Blak Ryno Defends Flat Ironing His Hair
Dancehall singjay Blak Ryno is defending his heterosexual masculinity following a viral clip of him flat-ironing his hair.
The ‘Real Stinga’ was straightening his hair on Instagram Live on Sunday while dishing about being recruited for Burna Boy’s 2019 album African Giant. While it may have been second nature for the entertainer, a Jamaican man maneuvering a flat iron was a strange sight for some viewers.
“Him look fruity,” one user commented.
“This anuh man behavior,” another added. “Jah know, wah really a gwaan inna dis world.”
“Hot gal business ryno a deal wid.”
“From bike back to wig cap.”
“Send back Ryno from 2010 deh fi mi. This one ah malfunction.”
“Den a so e dawg gone!? Flat iron pon e live?? Brawling brawling??”
The former Gaza member soon caught wind of the comments and shared a photo to support his longstanding history of straightening his hair.
“From day one it a press then Plat,” he captioned. “A unu father a b*tty bwoy..nuh mi.. nuh cream to mi hair.”
Still, some netizens couldn’t unsee the image of the Thug Anthem artist with the hair tool.
“Inna the video it neva look masculine at all,” one comment read, followed by laughing emojis.
“Only Di djs/artists/singers/etc not gonna tell tis man seh perming his hair is forbidden inna dancehall. AH DRESS NEXT.”
Others didn’t see the big deal, even calling out hypocrisy as other male artists have changed the texture of their hair.
“When Vybz Kartel did dweet, nobody nuh say nun,” defended one person.
“What’s the difference between him doing his hair and a girl doing their hair??? People are so weird.”
Another chimed in, “It better him do it himself than make a man do it or some dutty hand gal…”
The last time Ryno attracted flak for his image was in 2021 when he started bleaching his skin.
He debuted the look in his Pedestal music video and defended his new look in a post that read: “Mi a live my life for me, not for the crowd. Mi don’t want nobody feel like them have the right fi tell me what to do with myself.”
The singjay rose to prominence in 2007 with his distinct singing style and songwriting, and also his skin tone which partly inspired his moniker. Despite his undeniable talent and hit catalogue, he’s struggled to maintain visibility since a nasty fallout with the Gaza/Portmore Empire and its founder, Vybz Kartel, more than a decade ago.
For many years, he attributed his industry fight to being blackballed, but in recent years, he has mentioned that migrating to the States and starting a family have taken him away from his career.
Ryno continues to record with his latest effort dubbed Corrupt, released three months ago.