In a role that couldn’t prove to be any more iconic, Blue Ivy Carter, aka Beyoncé’s firstborn and lowkey manager, is now the narrator for the audiobook adaptation of Matthew Cherry’s Oscar-winning short film, Hair Love.
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In an adorable 10-second audio-clip, Cherry shared the news via Twitter:
Black Twitter, of course, was beyond excited:
For those who’ve been living under a rock, per the film’s website:
[Hair Love] is a 7-minute animated short film that centers around the relationship between an African-American father, Stephen, his daughter, Zuri and her hair. Despite having long locks, Stephen has been used to his wife doing his daughter’s hair, so when she is unavailable right before a big event, Stephen will have to figure it out on his own. This sounds simple enough, but we soon come to find that Zuri’s hair has a mind of its own.
Originally a picture book, Hair Love made the New York Times Best Seller list in late spring of last year and went on to later receive the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. In his acceptance speech, Cherry acknowledged the need for more representation in animation as well as the end of race-based hair discrimination. “Hair Love was done because we wanted to see more representation in animation,” he mentioned in part. “We wanted to normalize black hair. There’s a very important issue that’s out there.”
Given those sentiments, the news of the Blue Ivy x Hair Love collab is also particularly heartwarming considering the relentless and harmful rhetoric that the 8-year old has faced since birth regarding her hair type and texture. (Yeah, I know. I wish I was kidding. People were seriously coming for this child as if they didn’t have enough things to worry about.) Regardless, Blue Ivy is going to continue to come for folks’ bank accounts and edges one gig at a time. I wonder if she needs an assistant? Eight-year-olds have assistants, right?
Hair Love is available everywhere audiobooks are sold. And be sure to keep an eye out for Cherry’s latest projects, which include the upcoming feature film Tut and HBO Max’s Young Love.
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