At one point, tattoos were considered statement pieces, and the person displaying one wore it proudly — like an iconoclast or a trendsetter. Now, to the age 30-and-up crowd, they’re passé and in some cases freakish.
The late rapper Tupac Shakur illustrated how tattoos began to symbolize the lifestyle of a gangster rapper with “THUG LIFE” inscribed on his chest, which meant that it was no longer a freedom of expression limited to rock stars and bikers.
Producer/rapper Birdman and some members of the Cash Money Records crew are tattooed from head to toe, literally. Since his photo shoot with rolling out (photo top left), Birdman has added several large red stars to his dome, complementing the one on his neck.
Birdman’s son Lil Wayne has so many tattoos that I believe even he has lost count. They include a prayer on his back, ‘I am music’ on his forehead, teardrops underneath his eye, a fleur-de-lis (a New Orleans trademark) on his cheek, some vein tattoos on the side of his chest, a martian on his arm, “Fear God” on his eyelids, and “The World” in his palm, etc. Heard enough?
Atlanta-area’s King Tat Tattoos owner Nate is known for his custom tattoos and is heralded by one of his customers as the “greatest artist in Atlanta … and [he’s] affordable.” On his MySpace page, another client says that since she’s been pregnant, “I have been unable to get any work done, which is driving me crazy. I can quit smoking cig, green, and give up the wild turkey, but going with out a tattoo was torture.”
Nate was recently on deck at the Third Annual Industry Inked Tattoo Party & Leo Birthday Bash when we caught up with him and he invited us to his bikini and car wash event, which featured several of his female clients — all bikini and tattoo clad. (Click here for photos).
At the industry party, Nate and his crew gave us a video demonstration of his work on a local rapper, Lingo. A member of the King Tat Tattoo crew, Ville, offers a little-known tip on proper hygiene after a tattoo session. “Most people who end up with an infection do so because of what they do. We recommend applying lotion because ointments harbor bacteria, which lead to infection.” –yvette caslin
