Showing off his new ink, Machine Gun Kelly took to Instagram to debut his full torso tattoo, which took a total of 44 needles to complete.
In the post, the rapper showed off the all-black tattoo covering most of his previous ink. “For spiritual purposes only,” he captioned the post.
Machine Gun Kelly’s tattoo artist R O X X also posted on Instagram another snapshot of the musician’s tattoo. “Made some art with [Machine Gun Kelly],” the caption reads. “Never met a tougher one.”
To which, MGK stated, “Thanks for the joy and the pain” before noting the tattoo required “44 needles.”
MGK isn’t a newbie when it comes to tattoos. During a 2013 interview with Untitled Magazine, the rapper stated he started getting tattoos when he was just 14 years old.
“Last year, I gave myself my first tattoo ever in Humbled County,” he stated at the time. “When someone gave us a free bag of weed and I woke up the next morning, and I was like, ‘Holy (expletive), I gave myself a tattoo yesterday. What an idiot.’”
Machine Gun Kelly then said that the tattoo was the “most punk thing” he could ever do to himself. “Now, I look at tattoos on my body and I kind of regret because it became really accepted in popular culture.”
Machine Gun Kelly Once Discussed the Tattoos He Has of His favorite Band/Musician
Along with discussing his early interest in tattoos, Machine Gun Kelly spoke to the publication about the ink he has of his favorite bands and musicians.
“On my body, I have tattoos of Red Hot Chili Peppers, I love them,” MGK said. “I have a Tommy Lee ‘Mayhem’ tattoo on my wrist, so obviously I’m a huge Crüe fan.”
Machine Gun Kelly stated that he had the Red Hot Chili Peppers tattoo done because he was going through his issue with drugs. “I was reading Scar Tissue by Anthony Kiedis.”
“I didn’t end up going to rehab because everyone around me was not encouraging rehab. They were encouraging just like, ‘Get through it on your own.’ Anthony Kiedis’ story just helped me so much and it helped me stop with the whole thing.”
MGK also had his favorite “Lace up” tattooed on his body twice. “It’s the name of my mixtape and it’s the name of my debut album. It basically just means… it’s also a greeting when we do concerts. People always throw their L’s up, but it also means that you can basically conquer whatever you want. You’re ready to do whatever.”