Nasee Yehuda is the proprietor of Madison Street Barbers (2429 W. Madison) on the near west side. During last month’s Major League Barber Original Midwest SuperBarber & Stylist Tradeshow at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, the 39-year-old took first place in the Fastest and Cleanest Fade event. He spoke about how he got immersed in the world of competitive barbering.
So I went to college, and I flunked out, because I barely went to class, because I was cutting hair. I’m a perfectionist. Cutting hair is like art to me: “OK, I’m late to psychology, but I want to make sure this line is crispy.” I got put on academic probation and had to sit out a semester, and what my mother told me was gonna happen, actually did happen. I was hanging out with my friends, selling drugs, and when they went to jail, I went to jail.
Outside of a barber shop, men don’t really have many places they can go and just be men. Sometimes you might want to go somewhere and have a guy ask you, “What’s wrong?” I’m that guy. I’m gonna talk with you. We gonna laugh, we gonna joke. And I don’t repeat nothing. My clients know I don’t tell their business. I had a guy that came through the shop, and his whole income tax got took. He was just feeling really bad. I gave him a nice haircut, and he said, “I feel a lot better, man. I feel so much better.” v
