Men of Style

Taliah Graves

The 2009 Gillette Fusion MVP Prime Time Tour, sponsored by Gillette and rollingout.com arrived to the DC area this week. This is a 19 city tour that came through to the DC area to spread style to 19 urban cities. In Forestville, MD at Cuts Unlimited Barber shop the event opened up to Maryland residents. Students and residents of the DC and Maryland area were invited to learn how to live in their style and keep their style turned on high. It began with the “Men of Style” program hosted by Student Activities and Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc.

In the Blackburn Center, a panel of three gave advice to the many men in the audience waiting to show off their own creative style. Miss DC USA 2009, Nicole White, Rolling Out Magazine’s owner Randy Fling, and DeAngelo Redman, R&B vocalist, songwriter and actor of Bad Boy Records were the panelists. Even though host Fonzworth Bentley was in Belize at the time of the event, he left a message saying that he and his style is there in spirit, even when he is not. The present panelists encouraged both men and women to always be ready because they never know who they may meet.

As the only woman on the panel, Nicole White gave an important piece of advice as to why both men and women alike should make sure they’re always well groomed,

“You never know who you’re going to meet. You never know who’s coming to your campus; you never know if that guy on the elevator who you’re going to see might be the person that’s going to offer you a job.”

Randy Fling also spoke adamantly on the topic in terms of being a “test.”

“You should wake up every day ready for the test. The test is going on all the time. It about how you look, how you talk, it’s not just about what you know,” Randy Fling adamantly expressed.

“They might hold something good for your future (and)they may just decide not to talk to you because of your style,” he continued.

Panelist DeAngelo Redman expressed how style is a big part of an entertainer’s life and that even though Howard University seems to be “on point” as far as style goes, it is he would suggest another form of grooming aside from shaves and haircuts.

“Don’t think I’m funny but I get manicures,” Redman reveled in laughter.

He later voiced that, “You have to have confidence and integrity about yourself”

From a student perspective, Justin Askew stated his ambitions and why he dressed in a suit and tie to the event.

“What I do is straight forward and to the point,” Askew explained in very few words.

Following this portion of the events, later that night, in Forestville, Md, actress, Vivica A. Fox and the panelists joined the barbershop team at Cuts Unlimited where free professional shaves and cuts, barber and dermatologist advice on sensitive skin and reducing razor bumps, music, professional massages and food were offered to students and all people in the community.

One student felt that it was a little out of the way, yet nice for males.

“It was fun… the environment could have been a little more laid back. It was good if you were a male because it was free pampering, (but) it was out of the way to get there. The location could have been better,” stated Jadine Joesph.

But overall, according to attendees, it was a success.

“It was good. There was good food and there were a lot of people and it was crowded, said Ako Boyd.“

The next and last city that the MVP Experience tour is to be is Atlanta on Wednesday December 9.

For more information, visit www.rollingout.com and pick up a copy of their magazine in the Blackburn Center.