Four-year-old Zachary Desrosiers sits in the barber’s chair with a booster seat, anxiously waiting. He’s restless, fidgety, and uncomfortable almost to the point of tears as he squints his eyes in agony and sticks his tongue out, screaming in pain. He is getting his hair put into “twisties,” one of the primary forms of dreadlocks, for the first time. “Does it tickle? Okay. It hurt? A lot? I’m tryna be nice honey,” says Ronda Glenn, owner of the Oakland hair salon Nappy Or Not!, while she gently twists his hair with a blue all-purpose comb.

Throughout the hair salon the rich aroma of Jamaican Mango & Lime hair dressing and organic hair products pervades the air. Pictures depicting African culture occupy the orange and yellow hemp-colored walls in the humble salon. Photos of family and friends and obituaries of deceased loved ones lean against the mirrors in some of the hairstylists’ booths. Keyshia Cole’s songs play on the salon’s radio, creating an energetic atmosphere. On this rainy and gloomy Tuesday afternoon, four people sit in the barber’s chair waiting to get their dreadlocks retouched.

Dreadlocks, which originated in Africa, have been the hottest trend lately in urban communities like Oakland and San Francisco. But why, all of a sudden, did this hair trend spread like wildfire? Just as with any other fad, famous icons in the media play a role in promoting the “in-look.” In 2006, Bay Area-native E-40’s song “Tell Me When to Go” became a Top-40 single across the nation, and hip-hop lovers began to sing along to the verse “Jesus Christ had dreads, so shake ’em/ I ain’t got none, but I plan on growin’ some.” Rap artists like Lil’ Wayne and T. Pain encourage this trend with their stylish dreadlocks too, but the movement is not only present in the music world. It’s pervading the professional athletic world as well. Red Sox Outfielder Manny Ramirez and Indianapolis Colts Safety Bob Sanders both sport the look. And it would be unfair not to mention reggae pioneer Bob Marley who is, hands down, the number one icon dreadlock-wearers say popularized the style in society today.

“Bob Marley to me is the godfather of dreads,” says Jerome Samifua, sitting in the barber chair while getting his two-foot-long dreads retouched. “But now that he’s gone, Lil’ Wayne is inspiring everybody to get dreaded.” Bob Marley grew his dreadlocks as part of his Rastafarian belief. Today the majority of people aren’t growing dreadlocks because of religious reasons. Instead it has become a style and trend among young people of varying ethnicities and genders.

And dreadlocks are not by any means a recent phenomenon; they’ve been here for thousands of years. According to Jamaicans.com, “The dreadlocks hairstyle originated in Africa and was worn by various tribes;” the prefix “dread” comes from the Euro-centric attitude towards the Jamaican society and is a play on “dreadful.” White settlers originally referred to the hairstyle as a “dreadful” hairstyle, thus lending the name “dreadlocks.”

For the past few generations, braiding has been a popular hairstyle among those who now favor dreadlocks. Braids can grow long quickly and have to be retouched or re-braided every week or so. Instead of enduring this time-consuming process, many youth have switched to dreadlocks, eliminating the weekly hassle of getting braids touched up or needing a haircut. They only have to remember to keep their “locks” clean, dry, and smelling good.

Hairstylist Tosha Wade stands behind her client, Lucius Lyons, holding one of his dreadlocks in her left hand while applying hairdressing to the other. She gently rubs the hairdressing into the knotted strand by taking his “lock” and rubbing it in between her hands. “Originally what you had to do is twist them,” Wade says. “Either you can do it with a moisturizer or you can do it with a gel, and what that does is it allows the hair to set. And it usually takes anywhere from three to six months to ‘lock.’ In the process of that, you come in and get maintenance anywhere from every three to six weeks—get ‘em shampooed, conditioned, and re-twisted.”

Bruce Jones, a hairstylist at Nappy Or Not!, understands the trend among his younger clientele. “Kids like the locks ‘cause that’s all they see,” he says. “They want their hair long, [in] colors. You know, just go with the movement—‘Shake yo’ dreads.’ That’s all it is about.” He smiles, “Everybody got dreads. Everybody want their hair long, and it attracts women, too.”

Today the youth are passionate about their dreads and have fun sporting different colors in their “locks,” from hi-lighter pink to neon purple. “That’s individuality I think,” says hairstylist Lori Wisner. “A lot of the kids get their tips dyed in all different colors like the whole rainbow. I’ve done a whole rainbow on somebody and they were going to the pride parade, so it’s an expression of self.”

In keeping up with this craze there are certain stigmas Bay Area teens and young adults face when deciding to “lock up,” including being profiled as a troublemaker. Oakland native Darrell Gospel says he faces these stereotypes and has to act against them every day. “I might get that from the police, or I might get that from somebody saying, ‘You know, he’s a thug or gangbanger’ due to the dreads, because the trend hit so hard. But then it’s like a negative trend. It’s not all positive…. All they do is look at the dreads and assume negatively.”

Although some people might be attracted to dreadlocks because of the recent trends and styles, others might get dreads for religious reasons or because they want a more natural look. Sitting in the barber’s chair while laughing and gazing into the eyes of her newborn daughter, Stacey McClain explains that she’s had her dreadlocks for over eight years. Dark red and burgundy weave their way through the strands hanging down her back, which will later be shaped into a design that matches her style. “[Getting dreads] was more of a connection with myself,” she says. “I wanted to be more connected with my own spirituality, with my people, with my roots, and it was like a cleansing of my own body and my soul.”