this much energy any more. The two front men, Cedric Bixler-Zavala and Omar A. Rodriguez-Lopez, are the oft-focused upon members for their ‘fro frantic style. However, their ex-drummer, Jon Theodore, was known to sport a good set of hair in their later years. Anyways, here’s a video which exemplifies the power of this afro-powerhouse:
Now, we have come to the modern day. Carrying the torch for the latter 2000s, we have Brooklyn-based TV on the Radio.
Not many people can boast 2 ‘fros at once. Kyp Malone of TV on the Radio does exactly that by not only sporting your usual head afro, but he’s got one coming off his chin as well! His calm demeanor, however, betrays a secret build-up of energy–stored in his hair, of course. Take a look:
Well, that’s it for now. Trust me, I’m well-aware that there are many fantastic ‘fros that I’ve skipped over, but I wanted to give some examples how a specific hairstyle can be measured up against behavior (in this case, being awesome).
