Machine Gun Kelly is seemingly on a spiritual journey that has led him to cover most of his tattoos with black ink. On Tuesday, the singer debuted a massive blackout cover-up, surprising his millions of followers. “For spiritual purposes only,” he captioned the picture.
The tattoo covers his entire shoulders down to the bottom of his pecs, and arms down to his wrists. There is a design within the blackout that was not inked, allowing some of his old tattoos to peek through. It almost looks like he is wearing a jacket.
Some of the few tattoos MGK left showing completely are a “LOCAL ONLY” tattoo, the brick wall on his stomach, and his Banksy artwork showing a man holding a sign that reads, “Keep your coins I want change.”
MGK has covered up existing tattoos in the past by overlapping pieces or with new ink. Since he decided to do such a drastic black cover-up, it definitely seems in line with a complete personal and spiritual rebranding.
© GettyImagesSome of the tattoos MGK covered with the black ink were the “Tickets To My Downfall” ink in front of his neck, after his fifth studio album of the same name, a thorny ring around his neck, a Pac-man tribute, “Est. 1990” with two red crosses below his right collarbone, a massive eagle tattoo located in the middle of his chest that covered up a guardian angel, his daughter Cassie’s name, and a spider tattoo.
He has not shared a photo of his back to reveal if that is also covered up.
It seems like it’s been a three-month process for the rapper. He took to X, formerly known as Twitter, on Monday and shared a video of the 44-needle tattoo gun that was used to cover up the ink. “Been wearing a turtleneck for 3 months, taking the shirt off tomorrow idgaf,” he wrote.
He’s not the first celebrity to turn to black ink for a new journey. Kat Von D is famously covering her body tattoos with black ink, and is about 80% done. She has covered her legs, arms, and back, only leaving a few tatoos showing.
