Hip Hop Beauty: Honoring the Bricklayers
Ashunta Kendricks, celebrity makeup artist and cultural architect, joins Audra and Val to explore the rich history and cultural significance of Black beauty pioneers, and why giving credit to those who paved the way still matters. Ashunta shares her own journey into makeup artistry, her pivot to entrepreneurship during the pandemic, and the story behind building her Magnetized lash brand.
At the center of this conversation is Hip Hop Beauty, what Ashunta describes as a cultural ecosystem born to honor the bricklayers who helped build hip hop itself. She and Audra talk candidly about honoring pioneers like the late Roxana Floyd, often called the mother of makeup, the late Quietfire, and the late Reggie Wells, alongside Mamie McDonald and Sam Fine, whose combined influence shaped an entire industry. They cover industry gatekeeping, how social media has changed transparency and storytelling in beauty, and the ongoing work of recognizing Black innovation that's too often uncredited or appropriated.
This is a conversation about giving flowers to the people who built the foundation, some of whom are no longer here to receive them, and what it means to carry that legacy forward.
"Hip Hop Beauty was birthed as a cultural ecosystem that honors the bricklayers who were a part of hip hop and building it." –Ashunta Kendricks
What to Take With You
Black beauty pioneers like the late Roxana Floyd, the late Quietfire, and the late Reggie Wells, alongside Mamie McDonald and Sam Fine, built the foundation of today's industry.
Give people their flowers while they're here to receive them.
Social media has changed transparency, but credit is still often withheld.
Industry gatekeeping continues to shape who gets recognized and who doesn't.
Honoring a legacy means carrying it forward, not just remembering it.
