Killer Mike Details the Importance of Barbershops as He Starts His Own Franchise

The barbershop has been an important "watering hole" of sorts, where members of the community can congregate and converse without feeling judged or out of place, and in a new interview he's emphasizing their importance.

According to Noisey, Killer Mike owns a chain of barbershops in Atlanta, and is looking to expand. "Once I became an established rapper and once I got my respect up there, the only other thing I'd ever dreamed about doing is owning a barbershop," Killer Mike says, "and I went directly into the barber business."

Killer Mike recognizes that working class Americans need a place to congregate. While one can go to church to see his friends and renew his connection with God, he is expected to show up in a suit and tie, and remain respectful throughout. However, at the barbershop, men and women can speak their mind without the clergy looking over their shoulders.

"A lot of times, working class men can't join a social club, we can't go join a golf club, so we go to the barbershops to express our thoughts, concerns, laugh, joke about sports," he said. "When you go to the barbershop, you really can have guy talk. Some of it is absurd and ridiculous. Some of it is very serious and needed, but all of it teaches young men how to grow into the type of men the community needs. My community especially needs mentors."

Killer Mike also mentioned that he would like to begin a highly organized, universal barbershop franchise that had locations throughout the country.

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