Barber to the Legends: How Marcus Harvey Made His Mark

What's up y'all? This your man Marcus Harvey and I'm here for a new episode of Barberstar. This season is going to be filled with nothing but celebrity barbers. Barbers who impact communities. Barbers who have set the stage to do things that we have never thought we could do. From innovators to creators to just share out people who make sure that our day-to-day situation is great. Shouts out to all the barber stars cuz every star needs a barber. But every barber ain't no star, but the ones we talking to are that and you are that. So everybody who's watching this, shouts out to you guys. I know that you're watching this because you yourself are a barber star.

All right, so this episode is going to be about me, the barber star. So let's get started. How did I get into barbering? How was I bit by the Clippers? So the way I was bit by the Clippers was my mom used to take me to this shop in Gwynette County called Phil's Barberh Shop. Right. At the time, I was going to a gentleman named Mario and then I was going to a gentleman named D. So, um, my mom would let me go get my haircut by both of them, you know, just whatever Saturday it was. Um, one day D I found out that D and Mario moved and open their own shop, right? So, they had been working at this shop for some years.

They finally decided to jump out on faith and open their own shop some miles down the road in a spot across the street from Green's Corner. If you guys are from Gwynette corn, Gwinette County, you know about Green's Corner. So, um it was beautiful because uh you know, my mom had the first time in her in her life. Do I keep going to the place that I know to get the haircut from or do I just go to his barbers and keep and just follow his barbers? So, the great thing about that is just my mom didn't even have to make that decision because the spot that they actually moved to Crosscuts was right connected to my apartment complex. This is this how it's ordained by God.

It was attached to the apartment complex. It's like uh the barber shop was on the main road on Jimmy Carter. My apartment was in Jimmy Carter as well. It's called Forestville. Shouts out to Forestville. All the people who went there and lived there. And what I would do was um I would walk. My mom took me a few times and then after a while, you know, I'm starting to get older. I'm like 12, you know, 12, 13. I'm starting to figure it out. I know the I know the path through the woods, you know. I've been doing that since I was like 9 10.

So, you know, uh once I started f I found a way instead of having to walk all the way up to the all the way up to the street and go on the street, I found a back way uh through some woods to get to this this uh barber shop called Crosscut Cuts. And that's where it really started, man. I would just have like uh I would try to see how fast I can get there. So, I'm running through the running through the woods just trying to time myself, just having a good time. So, the whole experience of going to the barber shop was an adventure to me. " I like I was put on a journey. You know, you know them quest movies. You remember back in the day?

They used to have movies that were just like about a quest, you know, a rag tab group of people going to find the the golden scepter or something like that. And my golden scepter just so happened to be going to the barber shop. So I get to the barber shop, start, you know, watching, you know, you know, how everything's moving. And uh at the time these gentlemen actually had the first time I've ever seen this they had a a guy who was sweeping up here getting everything worked out like you know organizing the magazines, cleaning the bathrooms, you know getting the towels ready, different things of that nature. And um of course D was my barber at this time.

So D is part owner with Mario and I was like yo how um the guy's name was Russell. Shouts out to Russell. He's an amazing barber still in Gwynette County uh to this day. So, uh, it's kind of we're kind of the legacy of of cross cuts. Hey, Russell does a lot. He's amazing, too. Long story short, you know, uh, Rusty was getting, you know, he Russ was getting a little older, so he's like, you know, I'm starting to kick it with, you know, he's starting to play on football teams, basketball teams. He's starting to do a lot, starting to, you know, get involved with girl. He's just like a normal teenager, 15, 16. He ain't trying to be at no barber shop all day. So, that's where I came in.

He's like, "Yo, Russell's about to leave. " Yeah, cuz I had been asking weeks and weeks. Yo, what does he do? What? I see him giving him cash and I'm like, yo, I want to do that. I want to be a part of that type of move, man. You know, he finally lets me get the opportunity. I start sweeping up here. Now, mind you, I started on Thursday. That's that's the training training day. So, they put me on Thursdays, right? Put your boy on Thursdays, right? And from there, I just started learning more and more about the game. So, I'll be uh I would just, you know, learn how to straighten up their clippers, clean they clippers the right way, you know.

Um, I started taking pride in organizing their stations, like uh reorganizing it to the to to this day. I'm still like obsessed with making sure a station and a workspace is clean. So, you know, I was charged with getting the magazines together, customer service. I would have to go down and make a, you know, a lunch run, go down to the spot to go get them some food while they were cutting hair to, you know, all those things that you need. I was like the first barberh shop assistant, right? So, uh, they finally was like, "Yo, man, put me on. " Then I started seeing these guys cutting it just start one day just snapped and I was like, "Oh, snap. " My homeboy AJ Templan, yo, shouts out to AJ.

Appreciate you, brother. " Like, um, I, you know, I was like, "Yo, me and him were best friends. " He like, "Cut my hair? " But I was like, "No, man. " So, we had a pair of his mom's clippers. She had these. I don't know what kind of clippers these were. These were just some wall at the crib. I don't think it was his mom's. I think it was was his older brother's, but his older brother wasn't living there no more, so he just left the clippers. " I wanted to give him a fade. It ended up being a Baldi with a lineup. So, Kobe Low was my first haircut. And uh from there, it was just uh bit by the Clippers. So, what was my my barber experience becoming a professional or aka my school experience?

So, so I went to school at Empire Beauty School. So, at the time, man, um the way I really got into it, so you know, I've been cutting hair. I was cutting hair, you know, on the side, just catch a little quick little dollars, you know, I can line somebody up, do a basic even, maybe taper them out a little bit on the sides, taper them out on the back. But that was pretty much the extent of my my skill base, right? It really didn't strike me that I could be a professional at barbering until I moved back to Atlanta. Now, mind you, when I was in uh I lived in Tennessee my whole high school career from freshman all the way to senior, I went to Morristown East. Shouts out to the Hurricanes.

We live better than all of you Trojans. Just wanted to put that out there. We It's going to be a robbery to the day we pass, baby. Uh but no, shouts out to uh Morristown East, the Hurricanes, man. " But um when I left from Morristown, I moved back to Atlanta with my mom and moved back to Atlanta cuz the reason why we had to move to Morristown cuz she shattered her knee into a car accident in a car accident. We couldn't afford to live in Atlanta no more. So, we had to move with my grandmother um and grandfather in Morristown, Tennessee. Um my mom stayed for the first two years. she got a, you know, rehabilitation. " So, she moved back my senior year.

So, I stayed with my grandparents my senior year. Just had a good time, you know, finished out my my my high school career. When I got to college, it was a different thing, right? So, at the time, my brother was going to Morehouse and at I didn't know anything about Morehouse. I mean, nothing at all. I mean, and I had been in lived in Atlanta and never heard I lived in Gwynette. I've never heard about like why you want to go to Morehouse, you know, the legacy of Morehouse, right? Until my brothers goes, right? So Osai goes to my brother's name is Osai. So Osai goes to Morehouse. Um gets him a dope roommate. His roommate's name is Storm and his sister's name is Haley, right?

So Storm, Haley, and my brother lived in the villages of East Lake. So all you Atlanta people, y'all know we lived on Club side. Y'all already know what it is. So, villages of East Lake, man, I'm starting to see like my brother started cutting like a lot of the people at the church's hair, right? Him and Storm both were barbers. So, Storm was cutting some of his line brother's hair u before he crossed. That's how he got into getting, you know, uh put on, right? So, he had Alpha, he cutting all the Alpha's hair, they coming over to the crib.

At the time, I'm I'm like sleeping on the couch with my brother, you know, cuz I was going to Georgia perimeter, which was closer if I lived with my brother than it would be with my um mom, cuz my mom was on a totally different side of town. It was a straight shot if I just got on the on the bus to get to uh get to uh you know, my nice little GPC, Georgia Perimeter College, right? So, I'm at Georgia uh Georgia Perimeter, but I'm not motivated at all. I'm not really hyped about it. Um because I wanted to go to Morehouse immediately. didn't have the uh finances or the grades. Well, I had the grades, but just not the finances. And um not enough to get like a scholarship or any of that stuff.

So, I was like, well, let me go ahead and knock out, you know, my prerequisites, go to, you know, GPC, knock them out, and then I'll go back to I'll go to Morehouse my junior year, and then kind of go from there, right? Uh but I just was not motivated, man. At the time, I was really focused in church. Uh really devoted to my church, you know, uh you know how you know how black churches are. we'd be staying in church forever. So, I really wasn't that interested in like the rigomearroll of Georgia perimeter and it felt like a college, but then it didn't feel like it felt like 13th grade. You know what I'm saying?

It didn't feel like I was going to a new no true experience, but not not striking anything now. I just wasn't focused myself. This is just this is how I can talk. I just wasn't focused. So, because it wasn't something that I was truly interested in or really had a passion for. So, uh I get put on academic probation for a semester. " They're like, "Hey, uh, you know, Christmas break, you know how we all come back? " But the issue that I had was my dad told me that if he if I was not in school at the time that he wasn't going to, you know, help me with my my rent or any of that stuff. He didn't. " My brother Osa was like, "Yo, man.

" So, you know, at the time I started cutting a couple of people here, just watching them cut. And he's like, "Yo, man. I know that you're interested in barbering. " Now, mind you, just do it in at Morehouse. You going to go to barber school. You ain't going to go to no dang barber school. You going to go strictly and kick it. Uh, you're going to go back to Morehouse, bro. Get you a nice degree. But for some odd reason, I was like, "Nah, my brother never lied to So, I just was like, "Yeah, let's" Come to find out, this man was just setting me up to go to school. Just set me up to be just setting me up to be respectable. He's like, "Yeah, man.

" So, I mess around and uh I look around and no barber schools. I I don't see none of the barber I don't see no barber schools I like. I didn't see none of them. They all felt like it was just uh hey, you ain't got nothing else going on in your life. come on here and learn how to cut hair. It just didn't feel luxury. It didn't feel refined. It didn't feel It didn't feel like any type of, you know, university feel, which I'm kind of used to. I'm not necessarily saying I'm I'm going to the greatest, you know, at GPC, but it's still some type of feel of maturity. We're going to the next level. I didn't sense any of that stuff until I went to Empire.

When I went to Empire, I was like, "Okay, I mean, you know, it kind of makes sense. I know how to cut hair, but I don't know how to do hair. So, let me figure out and let me just go ahead and go to cosmetology school. That way, I can get a master's cosmetology license. I can be a a stylist and a barber if I want to, you know. And uh that's how that story that's how that went, man. Went to Empire. Uh did the hours, stayed, always was dressed up. And this is the thing I was at the time cuz I was so connected with my church, you know, image was like the number one thing to me. And I and I was it was instilled in us like, you know, show your bre show your best. It was instilled in us.

Show your best. present yourself, you know, to the way you want to be received, right? So, man, I'm like, um, I just dressed in a church suit. It wasn't, it was a church suit, but it was all black cuz that was our colors. All black. Had a black had like three or four black button-up shirts that I just kept getting copies of. And then I had just two suits. And I'll switch in and out between them.

Sometimes I'll wear the blazer, sometimes I wouldn't, just to kind of keep a refined feel cuz I was like, yo, if I'm going to be in barbering or if I'm going to be in styling because, you know, at at that time, you know, now that you're starting to think about it, like stuff is starting to kind of come back to you. You're starting to realize, oh, okay, you know, I I might have been meant to do this and I might have been positioned to do something of this magnitude, man. " got me to finish an empire and that's why I'm a master cosm. Who would I say are the most instrumental people in my barbering career?

Well, I have a long list and it's like a list because um every stop I make, I get a new tool. I get a new uh lease on life. I get a new blessing to uh show the world, you know, uh or the world shows me and then I can bring to the world. Uh, and it's and it's just cool. Let's go ahead start. Xavier Story, my cousin Xavier Story was the first person to give me clippers, my own pair of clippers. They were the They gave me He gave me my first trimmers, which were the little peach and his joints with the little small head on it. Man, listen, that that clipper stayed on fire cuz I'm using it for a long time. He gets hot.

So, uh, shouts out to Xavier cuz he's the one who first pushed me to be like, "Yo, man. " Some that you always have great conversations with people. You always have. It's just a different debt that people are in when they get their haircut with their barber versus like, yo, it's not just a changing exchanging of funds, but it's an exchanging and changing of mentalities. Um, typically your barber, if you notice, like your barber is the person who kind of like not only can like see you in your worst, but also knows you at your best. And that's in every sense, even with the conversations that y'all have over time, they see you at your best and they see you at your worst.

So, the dope thing about that is that they're able to um you're able to kind of chip away and see people for who they supposed to be. You know what I'm saying? Not just their potential, but their potential realized. So, shouts out to Xavier story. Fast forward. OSI. I just told you guys about the Osai Harvey story. My brother OSI completely fooled me into getting into barbering completely. I'm talking about I had no clue I was going to get into no barbering. And this boy lied to me like, "Hey, man. Let's go to be barbers, man. " But he got me he got me he got me in that school, man. So, shouts out to him. Once I was in school, man, amazing amazing teachers. Miss Parker.

Hey, she she showed me so much love. Uh, Miss Nolan, Miss Nolan, you guys will see later on. She will be somebody who's very interest instrumental in my life uh in in the future, too. So, she's she was dope. She was dope. Miss Nolan would not let me be uh subpar, would not let me not realize my potential. So, shouts out to Miss Nolan. Um, while I was in school, we had the opportunity to get somebody to speak at our school. Um, this young lady came. She was a stylist, a very established stylist, amazing stylist. Her name was Karen Owens. Her name is Karen Owens. Not was, but her name is Karen Owens. When I tell you this is one of her lines, she can sell ice to an Eskimo.

She can grow hair on an orange. That's how good she is at her job. So, yo, man, it was just, it's just funny to see how amazingly blessed um my path has been. So, um, when she came and spoke, I was just so enamored by what she was saying, like the passion she had. But like, she knew she would like, you ever seen somebody who just knew they were dope and they always had this face on them? That's how she always had like, "Question me about anything, I'm dope. Question me about anything, I got it. " You know? " So the day that she spoke, I was like her um one of my classmates, Bianca, she was her uh she's Bianca would get her hair done by Karen. So that's how Karen got to come up to Empire.

Um and she was just like with uh Bianca started working for her, right, as an assistant. And so I I reached out to Bianca like, "Yo, Bianca, I'd love to come work with y'all, man. " Now, when you work for Karen Owens, it's like working for a samurai or a sensei or somebody like that. The things that you don't think that you're learning, you're learning. You understand what I'm saying? So, she made sure like she was super detailed. Like, I couldn't do the relaxers wrong. I had to do them fast. I had to do them right. I had to get them set. She would I could I had to do the shampoos correctly. I had to do the blow drying correctly. Directed the right way over directing this way.

I'm gonna I'm gonna style it this way. So, I need you to do it this way. If I if you style it that way, now I got to fight. I mean, she would be on me. So, you know how to do every how everything in your in your preliminaries sets you up in a masterful way. While I was working with Karen, a gentleman started working at her shop that she had been working with for years. His name was Quincy Harmon. Q Harmon. Shouts out to Q. Q was the guy who showed me how to really be detailed. Q used to before color really came out and all that other stuff. Q was the type of guy who can make your hair cut look like velvet. Chef's kiss. Shouts out to Shouts out to Q. Oh my god. Great.

One of the greatest barbers I ever known. I'm talking about designs, fades. The thing that I really got from him was skill and detail and determination to whatever you send out that door has to be with your signature on it. And you know though he he may sometimes have you in there a little long, you know, when you got out that chair that you're going to get every compliment as when you as soon as you stepped into your car, your car is going to compliment you even if it didn't have no voice activation. So close the door, but you're fresh. You know what I'm saying? Like that's that's how this joint was. Shouts out to Q.

As I started growing and growing and growing, I realized, all right, at Karen's, I want to I want to get I want to get around more barbers because iron sharpens iron. And and I think that's one thing that we all need to understand and learn. Iron sharpens iron. So, there's a lot of times when you as a barber, you know, you might believe like, yo, I can really go out and do this on my own, which you can. I'm not saying that you can't. But what I will say, well, in addition to that, you can you can definitely do it. But in addition to that, the main thing that I want you guys to realize is that iron sharpens iron. If you're not around sharp people, you will get dull.

If you're not around sharp barbers, sharp businessmen, sharp business women, sharp uh just sharp people in in in every area, you will your product will reflect that. Your product reflects what you ingest. You understand what I'm saying? So, if you're always having mediocrity uh be something of your diet, then you're only going to produce mediocrity. You understand what I'm saying? So, when it comes down to that, you always want to be around amazing people. So, that's why I started working at Tony's. Um Tony's was across the street from uh one of the hospitals on on Peach Tree, right?

So, this is by the uh I think it's the the market center where the spines are and stuff like that, right beside that Chick-fil-A. And for years I worked there. Um, the thing that really got me super tight was because I was working between the two best barbers in the shop. And when I say best barbers, I'm just talking about sharpness, how their uh, clients interacted with them, how their clients thought of of their craft, how they really, really, really were like invested in how these barbers cut was Dave Sheriff. God rest him. My OG Dave Sheriff, my god, great dude.

and Tyson Dave Sheriff um was the first person that really put me in the mindset of being a luxury barber like not just a barber um but just a luxury barber going above and beyond what is asked or what is done even in the shop that you work in. This gentleman would have um he would he was the first person that I knew him and this gentleman named Bam because Bam was also there. Bam was the other he was the other monster. Bam worked on the other end though of the shop. So, I'm in between Tyson's right here. I'm right here. Dave's right here. And then Bam's maybe two, three more. He's down.

But those two guys, um, Bam Bam or those three guys, Bam Tyson and Dave were the first people that I actually saw doing celebrities on a regular on a regular. The time Tyson was doing was cutting Mesa's hair and a whole bunch of other baseball players. Every B I think all the Braves players, he was like he had the Braves players on on lock. Dave had all the business dudes. Um, you know, he was very brash. He was a, you know, New York kind of dude. So, he was on that type of level, that type of time, right? Um, and then Bam was cutting Jamal Lewis at the time. And so, he would travel to Cleveland and back and forth, back and forth.

So, he was the first person to just be like where I'm in my mind like these people are actually being flown out, traveled, and it was just something that I always admire. So, I was like on their shoulders, how they cut hair, how they present it to their clients, how they talk to their clients, what kind of offers they give. Dave was the first person that I saw who was doing memberships. Like, he had cats paying monthly memberships to get a haircut and you still had to pay them, but you had to pay a monthly membership to make sure that your your slot was secured.

And um you know he was somebody who just really those three was just people who pushed me into the celebrity celebrity mindset until I started working at Salon Ramsay and that's when it went up. You know at the time I'm like I said I'm cutting in between two people who are 15ear vets in barbering 10 15 year vets in barbering have you know really made a name for themselves. I'm getting good you know but sometimes my client will jump into that chair you know what I'm saying. Oh you just weren't here. Oh, sorry. You know that little You knew I was here, bro. Stop playing with me. You know I was here. You knew I was here. Stop. Stop. Don't even play with me like that. You knew I was here.

And so, um, what was funny about that is like as I continuously move and continuously grow, you know, I go to this cat called Ramsay Shepard, Salon Ramsay. Uh, at the time, a gentleman who used to work with me at Karen's was working at at, uh, Ramsy's. And Ramsay was expanding large. church talking about. He had five locations, five different piece places of the city, one in Roswell, you know, just all over the place, right? " Started work. " And uh at the time, I was doing designs on Brandon's hair and I was doing color, too. So, I was doing HD color before anybody was really doing that in the barber game. Now, you know, people were killing it. I'm not saying that I was the first.

Don't even take it like that. But on a on a day-to-day situational situation, I was doing HD haircuts. Um before they were called HD haircuts. I I just framed it as HD. I was like, "Yeah, it's a high definition haircut. " And from there, man, um he was like, "Yo, who cutting your hair? " Marcus Marcus is that guy. I'm telling you. So finally, man, just started like hitting me up like, "Hey, bro. You know, I got a chair over here. here. I got you over here. Got you over here. Whatever way you want to get in, man. Get in where you fit in. We got you, bro. We got you, dog. And so I was like, heck yeah. I was like, super super duper yeah. Super duper yeah. So I'm starting to cut hair there.

I'm shampooing. Cuz at the time, you know, I know how to shampoo from Karen's. I took that over to Tony's. You know, I'm the only person shampooing. You know, guys are telling me, "Hey man, you wasting too much time, man. Just get them in and get them out. " you know, uh, but I don't know where they at now. I know where I am. It's because of them shampoos. Like, it was just an extra layer to allow people to know, yo, man, this haircut is super refined. You know what I'm saying? So, take that over to Ramsay's. Ramsay's massively impressed at the time. He's expanding so largely.

Yo, let me go ahead and give you some um let me go ahead and mess around and get these uh get a shop, get get you in the shop, bro, and and you can start working in the Buckhead one. So, I started working in the Buckethead one. He starts sending me a lot of his clients and these are just his everyday clients who come weekly. He's like, "Hey man, you need a, you know, I didn't have an appointment book at that time. I was just letting I just, you know, people call me. " So, I started creating a a scheduling book. People started booking it ahead of time. Then it grew from there. And then, I mean, my my growth just boom boom boom just kept going. " And that's when he gave me Nas.

And the rest is history, as they say. How I started cutting Nas. " Nas is the the the God MC, man. The greatest out here. He killing it, man. That nobody nobody touches this guy. And mind you, like when this happens, when this is happening, I'm a church kid, so I ain't I don't know about no dang Nas. Yeah, you better you better n yourself to the altar. That's how I was. But randomly before I started cutting them, you know, Nas lived in Atlanta and I was like, you know, one day I randomly was in Linux Mall and I ran into him. Me and Karen were getting getting some lunch and I ran into him at the Adidas store. " I kind of knew.

" One, when I the first letter, the first statement was going to be like, "Hey, man. You look like you're an avid reader. You look like you you really got some some wisdom to you. I'm a barber. Here's my card. Use it as a bookmark. Anytime you read, okay, I need to cut. " So, I was putting them in bookmarks. So I gave him a bookmark. And I gave him the same speech. I was like, "Heard you read a lot, man. I know that you're an avid reader, man. " Right. So he's like, "Okay, peace. Peace. " Yeah, that's what's up. Peace. I got you. He ain't never hit me up until one day Ram hit me up for him. Right. So Ram didn't feel like doing no more.

uh he wasn't like, "Yo, I'm I'm just going to follow my vision and open these shops continuously open shops and just move that way. I don't really want to deal with cutting hair, traveling like that. I just want to focus on opening shops and start this franchise. Wanted to start a franchise mod. I've seen him do it, you know. " Right? Fast forward. He's like, "Man, hey, I don't feel like cutting, dog. I need you to uh get my boy son. his son, right? I'm like, "Okay, okay. " Okay, okay. " So, one day he calls me. It's like 10:00 at night. I didn't have no kids. Me and the wife were married at this point for like 3 4 years. So, we have a routine. I wasn't tripping. You know, I stay up late.

He gets me up. You need a haircut. Couldn't get to the shop. And this is what this is what I used to always think. Just like from when I was a kid, how my shop was always right around the corner from where I live because I could just get there in in that fast speed. I would easily be able to say stuff like, "Man, you know what? " So, he said, "Yo, man, son need a cut. He's in the city. " Cut him. The first time I cut him was it was cool. It was cool. You know, it was late, so you know, he wasn't really paying attention to the cut. He had a whole bunch of his homies. Uh, he wasn't really into the cut. " So, I'm cutting his hair, you know.

We having a little small talk, but not too much small talk. And um you know, I'm just cutting his hair, man. We we uh I end up cutting his hair. " Uh he goes, he comes back, but he gets a cut from a different barber in Ramsay's shop cuz now Ramsay has at this point Ramsay has five shops across the across the city. and he has probably 50 to 60 barbers and stylists all collective collectively on the roster. So, uh, of course there's more people, you know, they like and then just know good old N. Sometimes he just be like, you know, I want to try new things. So, he tried another barber.

The other barber cut his hair, push his was pushing his line back, you know, had him on the side cuz he had them dull clippers. So, he's pushing his line back. He hits me back up. He's like, "Hey, man. You know, my line been pushed back. " asked me for another late cut, I do this little fade technique where I faded it to the point to where I can get that growth, you know, that growth pattern back in. Line him up as if nothing happened, if nobody pushed him back. " And then he asked for a design. Yeah. " So he asked for design. I put a design in his head. " And then it just kept growing. " Then he starts hitting me on his own. Hey man, come out to the house.

He's like, "Hey yo, come cut my uh uh Jung need a cut. Come cut Jung. " Boom. Then it turns into, you know, I cut my homeboy Gabe. You know, the first time I cut Gabe, you know, I was like, I Gabe has a has a unique haircut sometimes. So, it wasn't that much, but I didn't really kill it the first time. I was like, "Nah, man. Come back. " Obviously, he respected it because he knew I wasn't going to just play him like, "Oh, no, that's fresh. " He rocked with it. And so that's one of the lessons that I'll teach you guys about how to really stay connected with the people who are around the people that you want to be around, right?

I started getting gay fresh, you know, and then later on I started hearing then they started calling me like, "Yo, man, we're about to go on this tour. Love, you know, see if what your availability is, you know, hey, we're going to Hawaii. " And the rest is history. 10, 15 years later, you know, I I was I'm still cutting them, you know. Uh and it's just cool to see what that what that has blessed me with. Cutting Nas has probably been one of the most impactful things in my career. And I got other two other people, too. But cutting Nas was like probably one of the most impactful things that I've ever done in my life for the sheer fact that cutting him put me on to other people.

And just knowing that you have that stamp that if you cutting, you know, Nasir fresh and getting him right and he rocks with it, then you you're a beast of a barber. So, just going off of that, man, uh it really took my confidence level to another level. Um I started getting a lot of notoriety on, you know, Barberhop Connect back in the day when that was just like really popping as far as reposting your your pics and stuff like that. Um it was just cool, man. It was just a cool experience. I got to see the world. I mean, possibly seven times over. I've been there's places in in in Paris that I know how to get to if I just get dropped off anywhere in the city. You know what I'm saying?

Like, I know how to move around in Tokyo. I know how to move around in Amsterdam. I know how to move around in in in in the UK. All these spots like have been a blessing because, you know, somebody decided to write a sentence that rhymed and and to continue to do that. So I say that with everybody, man. Like the thing that I've admired and learned the most from Nas is like just start. Just start. Just start. And not only just start, but like you've been raised to be great. You've been called to be great. You just got to find what your calling is. Mine was barbering cuz y'all know I'm funny. Y'all know I could be on that stage, too. Which I am on that stage. So, shouts out to that.

But yeah, that's how man Nas has helped me get to the point to where I was able to, you know, see museums that I would have never seen, which sparked the idea of the Musa layer, you know, um, putting me in contact with cats that were in the NBA. Uh, his best friend at the time was was Chris Weber and, you know, he put me on the web, web put me on to, you know, TNT, all that stuff. So, you know, cutting Nas helped me with build the layer, helped me be a barber star, and just helped me build a great reputation of somebody who's more than just a celebrity barber, but a barber who who cares about his his his clients, no matter if they're on a billboard or if they're at the they're at the crib.

Whatever it may be, I'm here to assist and help and make you your best. You know what I'm saying? That's what I love about, you know, my experience with Nas, man. Shouts out to him. We were in Buffalo one time. And he I was cutting his hair. This is maybe like two, three years into being his full-time barber. And he like was getting a cut for me. He's like looked up. He's like, "Hey, man. " He said, "And uh I want you to know this that everybody who's ever cut my hair has blown up and turned into something that they didn't even think they could be. And I already know I already know for sure you one of those guys. " You know what I'm saying?

Cuz you know how they say back in the back in the day the code was if you if you shook there's certain people a code that people had. Okay. " Like if you if you shook Frank Sinatra's hand, you're a part of this club that nobody else is part of. and y'all had a a specific type of rules. Same with me and with Nas. Like if you've cut Nas hair, there's a specific order that you in now. You know what I'm saying? You like in a you're in a good class. You you you're in that handshake, Frank Sincher only. You know what I'm saying? Type class. If you can give give him a fade, get him cut up, get him lined up, and it's a blessing.

And I've been able to not only um be blessed cutting his hair um but I've also been able to be a blessing to other people who've had that on their bucket list. You know that's what Supre is here because you know we're always in tuned on giving back giving. We're not stuck on just keeping stuff by ourselves. We're no gatekeepers. We're only here to help you get to the We're like almost like the elevator operator if you will. We just get you to the next level. That's all we do. we stay where we at and we go up, we can go up, we can get you all the way to the top. So that's what we're trying to do, man.

So um I've been able to be blessed to, you know, when I wasn't able to cut N, I knew great trusted people that I rocked with, you know, from Kenny Duncan to Chaz, you know, to uh Hawk to Donado to so many different people um that I've been able to just be a conduit for them to have a bucket list checked off their joint. And that's what I feel like has been my call is not necessarily to get people always fresh, but my call is to like get people's lives to the next level.

Whether it be somebody who seemingly is more popular than me when it comes to a celebrity or something like that, the conversations that we have in my chair elevate them to another level as they as they elevate me to another level. So, I think it's just one of those things where you have to keep in mind that you are a it's a blessing to be in these positions. You know what I'm saying? And all these positions are not just for you. This is for other people, too. All these blessings are not just for you. This for other people, too. You know, all these ways made are not just for you, but it's for other people as well. So, yeah, man. Shouts out to to Nasier Jones, man. The great Nas, man.

Uh I thank God that I met you, bro, and I appreciate you. And uh yeah, man. So, yeah, that's what it was. All right. So, how did I get on by cutting Chris Weber's hair? All right. So, I don't know if you guys heard, but at the time, Nas and Chris Weber were real tight. Even to the point to where Chris Weber's produced a song for for Nas that Nas put on his album. Yeah, that's that one. You know what I'm saying? That one, man. You You didn't know that either. I didn't know that until I knew that. You know what I'm saying? But, uh, it was great. We were at a uh Ramsay was opening one of his major shops, right? The one that was going to be on 10th Street.

Like, this was going to be the commission shop. this was going to be the shop that was going to change the world. Like it was I mean it and it did because it had so many killers. It had whatever you're doing in the service industry. " Right? So he had a u grand opening because he's starting to move all his businesses over to one area which is going to be downtown. He's on 10 side 10th Street. We're on 10 we're like by 10 side apartments by at that time. Um he what happens is I come to the after party. Mind you, I'm not necessarily a super partyier like that. I don't mean you know I I throw parties.

I do attend some but I'm not like if I can find a way to not have to go to something I will not go to something. Just won't. I just won't. But I decided to go to this one. The energy was high. I mean everybody was having a good time. DJ was rocking. " I I'm a big fan. And this is something that I've always had. I've always been able to treat the people that I admired like they were just regular people cuz I the regular people that I know that I admire, I treat like regular people. So, it's not a a long a hard stretch or nothing. It's just an easy maneuver. " He's like, "Yeah, what's up, man? " Dash me up. His hand covers my whole this whole arm. " He dapped me up and it took my whole hand.

" Gave him my number. He hits me up just so I can say something. I said, "Oh, snap. " So, I was like, "Yeah, man. " Like, and then and at the time where we were at, the studio for NBA TV was down the street. Was down the street, y'all. Down the street. It's down the street. And so I'm like, you know, oh yeah, bro, I can always just move on down there. First day, man. I get a call from from Web. He's like, "Yo, man. I'm gonna be doing this show on Tuesdays. " You know, Webb would give me like 20 minute, like 20 minutes at the max to do the whole haircut cuz he get there and he's like, "Oh, I got to go. " So, I'm over there cutting his hair. You know, we're having great conversations.

Um, first season I just cut give him a regular haircut. He had a fro that he didn't want it to get touched at this point. He just wanted a strong line. I was giving him a nice little strong line. Um, the NBA season ends. " Like every Tuesday I was there. Every Tuesday I was there. I was just like, "Oh, clockwork. Beautiful. Beautiful. " Um, people were like, "Oh, I like the lineup that uh Web got. " Come back the next year. " So I'm like, "Yo, man. " I'm talking about like straight out the oven fresh. Like loaf of bread out the oven fresh. Get my guy. I'm like, "Yo, man. " He's like, "Go ahead. " I said, "So we ain't going to do no waves.

I don't want to break you down on the way there right now. " Cuz at the time the curl the curl top was going crazy. New Dread had just dropped. Um people were on that and I was and you know, New Dread was killing at that time. I'm talking about demolishing. So, you know, I given it to a couple people. They love the look. I was like, "But I know who's going to be perfect. " I put it on web. I I faded the sides. I brought all the hair down to like a a babyish row. Faded the sides out to I call like a nice little infinity infinity fade. You know what I'm saying? Like where it just dies, right? Faded them all the way there. Faded the back out. Curled the rest. Put a strong line.

And at this time, now I'm starting to be like, he's comfortable. So now he let he's let me do everything. So I'm like, yo, let me throw a little enhancers on here real quick. Let me just put a little bit, man. I put some fibers. Now mind you, this is a day back in the day when people weren't using a lot of fibers. I put the fibers on them. That line looks so sharp and crisp. He went out on on that. Um and I'm I'mma find a Oh, it's this picture. Yes, this video right here. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That video. Yeah, that video. Okay. So, as you can see, I'm talking about I got this man looking like he ain't never Twitter goes bananas.

Like, this the first time we've ever seen a viral haircut go crazy online. People like, "Yo, who the hell just cut Chris Weber's hair? I ain't never seen that haircut. How do you do I'm talking about, how do you do that? His line's so sharp and fresh. " Boom, boom, boom, boom. He gets off. " And from then on, man, I'm talking about I was getting him fresh to every week people saying stuff crazy on every every week somebody saying something fresh on like every Tuesday the commentator started saying stuff. " End of the season, man. It starts getting crazy at the end of the season, you know, they start doing awards, right, for the they did these things called the uh the Webbby Awards or thing.

Not not the Webby's, but it was like a a Web Award, like a Weber Awards situation for, you know, different players. And Steph Curry, this is like when he first starts having having that like breakouts, those breakout seasons. He comes through. I cut Steph up for this joint and he's just defining me. He's like, "Oh, man. " His wife loved it. This is when they just had one kid. So, this is how far, you know. Hey, they he they love the haircut. And then from there, man, people just started one by one reaching out to me. One by one reaching out, hey, man, I'm in Atlanta. I need a cut. I'm in Atlanta. I need a cut.

That year, that same year, end of the season, like I said, we started the playoffs. So, he starts traveling for the playoffs. He brings me out on a couple occasions. he brings me out for the finals. You know, I'm having him fresh. And then it just started going from there. The following year is when I met Grant Hill. Grant Hill retires um from the NBA after a story book career um at Duke. you know, fights through, you know, amazing adversity as a pro, you know, rookie of the year, you know, has an injury, but still pushes through that injury that could have ended it and plays what, to like 17, 16 years, I don't know how many years this man played. He played a lot.

So, finally, he retires and he's joins the NBA TV crew. Um, I cut web. I'm same routine. I'm at Tuesday. I'm there on Tuesday. Cut web. Now, Grant, you I didn't even know that Grant and Webb grew up together. They were like they've known each other since they were like teenagers, like 12, 13 and stuff, right? So, um they just have great camaraderie, right? " He's like, he's like, "Yeah, man. Hey, Marcus. This is Grant. Grant Marcus. " Man, I don't know if y'all saw before Grant retired, he he had a he had all right cut, smooth cut, nice cut. You know, he's a clean cut guy.

So, you know, he could be bald, he can be close to bald, but you you've never knew Grant Hill for a specific type of haircut. " And then I started putting started putting that cut on them, that that famous fade. And man, when I tell you it went from zero to 60. Grant just started taking me all over the place too to, you know, final fours, all-star weekends, uh, NBA finals. Um, I would fly out to his house and just cut his hair, man. And it's and it's been a blessing, man. The things I've learned um from this man has been amazing to the point to where I've even seen some of the most historic things happen while I'm cutting his hair.

He got the call that he that he's now the owner of the Hawks in my chair. He got the call that he's the president of USA basketball in my chair. You know, it's just like these are some dope, you know, things to see him just say, "Hold on a second and come back. " He don't tell you what's work until it happens. Uh and when I say it's just been an amazing ride. He's put me on to a lot of people because Grant was the one who actually put me on to LeBron and that was amazing. So, you know, shouts out to Grant Hill, man. An amazing amazing client. Amazing client of mine that I that I I'm forever thankful for, man. Shouts out to you, bro. I start cutting hair for television.

Okay, it start like this. I'm at Salon Ramsey. Um I'm cutting one of one one of the guys hair. Um he's like, "Yo, man. Um I'm about to be doing some PA work for the show called Sunday Best. just about to start coming out. It's like the reality. It's like the gospel version of American Idol, man. One of the greatest blessings of my life. Now, this one I do know cuz now you remember before I was like, "Yo, I don't know any of these. I don't know any of these guys. I don't know. I don't know like that. I mean, I know Grant Hill. I know I know Weber. " But I It's nothing like that gospel, man.

So getting Sunday best made me be like, "Oh my gosh, I'm able to cut some of the people that I'm listening to right now, man. Like I'm talking about all the I was the I was the barber for all the all the uh host um and all the guest people who come in and then I would be cutting for the band cuz we had one other barber. Um, shouts out to him. But the first two, three years they had me like cutting everybody and it was just like I need another barber. Uh but it it but it but it's been a blessing, man. Sunday best was probably one of the the greatest uh times in my life, those seasons. Um me just being able to go over there, set up uh and just be a part of history.

You know, so many of the the main gospel people out right now, I cut their hair before they were even known. Some of the main people who are at gospel now, I cut their hair when they got super known on Sunday best. having relationships with, you know, with Jonathan Mcrenolds, you know, having relationships with Kurt, having relationships with Donnie McCluren, relationships with, you know, uh, Little John, who was the the the best drummer back in the day. He's still he's still a monster. Still a killer. I mean, he used to do tours with Janet Jackson and Jill Scott and all them other folks. So, he's Yeah, Lil John, that guy.

But, I mean, cutting hair for all the people, all the background singers, man. Shouts out to all y'all. So, uh, shouts out to my Sunday best family. I love y'all. I miss y'all. We got to get back up. We got to all get back up cuz those were some wonderful years, man. Some wonderful years. So, uh, when I was able to do that, that was really something that like pushed my career to the next level. Cuz now, not only am I in the, you know, the rap space, but I'm not only in the basketball space, but I'm not only in the gospel space, but I'm in all these spaces now. So, music, television, cuz being on Sunday best, now I'm in the production side.

And uh that's where I really caught another great a great break. One day this time I'm cutting hair. I'm really becoming super known in the city. Like people know, you know, they know all the other barbers, but I'm in that in that list too. Oh, you know Marcus. Yeah, I know Marcus. Marcus is cold. Like I start hearing things like that like, "Oh, Marcus is cold. " So yeah, you know, you gonna really want to work with a Marcus. So I'm like, heck yeah, man. Um it it's just amazing. So, at the time I'm cutting my homeboy Den Sprat, who I also do my TV show uh Ghost Brothers with. We'll talk about that, too. My boy Dalen Sprat, man. I've been cutting I was cutting his hair every Friday.

Don Kumlin, get a fresh haircut. Fresh fresh fresh fresh hair. Fresh haircut. " Look, cutting his hair every week. One day he's like, "Hey, man. You know what? " Cuz at the time he was working on the Mon'nique show. The Mon'nique show had Rodney Perry as as the people and then he also had um uh this young lady named Shay who was the head wardrobe. Her husband is Ron Rico Lee. Ron Rico Lee was at a a uh recording of the Mon'nique show. He sees Dalen. Dalen's doing wardrobe as well. He works hand in hand with Shay. He sees Dal's haircut. He's like, "Oh my god, D. " Like I'm looking for a barber. Who cut your hair? He's like, "Oh man, my boy Marcus, man. He can get you right.

he can get you all the way good, man. And he he going to get you right. He's like, "Okay, cool. What? " Don comes in the next week. He's like, "Yo, man. You know, Ron Rico even asked about your cut, man. " Yeah. Ron Rico wants to get a cut for me. I don't hear nothing. I don't hear nothing. Right. " I said, "Oh, okay. " So I I just it just I was just flattered that he wanted a haircut for me. That was cool enough for me. One day again at Lennox getting some lunch at the Farmers Basket. Y'all know about that Farmers Basket. Get you some good videos at the Farmers Basket. This is not an advertisement for Farmers Basket unless y'all want it to be an advertise. But no, Farmers Basket.

I was over there getting my little get my little chicken, my little my little uh cabbage and my little rice. That's all I like. Cabbage, rice, and the chicken, right? Man, I'm over there. I'm in a lot. And all of a sudden, out of nowhere, God, this is God right here. Out of nowhere, out of nowhere, I see out of I see my boy Ron Rico walk up here. He's like, he's ordering. I'm like, what kind of timing is this? I said, hey, what's up, man? Let him order cuz I didn't want to get in between the man and his ordering of his farmer's basket cuz that's a a big no no. Boy leaves out, right? He leaves out. We got his order and I'm like, "Hey, man, real quick.

I I just wanted to uh to say first off, I love your work, man. " And I think my homeboy Dalen I think you asked him about a haircut that I did. I'm his barber. I'm Dan's barber, Marcus. He said, "Oh, snap. " Say, "Yeah, man. " Yeah, that Yeah, that's me. Shot, bro. I need I need to get a cut from you. " Ah, I can't do it this this week. What's up on next week? get him in, cut his hair, do do a fade. He loves it. He starts coming back often, right? This before his season of Let's Stay Together starts up. So, he's just, you know, this is just between the break of the seasons, right? He's like, he gets another, he's like, man, he's just come to me every week. Uh, then he starts filming again.

And he comes to me every other week now because he has a barber on set. But I was having to kind of repair some things. You know what I'm saying? All of us have the same thing. If you you know you you cut every day on a set, there's going to be some type of awful on continuity a lot of times sometimes, right? But the guy was lit, right? He was cutting on Let's Stay Together and he was cutting on the Ricky Smiley show. So he really they felt like he didn't have time. It just that's how folks feel when they get on sets. They do not like barbers having freedom to go from point to point. They want you to be there.

They want you to see what my haircut looks, you know what your haircut stays like. Especially if you didn't read, if you read the script and the script has action, you need to be there. If it don't have no action, sometimes you can't skate. You know what I'm saying? But they prefer that you stay there. So Ron Rico is like, "Yo, the guy's going back and forth. I ain't I ain't I ain't hating on it, but he's he's missed two days. So he um can you he's going to miss two days next week. " So fit in for my boy. I fit in. I fit in. Right. Go up to the go up to to the show, cut his hair. " And um I needed to match.

And uh the guy Bert, who was the other star of the show at the time, God rest his God rest his soul as well. God rest the dead. Um he also was getting a haircut. So they were using fibers. This is before I didn't even know what a fiber was. I didn't know what an automizer was. He's like, "Yeah, they use this thing. " He does. He was like wrong. He doesn't use the Yeah, it kind of fills in and that you know actors for as much as they are students of words sometimes they can't find the words to describe the simplest things like their haircut. This fills in the gaps. That's all I need. I needed to just fill in the gaps. Gives a nice little a strong line looking.

" So, I didn't know how to use it the first time. I'm just spraying. So, I take the I take the the automizer and I'm like I start using the fibers on everybody just so I can learn how to work it off the, you know, off off the uh off the flyer, you know, spray it on the flyer, it bounces off and hits the hair, you know, little small little subtle moves. So, now I'm starting to get nice at it. So, the second time that I get to comb and cut his hair, I know what to do now. He's like, "Oh yeah, y'all got me fresh. " Fast forward, they're not going bring Let's stay together back. And I had just started. " Man, when I tell you, I just started going crazy on these fibers.

I started learning how to use them. My boy Ron Rico keeps coming back again. He's now he's back in the shop. He's like, "Hey, man. " He's like, uh, just keep your, he said, don't say too much. And this is what I'm learning from entertainers, actors, athletes, businessmen, never speak on what you going to do because when it falls through, you're going to be mad and now you got to go back. So they never they never tell me, you know, if it's until it is. They'll give me a little hint like something might happen, but it might not, right? I mess around. When I tell y'all I mess around and I get to it's like three, four months later or not three, four months, it's like a month later.

" And from there it was on like Donkey Kong. As a result of doing Survivors Remorse, I got to cut Ron Rico Lee, who was the number one on the show. I got to cut the upand cominging great actor at the time and now he's a monster SCT Usher. And I get to cut Mike eps and any other fellas who come on this show. Bro, when I tell you I was lighting this this Reggie fade up. Then I started lighting that Cam fade up. Then I started killing uh Mike's haircut. He started loving it. And now I got three, you know, two new clients who were in two worlds, too. So it was just amazing.

from there's remorse was some of the best work that I've ever ever been able to do um and have ever done and and it was just a perfect timing because the character in which Ron Rico cuz Ron Rico is very particular on how he looks for the each role in each character. This character was very cleancut was exactly how I made the haircut refined faded transitions beautifully but yet strong and bold and that's what this character was. Reggie was strong and bold and that's what kind of cut I put on him. And that's when I first started seeing that like you can control things, man. You can control things with what you're doing, bro. So yeah, that's how I got old Survivors Remorse.

And you guys know, go back and look at those v those uh show that show, man. All what, four seasons? Five seasons? Five seasons? Four seasons. It's four seasons. All four seasons, man. Check it out, man. Shouts out to Erica and shouts out to Charles Gregory. We we love y'all. We miss y'all. So yeah, man. Survivors Remorse was a best was the a blessing. I was doing all that at the same time. Cutting Grant Hill, cutting Nas, going on tour with Nas and cutting for Survivors Remorse. And at the time the season two or three rolled around, I had my own TV show called Ghost Brothers that I was doing with Dalon. And now we in there. So everything comes full circle. Stay on it. Your time will come.

All right, guys. There's so many celebrities that I've, you know, um have cut in the past. Uh and I'll probably tell you some more stories about those. I I'll bring those up because I think that that's going to be kind of funny and interesting. " and like being on a yacht with Nas in Australia. So, it's been a blessing, man. My life has been a blessing. Um, and the only reason why I can definitely say it's been a blessing is because I've had Christina with me the whole time, man. Shouts out to her. She's been the one who's built my career.

When y'all saw Barber for the first time is because she got the shirt made for me while I was doing other stuff in the in the mall cuz I got it at a kiosk. It said barber. It looked like the barberh shop logo of the movie. The barber shop uh logo of the movie. But I took shop off and I put stars. That's going to go crazy. I want to go crazy. And yeah, man. You know what I would say is that people have always, you know, had a different level of respect for me because they see how I treat Christina. They see how I am with Christina. They see how me and her love extends further and further than anything we've ever seen. So yeah, man. Stay in love. Stay stay positive. Work through it.

Build through it. Build through it. It's going It takes a lot, but build through it. Yeah. And that's what we have for this season. Tap tap in for us, man. tap in this season. We have so many dope episodes. All the people that I've talked to, celebrities, uh I'm talking to some of those friends of their celebrities, their barbers. So, people like Hawk, we just talked to, you know, Donado Smith, uh J Majors, Vince Garcia, uh Steak Cakes, you know, Johnny Steak Cakes, man. He he out here winning, you know. So, we'll be having conversations of Jay-Z and Naz's barber talking about stuff, you know what I'm saying? Uh Jay-Z and Fel's barber. Jay uh uh uh uh D.

Wade and and Nasbar were talking, you know, that I just like that because we all have so many great experiences and I know that you guys want to hear what these experiences were. So, you know, you get to see a different level of all the people that, you know, are doing these amazing cuts and all the people who are getting these amazing cuts. So, uh if you're not subscribed already, subscribe, like, share. Suprea, you already know what we doing, man. We putting you into the next level. self-care in your hands, man. If you're looking for a place to to grow, come to Supreo, man. The first online barber shop where high-end barbers and high-end clientele find each other.

This is the most amazing shop that we've ever had in the world because it has all the amazing barbers. It has you. All you got to do is sign up. If you like this podcast, sign up to our Patreon. We have an amazing thing there. We have a great community there in circle. You're going to love it. We do things where we're talking about uh we critique each other's work. Um not to not to put us down but to help us get sharper. Iron sharpens iron as we said before. We uh we we give each other business uh business guidance, business help, strategies to how to build your brand and build your network higher and stronger. We are here to assist you. We're your concierge for all greatness.

That's what we do. Sign up to Suprea, man. Be a part of the network. Be a part of the community. Come check us out. Like, subscribe and share all those things. You already know. [Music]