Before Romeo LaCoste would ink your favourite influencers including – Supreme Patty, Ninja,
Faze Rug, Faze Banks, Ricegum, Austin McBroom, The Dolan Twins and more...
Before Romeo LaCoste would one of, if not the most popular tattoo artist on social media
with over 1 Million Subscribers on YouTube and another 2 Million on Instagram at the
time of this recording...
Before Romeo LaCoste would make headlines for giving a girl a tattoo of Harry Styles on her face
Before Romeo landed himself on Best Ink Season 3 and started tattooing A-List Celebrities
including Justin Bieber, Kendrick Lamar and Ariana Grande.
Romeo, Romeo, Romeo... now if your big on the social media scene you have undoubtedly
come across this man and his work as he is the go to Tattoo Artist for this generation
of stars and influencers.
And you've also likely seen his signature style of micro tattoos which he's posted to
IG.
They're going viral all the time.
Now opening up his own shop in LA “The California Dream” which is located in North Hollywood,
well it wasn't an accomplishment that was handed to him or something that happened over
night.
This man worked his way up from the complete bottom and at one time he was sleeping in
an old 87 Volvo.
He's also dealt with depression and anxiety while working every sh***y job you can imagine.
In fact, Romeo, he told me:
No one helped me.
I struggled and worked hard to get to where I'm at now.
moved to LA and opened my own tattoo shop pretty much all on my own.
Saving every dollar I had and networking my a** off.
Before opening up his own shop, well the dude actually got fired from the last one he worked
at after he gave an A-lister a tattoo.
I'm gonna tell you which a-lister that was, but you can place your guesses in the comments
down below.
Alright, what's going on guys?
It's your boy Michael McCrudden documenting the life and career of Romeo LaCoste prior
to fame, here for you of course on Before They Were Famous.
Now I gotta give a lot of love to Romeo cause he answered a bunch of our questions to help
me put this video together, and looking over the comments I saw that Romeo himself, he
actually commented on one of my videos about a year ago.
He called out Tekashi69 for not being famous.
Interesting, small world.
Aright, let's get into Romeo LaCoste.
Romeo LaCoste was born on January 19th, 1989 in good ol' Montreal, Canada.
That's right, once again we have another Canadian killing it in Los Angeles.
He moved to Fernandina Beach Florida when he was 8 and then California at the age of
21.
Now, his childhood, it was tough, and his family, they were extremely poor.
Now his father, he was out of the picture and his mom, well, she's a pretty hardcore
Christian.
Now of his 7 siblings, his closest was his brother Mickey, and despite Mickey being 3
years younger, well the two they were inseparable and they spent a lot of time going through
their toughest years.
Now Romeo, he recalls fond memories of the two playing games, they played with toys,
they skateboarded, they surfed, and later on the two, they started making music together.
Romeo, he learned on the guitar and Mickey, he played the drums.
Now young Romeo, he also enjoyed Dragon Ball Z, Pokemon cards, Yugio Cards... in fact if
you got to his shop now you'll see that he's got this massive collection.
and of course he spent endless hours drawing his favourite cartoons.
Now, this of course led to his immaculate line work which would come later on.
Now as a kid he described himself as being super mature.
He got straight A's in school and he loved Science and Math.
He was homeschooled before getting enrolled in grade school at Fernandina Beach, then
he went to high school at Callahan and Fletcher.
Now I asked him to describe himself to me back in those school days and he told me this.
I was the goth punk emoji kid. with the emo hair and scene kid outfits.
I didn't have many friends but I was focused on perfecting my art, though I didn't know
where it would lead me...
Now more on music and this time of his life, he told Forbes.
I was super involved in the music scene, and going to concerts and listening to bands like
Good Charlotte,
and I was just like, 'That (tattooing) seems awesome!'
It involved the whole scene of what I was into.
And I just dove headfirst into becoming a tattoo artist.
Now some of you might not know this but Romeo LaCoste isn't actually his birth name.
Now while in high school he described himself as a hopeless romantic and he didn't like
his first name or being the person that his family or society wanted him to be, so used
Romeo as an alter ego and he eventually adopted that as his given name.
His Mom didn’t want me to be a tattoo artist but an architect or something more traditional
with his artistic talents.
In fact, the man picked up a scholarship for College but then he decided it wasn't for
him.
He wanted to pursue tattooing instead.
Now he and his Catholic mom would have other disagreements, when he was 17 years old his
mother kicked him outta the house after he gave himself a tattoo with a kit he bought
off of eBay.
The two had a huge argument and he ran away from home.
Now at the time he was working at a local Dollar Store and he kept going for his shifts.
Then one day the cops they showed up and arrested him at work because his mom had called the popo
And then he had to spend a whole week in a troubled teen facility.
Now I asked Romeo what he would be doing if he wasn't a Tattoo artist and he told me
“I love music.
I play guitar and would most likely be doing something in music or if i wasn't tattooing
but still an artist I would be making comics or anime.”
He was also heavily involved in the Warped Tour and hardcore scene.
Now these guys obviously have a whole lot of tattoos, and this is a look he came to
admire as a way to express yourself and well you know, obviously look cool.
I don't have any... so..
Now I asked Romeo who his idols are and he told me:
Elon Musk and Drake.
Elon because he’s a futurist and is one of the few people pushing the world forward
in tech, and Drake because of how untouchable and branded himself as the greatest ever,
thus wanting to do the same with my tattoo brand.
After applying to 40 different shops, well he got his first big break at a Tattoo shop
via internship, and this took place out in Jacksonville, Florida.
Now the gig, it wasn't glamorous, he started by having to do the cleaning and 'embarrassing'
stuff to prove to the staff that he wanted it.
During this time he was couch surfing and sleeping in his 87 Volvo.
He was also working full time as well.
What a life.
After paying his dues for almost a year they finally allowed him to start tattooing, but
just as he was gearing up to start his future there was some drama at the shop and he quit
or he left or whatever, and then he was back working regular jobs.
Now he was at the point where he was broke and he was ready to give up.
Now from here he went back to working regular gigs, I'm talking construction which he described
as horrible and tiring.
He did Landscaping as well, which is tough, and he was a Chinese delivery guy for Hot
Wok which he described as not that bad but, you know, still not great.
Now Romeo, he had to deal with a lot of depression and anxiety while trying to find his way.
Then after a year and a half he landed a second apprenticeship and this one, well it worked
out.
Now Romeo was pretty candid with me telling me:
My early tattoos were not good and I did a lot of bad ones on my friends and myself,
including a giant 'IT'S ALL BULLS***' on a classmate's arm.
When finished his internship he stuck around for a couple months, he saved up some money
before moving out to California.
Now he first stoping in San Diego before moving to LA.
Now this was when Romeo got heavily involved with social media and he would use his instagram
account to contact others who had a huge following.
A key to Romeo's success came from his early understanding of social media and working
with a few YouTubers who had just turned 18.
Kids like Kian Lawley & JC Caylen and as their buds wanted to get tattoos, well everyone's
go to guy became Romeo LaCoste.
Now as he continued to collaborate with bigger stars, well all of a sudden he worked out
a deal to tattoo Ariana Grande, which actually resulted in him getting fired from the shop
he worked at before he opened his own.
Apparently they didn't know who she was...
In 2014, Romeo landed a spot on the reality competition show Best Ink, Season 3.
Now, I couldn't find a clip but I did find this:
Now, after getting fired from the last Tattoo Shop, Romeo went all in and invested what
he had in opening up his very own shop.
The California Dream in North Hollywood.
He's now got a team of talented artists working under him.
He's a Hollywood hero and famous enough to make a few scandolous headlines.
When I asked Romeo about his plans for the future he told me.
Opening a high end super shop in LA of the best artists in the world that caters to Celebrities
and all high quality clients that have a taste for designer tattoos.
A potential TV show in the future, as well as merch and tattoo lines such as jewelry
and apparel.
There are links to his channel down below, I recommend his series Tattoo Roulette.
As for the rest of the story, well you know the story because this is Before They Were
Famous.
My name is Michael McCrudden, we make all sorts of celebrity bios here for you on this channel.
We have an entire playlist dedicated to YouTubers. You should check that out some of your faves on there,
probably like Mr Beast. I'll see you guys in another video.. BOOM