Meet Kellon Deryck, the Hair Architect Behind Megan Thee Stallion’s Biggest Moments
Meet Kellon Deryck, the Hair Architect Behind Megan Thee Stallion’s Biggest Moments
Lauren ValentiMon, October 5, 2026 at 12:45 PM UTC
0
Credit: Courtesy of Kellon Deryck
Kellon Deryck will never forget the day he met Megan Thee Stallion. It was 8 years ago, and the celebrity hairstylist was trying to keep it professional on his first job with the rapper. But Megan wasn’t having it, he recalls, laughing.
“I’m normally pretty shy when I first meet someone, so the first day we worked together, I was quiet; I was just there to do my job,” he explains. “She damn near tickled me into laughing and talking like, ‘Who is this up in here? Who are you?’ She made me show my personality. She pulled it out of me.” And from that day forward, they were inseparable.
“Even when we’re not at work, we’re on FaceTime talking about what we’re about to do next or how our night was, what we ate, and what TikTok we’re about to do, and what food we want to try,” says Deryck. “We literally do everything together.”
Megan Thee Stallion on InStyle’s September 2026 cover, hair styled by Kellon Deryck
The Boston-born, Atlanta-bred hair pro has been behind some of Megan’s most unforgettable hair moments, from 2025’s Met Gala, for which he crafted an artful, architectural copper-red ponytail inspired by Josephine Baker, to the towering, out-of-this-world sculptural updo he molded for InStyle’s September cover. “I always know what story she’s trying to tell with her hair,” Deryck explains. And over the years, he and Megan, ever the hair chameleon, have done nearly “every kind of look.” Their résumé runs the gamut from candy-colored finger waves and Marie Antoinette poufs to jet-black clouds of curls, glossy flipped bobs, Old Hollywood waves, and Rapunzel-length tumbles. His work has even made its way into Megan’s lyrics: In “Don’t Stop,” she raps, “40-inch weave by Kellon, don’t tangle.”
But while Deryck and Megan are besties, she’s far from his only collaborator. His roster of celebrity clients includes Cardi B, Teyana Taylor, and Missy Elliott, for whom he crafted a serpentine braid spelling out “MISSY” on the cover of her 2019 EP Iconology. “It’s just all about being confident,” he says of pushing his work into bold new territory. “You have to be confident in your craft and in what you’re trying to talk a client into doing.”
Deryck getting Megan ready for the 2026 Tony Awards.Credit: Courtesy of Kellon Deryck
Long before he had a hand in today’s most iconic rap and R&B hair moments, Deryck was studying the looks that inspired them. “I used to watch music videos and try to replicate what I saw on everybody from Beyoncé to Remy Ma,” he says. “Then, years later, I became the go-to person for those same jobs.”
Whatever style Deryck is serving up on set, it has to be exceptional. “I just like things to be the blueprint,” he says. “If it’s going to be a bob, I want it to be the best bob. If it’s an updo, I want it to be the best updo.”
Here, Deryck takes InStyle through his evolution as a celebrity hairstylist, his one-of-a-kind bond with Megan, and why confidence will always be the foundation of his craft.
On his journey into hairstyling
“I was born in Boston, but I grew up in Atlanta. My parents had five kids, and I have three sisters. I used to steal their dolls and not let them know that I was doing their hair. Then one day, I did such a good job; I was like, Damn, somebody has to see this. So I sat my sister’s doll out, and she’s like, ‘Oh my gosh, her hair—who did this?’ And that’s how they found out that I was actually pretty good at it.
In my last year of high school, I got a job at a salon. I was actually dating this girl, and I needed a job, and she was like, ‘Oh, you can be a shampoo assistant.’ It was a work-study situation where they let you leave school early. That’s pretty much where I started my hair career. After that, I went to college, but I skipped school to do hair on the side because it was a good source of income for me.
As I was skipping school, my grades started declining, and I was like, Man! I need to just go ahead and go to hair school. But by then, I had already started doing celebrity hair. This was in 2011. I was already working with the Braxtons and traveling with them, so I had to keep taking leaves of absence while I was in hair school at Aveda to go work. A year-long hair program took me at least two and a half years because I kept taking time off to work in celebrity hair.”
Megan Thee Stallion at the 2025 Met Gala.On his inspirations
“There’s this celebrity hairstylist, Charles Gregory; I used to work in his hair salon. He’s the reason I wanted to become a celebrity hairstylist. I used to see him go to different movie sets and have people come in, like Jada Pinkett Smith. And I was just like, Wow, I want to do that.
Advertisement
I’m also super inspired by [the co-founder of] Paul Mitchell’s story because he started out doing hair, and now he’s a mogul. He has different business ventures that people don’t even know about. People don’t know that [John Paul DeJoria, one of the guys that started] Paul Mitchell, owns Patron. He’s killing it. That’s the inspiration. I own several salons already, and I’m trying to get the entrepreneurship thing going with products. I have my lace glue in collab with Ghost Bond; the first-of-its-kind tinted lace glue.
And I don’t know if I should be saying this or not, but Megan and I are actually coming out with a product soon. I’m not going to say what it is, but we’re collaborating on something.”
Deryck has been doing celebrity hair for more than 15 years.Credit: Courtesy of Kellon DeryckOn his friendship with Megan Thee Stallion
“Eight years ago, she hired me to do hair for her music video. When I met her, I was just like, Wow, she has such a great personality, such a people’s person, and full of energy, and full of life. And we just automatically connected; our personalities meshed very well. It’s so crazy because I feel like I got to see her come into her artistry and become this household name, and I also got to see her develop into an adult. Seeing her business ventures and everything that she sets out to do, I just see her doing it in real time, and it’s just such an amazing experience. She leads with kindness and leads with her heart. She’s a great friend, and I couldn’t ask for anything better.”
On the Megan Thee Stallion fans
“I feel like her fans know who I am now; it’s pretty cool. Of course, I had my own brand before I became close friends with Megan, but I feel like she definitely has entered me into her universe when it comes to her fans. I love her fans, but to me, they just don’t know what the hell they want. They’re hot and cold. One day they love me; the next day they’re like, ‘Get away, Kellon.’” [Laughs]
On his creative philosophy
“For Megan’s InStyle cover, I got inspired by the set. It was very avant-garde. I wanted to make sure that we definitely nailed it. It took about three hours of prep the day before, and then about an hour on set.
When it comes to my creative process, I want to see what my client wants first, what direction they’re trying to go in. It just needs to be better than what someone could imagine they could have themselves. It’s about the cut. It’s about the smoothness. It’s about the angles. It’s about the density. I’m really good with shooting images over. Believe it or not, I now even use AI to get an idea of what it could look like on the client. It’s a mock-up that’s like a virtual consultation.”
The cover of Missy Elliot’s ‘Iconology’ EPCredit: Courtesy of Atlantic RecordsOn celebrity hairstyling
“Everybody’s different. I’ve been working with Megan for eight years, and I know exactly how to work with her, what language she responds to, and what she likes. I know her hair story and what she’s trying to tell with her hair. With clients like Missy Elliott, she’s an artist that’s been doing this for 20, 30 years and knows what she wants. But I always bring something new to the table, and she loves it.
I try to keep it as professional as possible when it comes to getting my work done because work’s first, then play. I make sure the client feels 100-percent comfortable and safe in my hands. It’s a blessing to be there for someone physically and emotionally, and to be in their support system.
I want to make sure everything’s perfect and looks good from every angle. A music video is not images. Photo shoots, you have a little bit of leeway because we can allow editors to fix things and move things around. Carpets are very serious to me, because Getty is unforgiving. As much as it’s [about Megan], or whoever I’m working with, it’s my brand as well, so it’s a lot of pressure.”
Megan Thee Stallion for InStyle’s September 2026 issue.Credit: Josefina SantosOn his major career moments
“The InStyle cover was a really big hair moment. I couldn’t wait for the world to see it. I feel like she has not done something like this on a magazine cover yet. And then the Met Gala; I’ve done every Met Gala Megan’s been to, and those looks stand out to me. Last year was pretty intense; it was a hair moment as well. She was paying homage to Josephine Baker, and the designer of the dress showed me a photo and said, ‘Can we accomplish this?’ And I said, ‘Absolutely,’ and we went straight for it. It was spot on. I would say the prep was at least nine hours, and the install took maybe 45 minutes.”
On his advice for young creatives
“Be a master at your craft and learn the art of networking. It comes from confidence. The more confident you are, the more comfortable you’ll be being exactly who you are. Though it’s a lot of prayer, I will say that. I literally pray over every hairstyle that I do because I never know how it’s going to come out. A lot of times I’m doing something for the first time, and that’s how you learn. That’s how you get great; it’s just through experience. School teaches you so much, but continue your education. I’m never scared to ask questions, do research, and try to figure out how to do something because a lot of times I do something for the first time. Always be a student!”
on InStyle
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
