It wasn’t until the emergence of neo-soul that Holly Draper’s entrepreneurial future began to assume form. Born out of necessity, to both recognize and add texture to the hypnotic union of soul music fused with essential elements of hip-hop, jazz, and rhythm and blues, neo-soul recognized luminary talents that defined the complexities of modern Black alternative music.
Among the leaders of this new movement was Erykah Badu–an incense burning, headwrap wearing, Texas-born songstress who took music by storm in 1997 with the release of her Grammy award-winning debut album Baduizm. Badu wasn’t merely an otherworldly talent or critical touchstone in Black music, she was an undeniable spirit that inspired many–especially Black women–to embrace the freeness in their soul through internal mechanisms and thoughtful surface philosophies. For Badu, and soon, Holly, that external vibration was the headwrap.
“I fell in love with headwraps as a child looking up to celebrities like Erykah Badu,” Holly reminisced. “I thought she was always dressed and styled so beautifully in colored headwraps. And then I fell deeper in love with headwraps when I went natural in college."