Mario - Braid My Hair

What this video is

Released in October 2002 as the second single from Mario's self-titled J Records debut, 'Braid My Hair' arrived during a peak moment for teen R&B, when young Black male artists were navigating the tension between commercial stardom and authentic identity. The song's lyrical conceit — a 15-year-old who simply wants to go home and have his girlfriend braid his hair — was a culturally specific articulation of Black…

Why it matters

A defining artifact of the early-2000s teen R&B wave that followed in the wake of Usher and Ginuwine, 'Braid My Hair' demonstrated that downtempo intimacy records with hyper-specific, culturally grounded imagery could chart alongside up-tempo radio fare. Reaching the top 20 on the US Hot…

The director

Bryan Barber (born December 20, 1970) is an American music video and motion picture director. He directed his first music video for OutKast in 1998 and became known for narrative-driven, culturally resonant visual storytelling. He earned a Grammy nomination…