{"id":74557,"date":"2023-06-08T15:02:59","date_gmt":"2023-06-08T22:02:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/?p=74557"},"modified":"2023-06-08T15:58:46","modified_gmt":"2023-06-08T22:58:46","slug":"from-prison-to-clippers-how-andre-cobbs-transformed-his-life-to-become-a-celebrity-barber","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/hi-lo\/from-prison-to-clippers-how-andre-cobbs-transformed-his-life-to-become-a-celebrity-barber","title":{"rendered":"From prison to clippers: How Andre Cobbs transformed his life to become a celebrity barber"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"From Prison to Clippers: How Andre Cobbs transformed his life to become a celebrity barber.\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/sAvhy7Cmca0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>In 2009, Andre Cobbs should have been planning his trip overseas to play basketball with the Philippines National team. Instead, he was facing a 16-year prison sentence for robbery and assault.<\/p>\n<p>Cobbs claims he was sentenced for a crime he didn\u2019t commit. Still, he said he had to humble himself, learn from others who had been incarcerated for decades, and try to be better.<\/p>\n<p>That led Cobbs to join the fire crew while in prison.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSome inmates did lose their lives,\u201d Cobbs said reflecting on his time with the fire crew. While he admits seeing friends die in the line of duty for $1 per hour was difficult, he said there is a positive aspect.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen you get out after being on the fire crew, you change for the better.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Part of being better while in prison meant falling back on a skill cultivated by his grandmother; as a young child, Cobbs\u2019 grandmother bought him a set of clippers, and he began cutting hair.<\/p>\n<p>Cobbs said he \u201cmessed up\u201d several haircuts before getting better. Once he took classes, he began to perfect his craft, but says he is always practicing, and he managed to improve even more while in prison.<\/p>\n<p>Then, in February of 2022, Cobbs was released from prison after serving 13 years of his 16-year sentence. Because of his time with the fire crew, he was able to find a job fairly quickly, but it was a friend in prison who encouraged him to continue his craft of cutting hair after he was released.<\/p>\n<p>So, shortly after his release, he headed to the beach to cut hair for anyone who was interested. People who were unhoused would get free haircuts, and those who were able to pay would do so. Soon, Cobbs was able to grow his clientele and slowly build up a name for himself.<\/p>\n<p>Eventually, one client introduced him to Winnie StaCkz, a celebrity stylist who has worked with Missy Elliot, Megan Thee Stallion and Saweetie.<\/p>\n<p>Not only has StaCkz made Cobbs his preferred barber, he has also invited Cobbs to be the celebrity barber for the BET Celebrity Runway Show on June 24.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHim believing in me has made be a better person,\u201d said Cobbs, who added that he is determined to give back and provide the same opportunities he has received.<\/p>\n<p>Although he might not be at the beach as often as his demand grows, Cobbs encourages everyone to reach out to him for a beach cut when needed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf I\u2019m a celebrity barber, I\u2019m still coming back. I\u2019m not going to change for nobody.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Anyone interested in getting a cut from Cobbs can book him through his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/drecutzlb\/\">Instagram<\/a>\u00a0page.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Shortly after his release from prison, Andre Cobbs headed to the beach to cut hair for anyone who was interested. Soon, he was able to grow his clientele and slowly build up a name for himself.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":285,"featured_media":74558,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[1231],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[31828],"class_list":["post-74557","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hi-lo","tag-barbershops","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74557","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/285"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74557"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74557\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":74590,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74557\/revisions\/74590"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/74558"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74557"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=74557"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=74557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}