Meet 8-Year-Old USA Mullet Champion Emmitt Bailey (Officially Our Hair Idol)

The USA Mullet Championships (yes, that’s a thing) has crowned a new kid winner. His name is Emmitt Bailey and he has the most impressive interpretation of the “business in the front, party in the back” hairstyle we’ve ever seen.

Bailey is only 8 years old and lives in Menomonie, Wisconsin. He was declared the victor in the kids division of the competition on Sunday, edging out 688 other mullet-rockin’ tots. The winner is decided based on a combination of judges and online voting. Bailey garnered 9,896 votes.

“It’s awesome,” Bailey told BuzzFeed News of his win. “It’s cool that so many people tell you that you got sweet hair.”

Bailey has been working on his mullet, which he nicknamed “Mufasa,” for two years. According to his mom, the ‘do was totally his idea. Now his look has earned him a pair of Pit Viper sunglasses and a $2,500 cash prize, which he wants to use to buy a go-kart.

This is the USA Mullet Championships’ third year in existence. Kevin Begola, who owns a menswear store called Bridge Street Exchange in Fenton, Michigan, came up with the idea of pitting adults, teens, and kids with the ‘80s throwback hairstyle against one another.

“You’ll hear a lot of people say, ‘It’s not just a haircut, it’s a lifestyle,’ and I really do think that’s part of it,” Begola told BuzzFeed News. “Most people with a mullet, obviously they can take the heat if people are kind of giving them crap about it, but I think we’ve kind of turned that corner. I do think the ’90s country vibe is coming back hard right now.”

Luckily, this isn’t just a vanity contest. Each competitor pays a $10 entry fee, and half of that gets donated to the charity Maggie’s Wigs 4 Kids, which gives wigs to children who have cancer, alopecia, or other disorders that cause hair loss.

Will the mullet come back full-force? We can’t say. All we know is it’s definitely not the right hairstyle for everyone, but if you can make those locks look as good as Bailey does, go for it, man.

Photos: USA Mullet Championships