Culture Feature

The 8 Most Tatted Up Rockers

Rock and tattoos have always gone hand in hand.

Photo by Kristian Angelo on Unsplash

Rock and tattoos have always gone hand in hand.

Like extreme drug abuse and Mötley Crüe, or misogyny and Hinder, tattooing has long been a staple of rock and roll. But while many of today's rockers have at least one piece of flesh inked up, some rock stars over the years have gone above and beyond to make sure every ounce of their being is tatted up. Here are some of the most tatted-up rock stars.

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Music Lists

The 7 Most Tatted Up Rappers

No, Post Malone is not on this list

By Kristian Angelo for Unsplash

No, Post Malone is not on this list.

Post Malone is of course one of the most tatted-up musicians out right now, but he is also not a rapper. But similarly to rappers, Posty's tats are exclusive to him and are just as famous as the man behind them. Whether it be Gucci Mane's ice cream tattoo or the Game's LA Star, rappers have made some pretty gnarly tattoo choices over the years. Here are some of the most tatted-up rappers out right now.

Lil Skies

When Lil Skies entered the scene back in 2016, he was easily one of the most tatted up rappers of that upcoming class. He has since upped the ante even further, covering his entire body and nearly his entire face in ink.

He got his first tattoo at 16 in honor of his friend who was hospitalized and deathly ill with meningitis. "Tomorrow is another day but it's not promised" was tattooed on his shoulder, and from there he just continued collecting ink. On his face, he has his mom's name, a gorgeous shaded rose, and some Japanese text, spelled backward, right under his eyelids. As of 2021, both sides of his face remain covered with too many tats to list at this point.

Lil Wayne

Lil Wayne at the Pre-Grammy Gala, Beverly Hills CA 2023

By Richard Shotwell_Invision_AP_Shutterstock

The legendary emcee has collected some of the craziest ink over his long career. He's got veins crackling through his forehead. He's got blacklight lips and stars that glow in the dark tattooed on his neck and behind his ear. He's got stitches trailing down his left cheek, along with a handful of small tats that look like they were just doodled on, and that's just on his face.

Caskey

The Cash Money signee was another rapper who was severely tatted up right at the jump. In fact, his first hit was fittingly titled "Tats on My Neck," which broke down how his mama hates his tattoos. These aren't poorly designed street tats either; Caskey sports some of the most impressive ink around across his body.

He's got a massive Native American figure across his stomach and chest and an equally large Buddhist monk covering his back, with coinciding skulls across his shoulders. This past year, he also shaved his head and got the top jaw of an animal skull added while the bottom half covers his jawline and chin. The tattoo was so daring that it spawned a whole article in Inked Mag.

"I saw this movie Apocalypto and in that movie, there's a warrior ruler who wears a detached animal raw around his chin," he said. "I thought that was the coolest thing ever and it would be cool to have jaws on my head that made it look like this entity is eating me."

Stitches

The tattoos carved across Miami rapper Stitches are more infamous than the emcee himself. Some may even argue that his ludicrous tattoos kickstarted his career. The stitched smile across his mouth, the cartoonish AK-47 across his right cheek, the stars on his ears, the "fuck a job" script across the side of his skull: It's altogether rather sinister. Recently, Stitches got an even more striking tattoo across his cheek: a gory tear that makes it look like his face is peeling off.

Boonk

The internet personality-turned-rapper is another ridiculous entertainer whose tattoos are as notorious as he is. Boonk, otherwise known as Boonk Gang, got his first tattoo of his mom's name when he was just 16. Across his face he has a sketched black heart on his cheek, a crown over his right eyebrow, and the handicap toilet sign right between his eyebrows, among other ridiculous tats.

Kid Ink

His name is Kid Ink for a reason. The LA-based rapper has some of the most impressive ink in rap, and he's spoken on it extensively. Some highlights include a cool Frankenstein tat across his left bicep, the Batman symbol under his left eyelid, and a lightning bolt under his right. But his chest and back are where his signature pieces lie. LA is engulfed in flames across his stomach, and a Pirate Elephant with two samurai swords envelops his back. However, his most famous piece is his dual chest piece portrait tat of his mother and grandfather on each pec.

Lil Peep

The late Lil Peep sported some of the most unique tattoos in hip-hop. The Cry Baby tattoo above his right eyebrow reminded him not to cry when he looks in the mirror. The "get cars" and "die young" tattoos inked atop his forehead are almost too on the nose now. He had Lisa Simpson freaking out on his neck and of course his signature anarchist symbol on his left cheek. All in all, Lil Peep's tats can never be replicated, as they were all totally unique to him.

CULTURE

A Defense of Face Tattoos (and a Few Cautionary Tales)

Face tattoos are far from just SoundCloud trends.

Photo by Nina Westervelt/Shutterstock

Face tattoos have a pretty bad rap.

We love to make fun of them, laughing at the knowledge that there are people out there who are going to be stuck with a garish numerical figure on their foreheads or a phrase like "Always Tired" under their eyes for the rest of their lives.

On the other hand, tattoos in general have always received harsh criticism. Though every millennial seems to have at least a few fine-line arm tattoos nowadays, all over the world and in many faiths, tattoos are sacrilegious, evidence of Satan's corrupting influence or its many iterations. Thus, tattoos have always been mechanisms of subversion and counterculture, whether as markers of membership in certain groups, or monikers of individuality, or signifiers of devotion to a certain kind of art or person. They've been ways of reclaiming or altering one's physical appearance, ways of taking ownership of a body that, all too often, capitalism and the media try to devour or force to align with some standard.

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