Cape Town - Brandon Leigh Court is one of a few mobile barbers in town, but what sets him apart are the funky, hip hop gigs he gets invited to.
The 27 year old from Lansdowne attended rapper Youngsta’s party at the River Club in Observatory recently.
And, last year, he successfully set up shop at the Sneaker Exchange in the city, where hundreds of sneaker fans came to hear DJs play the latest rap music from top artists such as Emtee.
A few weeks back, he gave popular rapper Riky Rick the “Boss Zonke” cut.
Court said: “People know that’s Riky Rick’s style.”
His venture is called MobileCutz and people often gather around as he snips and clips, giving his clients the latest hairstyles. Court is considered a trend-setter and is immersed in the fast-growing sneaker sub-culture.
The fade, or faders, is a firm favourite with customers such as Lee Marks, who said: “I like the way he cuts my hair He stays in the area so word gets around and that’s how I found out about him.”
Court uses two hair-cutting machines to cut Marks’ hair: “The hairstyle goes with the fashion. Barbering is another element in hip hop culture. That’s the way I see it.”
Other favourite cuts are those soccer stars sport, especially the “comb-over” and the Renaldo cut. When Wayde van Niekerk won gold at the Olympics, Court said the “Fade for Wayde” became fashionable overnight.
Court also volunteers cutting children’s hair for free at the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital .
He set up a chair in the waiting area and began with the children with the longest hair. “Some of the children are really ill,” he said. “One girl had no energy and she didn’t talk. It’s hard to put a smile on their faces, but at least I helped freshen them up.”
At a children’s home in Rondebosch, the children were more lively: “They wanted funky styles and fades and wouldn’t listen to the teachers. They wanted to show skin. But I gave them a schoolboy cut, short on the sides.”
The barber is committed to his passion, which started when his father, who worked in the shipping industry, returned home from work one day with a hair-cutting machine. There were no barbers at sea, so his father, Eric, bought the machine for himself and his colleagues to use.
Court’s interest was piqued and his first guinea pig was his older brother. He kept practising on his brother who gave him feedback. After completing matric in 2007, he started cutting his twin siblings’ hair. He moved on to friends’ hair at R10 a cut, often walking a few kilometres from his home in Lansdowne to their Crawford homes.
With this little bit of experience behind him, he got a job at his first barber shop, earning R14 a cut. He did everything, from sweeping floors to cutting hair.
His friends had good jobs and partied on weekends while he worked on improving his barbering skills, only resting on Sundays.
“I always told my mother ‘I’m not going to go work at Pick * Pay. I don’t want to be bored for the rest of my life. I’d rather do my own thing and be happy’. You need that determination. You have to push yourself to the next level.”
But the pay at some barber shops was lousy and he became frustrated. “That’s when I started MobileCutz.”
It’s been two years now and Court now employs others to assist him. He is also a part-time DJ and loves producing and baseball.
He received his international barber’s licence in November from the Western Province Barbers’ Association and is excited about travelling.
On Monday, he jets off to Australia where he has been invited to attend hip hop parties and events.