Seemingly overnight, Post Malone became a music and pop culture sensation.
There is one particular aspect of the Grammy nominee that gets perhaps even more attention
than his music, however, and that's his tattoos.
"I don't know if you realize, but you have a couple tattoos."
But what do they all mean?
Here's the story behind Posty's most mysterious face tattoos, as well as the surprising impact
they've had on the world around him.
While Post Malone started his journey of face inking with a small barbed wire inked around
his hairline and the tiny smiley face underneath his right eye, the singer got his first substantial
face tattoo In December 2017.
Opting to ink the words "Stay Away" on top of his right eyebrow, Malone had fans convinced
that he was paying tribute to Lil Peep, who had died of an accidental overdose the month
before.
The late rapper was known for his own face tattoos, including a similarly-styled cursive
tattoo in the same spot.
Given the fact that Malone had already paid tribute to his friend by getting a portrait
of Peep inked on his arm, many believed he was just continuing to pay his respects.
Unfortunately, those theories missed the mark.
The singer set the record straight to a TMZ paparazzo, joking:
"I kind of just wanted, I don't know, to piss my mom off.
I know she's really upset, but I love you so much, mama, you're the best."
"And my mom loves them.
She does?
No.
Of course not."
Pressed to reveal the real inspiration behind "Stay Away," Malone finally admitted, quote,
"It's f---ing song lyrics."
It turns out the tattoo was indeed a tribute, to the Nirvana song of the same name.
It was also a reminder to live in the moment.
Malone continued:
"I figured, how ignorant could I be and just f---ing tattoo my face, you know what I mean?
And just have fun.
You only live once, man."
Whatever your reaction to Post Malone's face tattoos may be, it's hard to argue with the
fact that his growing collection is helping to normalize the idea of an inked face.
And because one script tattoo on his face simply wasn't enough, Post Malone followed
up "Stay Away" with two more massive face tattoos in June 2018: the word "Always" under
his right eye and the word "Tired" under his left.
Speaking about his inspiration with Capital XTRA, the "Circles" hitmaker revealed that
the choice words actually had nothing to do with insomnia, but rather with aesthetics.
"I tried to do something that's relatively the same length of letters.
I guess 'always' is more letters than 'tired.'"
Post Malone has never done anything by the books, so it's not all that surprising to
learn that he had a rather strange hobby growing up: sword collecting.
When asked about the tattoo going down the right side of his face, Malone told Capital
XTRA that it's not merely a dagger, but rather a very specific sword that plays into his
love of all things Medieval:
"...the William Wallace claymore special.
So you'll be swinging that.
Yeah, cuz I like swords and s---."
That passion hasn't faded any with age.
As it turns out, Malone is still purchasing new pieces regularly.
He told that outlet that he recently bought a katana and uses it to slice up watermelons
in his backyard.
He explained:
"That s--- is awesome.
I love playing with swords."
"GWAHHH!"
In July 2018, Post Malone decided to upset his mom once more and got another major addition
to his face tattoo collection.
This time around, he took time out from a trip to Japan to visit Three Tides Tattoo
in Tokyo, where he opted for a massive piece on his left temple.
Done by artist Ganji, the finished design looked like an abstract take on traditional
Japanese waves, and while it's not one of Malone's more subtle works, it definitely
has a unique appeal.
Three Tides Tattoo posted a video of the moment to Instagram, showing Malone lying down, covering
his eyes with a tissue.
Upon seeing himself in the mirror for the first time, the Go Flex singer only had one
thing to say:
"Oh yeah, that's f---ing sick."
Ganji also shared a photo of the fresh ink on his own Instagram page, which he captioned
with two black heart emojis.
He also revealed that while Malone was in the shop, he got a second tattoo: a Japanese
demon on his right arm.
You only live once, right?
In November 2018, Malone added another tattoo to his collection: an Ace of Spades playing
card on top of a Queen of Hearts to his forehead, just above the infamous "Stay Away" script.
Post Malone's face tattoos have become such a major part of his identity that temporary
versions of his facial ink are now a popular merch item.
The singer sells his own version, dubbed the Hollywood's Bleeding Face Tattoo Pack, for
$15 at his online store.
For most people, that's a much better option than the real thing.
"This is a real tattoo!"
So the question is: What's next for Post Malone?
Well, if you think Malone is running out of real estate on his face, think again.
When asked by Capital XTRA in July 2018 if he had any plans to keep getting his mug tattooed,
he didn't hesitate in confirming that he wasn't done yet.
After all, this is the man who's gone from having no visible face ink before September
2017 to sporting a massive collection of 10 face tattoos and counting in just two years.
So, what could possibly be next?
When Capital XTRA tried to find out what his next designs would be, Malone confessed:
"I don't know.
I just kind of freeball it.
Might as well!"
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