New York's barbershops, especially in Brooklyn, the Bronx and Queens, shaped the men's hair of hip hop. In the late 1980s the hi-top fade rose from the heads of rappers and dancers, and in the 1990s and 2000s the temple fade, often called the Brooklyn fade, and brushed waves became everyday looks. The city's Dominican salons, in Washington Heights and beyond, are known for their blowouts.

The hi-top and the fade

The hi-top fade, hair cut short at the sides and grown tall and flat on top, was worn by New York rappers such as Big Daddy Kane and the duo Kid 'n Play in the late 1980s and spread through music videos. Barbers competed to make the tallest, sharpest tops and added lines and designs. The temple fade, cut close only around the temples and the back, became so tied to the borough that it is widely called the Brooklyn fade.

Waves and blowouts

Brushing short hair into waves, kept under a durag at night, became a mark of style for young Black men in New York in the 1990s, and 360 waves remain popular. In the Dominican salons of Washington Heights, stylists are known for the Dominican blowout, washing, roller-setting and blow-drying curly hair straight and glossy with strong round-brush technique. Both trades are mostly family businesses.