Money Badoo visits 'The Lifestyle Scene' podcast to talk about the concept of the 'baddie' standard, chasing the look and working as a rapper with international appeal.
If you’ve been anywhere near social media this month, you’ll have seen it – another glued-down lace front, another caption about “snatched” edges, and then, a few slides later, a trichologist stitching that same clip with a warning about traction alopecia and glue burns along the hairline. It’s become a whole genre: the baddie tutorial followed by the this-is-what-it-did-to-my-scalp reveal.
And it’s not just wigs. Skin lightening is back in the group chats under softer names like “glow” and “brightening.” Veneers and contouring have basically become baseline expectations rather than glow-up extras. And somewhere in between, brands have figured out that if you call any of this self-care or body positivity, people feel good about buying it – even when what they’re buying is a fix for a problem the industry helped convince them they had.
Part 1 of this series put those questions to a dermatologist. Part 2 puts them to someone living the aesthetic from the inside.
Rapper, stylist and creative director Money Badoo joins host Kaunda Selisho on this week’s episode of The Lifestyle Scene podcast.
Born Jade Alves and raised in Ennerdale, Johannesburg, Money Badoo has built a career at the intersection of music and image-making – from her 2019 breakout single All My Friends and 2022 debut album ‘PORN$TAR,’ to styling work for major fashion names and a stint on Love & Hip Hop: South Africa. Few guests are as close to both sides of the baddie economy: the pressure to perform the look, and the creative industry that packages and sells it.
Together, Kaunda and Money Badoo get into where the glow-up ends and the harm begins, who’s really cashing in on the “baddie” standard, and what it costs – financially, physically and mentally – to chase that look in SA right now.
Missed part 1? Catch dermatologist Dr Avela Mayekiso’s conversation with Kaunda on the medical price of the baddie standard here: The real price of being a baddie on a budget – part 1
Listen to all episodes of The Lifestyle Scene podcast here and subscribe to stay up to date.
The Lifestyle Scene Podcast Host: Kaunda Selisho
Podcast Producer: Kaunda Selisho
Director, Editor, Engineer: Shaun Holland
Production Assistant, Second Camera: Caslian Scott
