Ravyn Lenae is headlining a lineup of local pop and hip-hop talent Sunday at Thalia Hall for Long Hair Don’t Care, an annual benefit show for rapper/educator Matt Muse’s Love & Nappyness hair care drive.
The donation drive runs through Dec. 12 and collects hair, skin and other hygiene products for donation to St. Leonard’s Ministries and Ignite Promise. Donations can be made at six South Side locations, as well as at Thalia Hall, 1807 S. Allport St., the night of the show.
For Muse, the project is an opportunity to support the community with his artistry and curate a variety show of his talented friends.
“This is the show I wanna see,” he told Block Club recently after a walk-through of the venue.
Chicago native Ravyn Lenae’s catalog of swinging pop-R&B songs dates to her sophomore year at Humboldt Park’s ChiArts. Her 2022 debut album, “Hypnos,” was named Best New Music by Pitchfork, among other accolades.
“I’m always very excited to play back home because I put a lot of pressure around making it special for my day one fans,” she said via email. “People can expect a few new twists in the set as well as songs being played live for the very first time!”
Supporting act Joseph Chilliams is a rapper/producer from West Side rap boy band Pivot Gang who has released lighthearted rap singles on and off the past four years. Muse has been interested in booking his friend and collaborator for years, and Chilliams is excited to play Thalia Hall for the first time.
“We gonna do a lot of dancing, a lot of pelvic thrusts, maybe I’ll even stage dive for the first time, who know,” Chilliams said via email. “There will be many surprises that night. If you can be there, I’ll make sure you never forget it and maybe we can all go out for milkshakes after.”
Matt Muse will perform his 2023 EP, “So Far, So Decent,” in its entirety, along with unreleased songs from a forthcoming album. His set will incorporate his videos, two backing vocalists and DJ Ca$h Era, who will spin all night in between performers.
Muse started the Love & Nappyness hair care drive in 2019, named after his EP from that year.
“My upbringing was filled with service,” he said.
Muse did everything from volunteering with church organizations to helping his grandmother prepare and dispense food to people experiencing homelessness. As he developed promotional skills in his artistic career, he found a way to use those skills for a good cause, he said.
“We should be equipping our brothers and sisters who are not as well off as us, who are also Black with hair, with the same products and tools to present as healthily and as beautifully as they want to,” he said.
The hair care drive — now in its fifth year — accepts donations through Tuesday at various South Shore locations, all marked by individually designed dropboxes created by local artists.
Silver Room, 1506 E. 53rd St.
Semi-Colon Bookstore, 515 N. Halsted St.
Christian Fields Style Bar, 6550 S Cottage Grove Ave.
Groomology Barber & Beauty Barbershop, 18236 S. Kedzie Ave. in Hazel Crest
Semillas, 1848 S. Blue Island Ave.
Fourtunehouse, 4410 S. Cottage Grove Ave.
Muse said there’s been a boom in Black hair care and organic skincare products since the drive began, and he’s learned a lot about his own hair along the way, maintaining a two-strand twist since summer 2020.
“These twists are a great way to protect my hair and keep it healthy without having to loc it,” he said.
The original Long Hair Don’t Care show was a variety show at barber shop yo:u in early March 2020, with an unplugged Muse performance, live cuts and runway modeling of various styles.
After the COVID-19 vaccine came out, Muse revived the show as a benefit for Love & Nappyness, and his friend and eventual co-director Naira encouraged him to pursue the idea. Friend and colleague Jamila Woods agreed to headline, allowing the effort to raise sponsorships and book a show at Wrigleyville’s Metro, 3730 N. Clark St., in December 2021.
Last year, Chicago rapper Tobi Lou headlined at Pilsen’s Thalia Hall, shouting out the show’s mission and bringing Muse onstage to perform with him.
Muse aims to continue booking local artists for future shows.
“We have to keep this thing going, of artists from Chicago who have national and international success, but who understand the crib in a way that will make them approach the show with the same grace and kindness that our first two headliners did,” he said.
Matt Muse and helpers accept donations for the Love & Nappyness project. Credit: Matt Muse/Love & Nappyness
The Long Hair Don’t Care team plans to revamp the drive next year to be more accessible with more concrete goals for donation volume. Muse would love to see the project expand to a residency or weekend-long festival with more room for up-and-coming artists. He mentioned T-Pain, Lil Wayne, Solange or Erykah Badu as dream headliners from outside Chicago, “artists whose hair has been a staple of their personhood,” he said.
Muse is proud to put on a unique event that celebrates Black artistry in Chicago while giving back to the community. There are a few additional spotlight performers still to be announced, and he doesn’t want ticket-holders to miss anything at Sunday’s show.
“Please get there on time,” he said. “We run a very tight ship, so you will miss somebody you want to see if you do not show up on time.”
Doors open 6 p.m. Sunday for the Long Hair Don’t Care Benefit at Thalia Hall; the show starts 7 p.m. General admission tickets are $30 for the 17-and-older show and are available online.
Originally published on Block Club Chicago.