Early Career: Claudio Ferreira Mentions Jason Macaraig, being the barber for Drake, and how he cut the hair of J. Cole

A lot of people always ask me where I started my barber career or where was the first shop that I worked at? Well here it is, this is my story of all of that, how I got started, who I have worked with and how I managed to cut my first celebrity encounter..

At the age of 16, I was still in high school, and during that time, I joined the Canadian Military. While in the military, I started to gain interest in haircuts and shaving. Being clean shaven was a daily requirement, and we always had to keep our hair cut short. I began cutting some friends hair in my parent’s basement, and that where I started to learn and develop the art of barbering.

At 17 years old, I finished high school and was able to attend cosmetology school the following month. Thanks to my late birthday I got a head start in my career. I attended cosmetology school for hairstyling while still serving in the army, and since the program was a 1-year course, I graduated at 18.

I was at a crossroad in my life, unsure of which direction to take. I found two things I love: being in the army and cutting hair. I am very grateful for that because a lot of people take a long time to figure out their passion. Although I proudly served in the Canadian Military for 3 years, I decided to pursue my passion for barbering and make it my career.

While searching for barbershops in Toronto, I applied to work at Forum Barber Parlour. Patrice Alexander ran a well-established barbershop that was appointment based, something uncommon at that time. His barbershop stood out to me as a place of growth and opportunity. Patrice, the owner took me in as an apprentice, even though I had never worked in a barbershop before. It was a test run for my career, and I’m grateful for that chance.

While working at Forum Barber Parlour, I was still enrolled in the Canadian Military. I would head down for a Military training at nights one or two times a week. I wanted to stay involved in the army just incase the barber life didn’t work out for me. I wanted to make sure I still had something to fall back on.

At the age of 18, I started working at the forum barber parlour on the notorious Yonge Street. In Toronto. For those who don’t know, Yonge Street is the longest street in the world, and that’s where the Forum Barbershop was located. At the time, the Forum was the only appointment base barbershop, even before websites or booking apps existed.

I remember working there and writing everyone’s name down with pen and paper. I had to carry this notebook around everywhere I went so I could check my availability if anyone wanted a haircut. Thinking about that now is crazy because today we have applications that keep track of everything for us. I used to have this notebook filled with everyone’s name and phone numbers to just remember my schedule and check my availability.

Back in the day, barbershops were known for being places where you just walked in, got a cut or waited until your turn came up. But Patrice, the owner, had a different vision. He saw salons and hairstylist running there systems this way and, after being up his clientele and always being I high demand he noticed that no barbershop were doing this at the time. From what I know he as the first to implement appointment base system in the barber scene in Toronto.

The forum barber was on the third floor of a building on Yonge street, which kept its high profile “VIP” experience because not just anyone would walk into the barbershop. We weren’t at street level, so for you to know the barbershop existed, you had to look up to see it or hear about it through word of mouth. At the time, I had just finished hair school, and it was my first full time barbershop job. There were three chairs set up at the forum, and two of the chairs were taken by Patrice and Jmac. They were the barbers there when I started working, and I took the last available chair.

In the beginning I didn’t have a clientele, so I am watching and learning more then cutting. Working at Forum was a great experience for me because I got tot learn customer skills and really appreciate the appointment-based system he ran so well.

 Jmac, known as Jason Macaraig, was the other barber who worked at the barbershop. Today, Jmac is known as a celebrity babrer. He Has been cutting the hair of the biggest musician in Canada. Everyone should be able to guess who that is... Drake!

During my early career, I look up to prominent figures in the industry, like Jmac, known to be Drake’s barber. I remember doing research to see who was cutting drakes hair prior to working at the Forum and that was also a reason why I was interested in working at Forum. I figured if I’m going to be an apprentice somewhere I want to learn from the best in the industry.

One day, while working alongside Jmac at the barbershop, he drove me down to the subway station and mentioned that Drake was a client of his. He told me he’d been cutting Aubrey Graham “Drake” hair since he was 6 years old. At the time I was like, “Damn, that is crazy!” Drake was already a big artist in Toronto, but nowhere near the status he holds today.

Today, Jmac is still the barber behind Drake. He no longer cuts hair in the barbershop but travels on the road with him, for me, experiencing that at the time was mind blowing. I had never heard if anything like that, and I was mesmerized and amazed by how such a thing a could even be possible for a barber.

Jmac became my barber mentor. We grew up in a time when social media wasn’t as big as it is today, so working side Jmac and seeing what he did in the barber scene made me a huge fan. I remember times when Jmac would randomly have to fly out to cut the boys hair, canceling or rescheduling his barbershop appointments. As Drake’ career got bigger, that kept happening more often.

As exciting as this opportunity was, it could also be stressful as heck. Your appointments are booked up, and then you must call everyone to reschedule. Trust me, that is not fun. When your a established barber, your availability is already slim to none.

Now, your coming in earlier, staying later, and even booking people during your lunch break if you even have one just to accommodate . Thiings can get hectic quick. While some clients are understanding, others might not be. But when it keeps happening repeatedly, it can get frustrating for both the clients and the barber. You not trying to lose out on an opportunity, but you also don’t want to upset your clients. Personally, I think that’s one of the reasons why he left Jmac left the sop. You start feeling bad for your regular clients, and as Drake career got bigger, Jmac decided to go on the road with Drake full time.

Now, that’s my version of story on Jmac: the barber behind the likes of Drake’s hair. If you’re wondering what this has to do with J. Cole, well, Drake and J. Cole are two of the top rap artists of this era. In 2011, just like Drake, J. Cole was on the rise.

Jmac has also cut J. Cole’s hair and is seen cutting hair in the video “In the morning” by Drake ft. J. Cole. On September 3, 2011, J. Cole came to Toronto to perform at a concert at the Sound Academy. Jmac asked if I could go down to the Sound Academy to cut J.Cole’s hair before his show.

 Cole was my favorite rapper throughout high school. When I first started cutting hair out of my parents basement, I used to play J. Cole’s music all the time. My friends and I would stream his music from DatPiff since Apple Music and Spotify didn’t exist yet.

I listened to J. Cole’s music regularly, every day, especially when he dropped the album “The Sideline Story” I remember commuting over an hour on the TTC, hopping on the bus and subway train on my way to the barbershop, always listening to him.

So, when Jmac asked if I could cut J. Cole’s hair, it was an absolute yes. I was shocked I was offered that opportunity. Patrice and I were both at the Forum when Jmac had asked Patrice if he could make it down to cut J. Cole, but since Patrice’s schedule was fully booked, he said he couldn’t make it. Jmac then asked me to head down there, and it was a dream come true. I remember packing all my tools, rushing home to change my clothes and headed straight to the venue.

It’s crazy every time I think about it. J. Cole was my favorite rapper at the time and first celebrity encounter the first artist I got to cut hair for. Back then, he had a low level buzz cut with a lineup.

I remember showing up at the Sound Academy venue, hopping on the tour bus, meeting J, Cole for a the first time and cutting his hair backstage. I can’t like; I was so nervous. Imagine being only 18-year-old and cutting the hair of the artist you listen to the most.

At the time, I didn’t have a much barber experience as I do today. But it was an opportunity of a lifetime for me. And honestly, I’m grateful Jmac trusted me to do the job.

Whenever someone asks if I was nervous cutting J. Cole the first time… of course I was. I had never done anything like that before. J. Cole was chilled, and we had conversations during his haircut. I even mentioned his first mix tapes, and he was shocked I knew them. It was an incredible experience cutting him.

Ironically, I didn’t even ask him for a picture. I was living in the moment, letting it all sink in, plus back then we weren’t taking all these pictures we take nowadays. It hadn’t crossed my mind until my friends had asked to see photo of a haircut. Unfortunately.  If you had to ask me before this who I wished I could cut, I would have said J. Cole. And then  when it happened, it felt like I manifested that moment.

A huge thanks to Jmac for blessing me with this opportunity.