There are two things that American rapper and songwriter Post Malone is famous for – one for seamlessly blending various genres including hip-hop, pop and trap in his music and second, for his bold tattoos screaming his creative bent.
The musician, whose real name is Austin Richard Post, got his first tattoo in 2015, at 20, the same year his debut single ‘White Iverson’ came out and has become obsessed with getting inked since then. Cut to 2024, Pop’s King of Heartbreaks has an expansive collection of 70 tattoos on his body with about 15 of them adorning his face.
From getting the initials of his baby daughter inked on his forehead to portraits of legends like Kurt Cobain and Lil Peep flanked on his body, Post Malone’s tattoo journey has been one for the books.
However, the rapper did something strange for his latest collaboration with Taylor Swift. Malone covered all his tattoos to play the songstress’ star-crossed lover in the music video for the track ‘Fortnight’ – the lead single for Swift’s April 2024 album The Tortured Poets Department.
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The song is not only a hit but has also brought back the spotlight on Post Malone’s tattoos, making it just the right opportunity for us to break down the ‘Sunflower’ singer’s tattoos for you and explore the meaning behind them.
Let’s start with Post Malone’s face tattoos
Malone’s face is a talking art featuring an array of famous tattoos, ranging from tributes and his favourite phrases to a whole bunch of weapons and recurring motifs. Here’s decoding the most prominent ones…
1. ‘DDP’: Daughter’s initials on the forehead
While some of Malone’s tattoos are cool and impulsive, most have sentimental value attached to them. Case in point is his daughter’s initials, DDP, which he got inked on the right side of his forehead in 2022. The tattoo is a work of famous artist Chad Rowe and is a tribute to his baby girl.
Though his daughter’s full name still hasn’t been revealed, the three letters tattooed on Malone’s forehead are enough to establish his love for his daughter.
In a 2022 interview with GQ, the singer hinted that his daughter comes with him even when he is touring and is away from his family. “It’s really tough not being able to see her, but she’s coming out more often now. I’m just happy to see her. But it is heartbreaking having to leave and not be able to be with her all the time,” he shared.
2. ‘Stay Away’ above his right eyebrow
Right below his daughter’s initials sits another tattoo, the words ‘Stay Away’ written in flowing script. Apparently, Malone’s tattoo is inspired by American rapper Lil Peep who has got ‘Cry Baby’ tattooed above his eyebrow. Mirroring Peep’s design, the words are from the name of his favourite Nirvana song.
3. Blackjack playing cards
Right above the ‘Stay Away’ tattoo is a suite of blackjack cards sitting on Malone’s temple. This is one of his first few tattoos and he got done back in 2016 in Montreal just as a fun tribute to a card game he enjoys.
4. ‘Always Tired’
One of the unmissable Post Malone tattoos is the phrase ‘Always Tired’ inked in cursive under his eyes. The rapper added them to his glorious face tattoo flex in 2018 but getting it done wasn’t easy. “As for the placement, it was painful. It was like getting poked on your eyeball through your eyelid,” Malone shared with GQ.
5. Medieval gauntlet and flail on the cheekbone
Malone got a majestic medieval gauntlet and flail weapon tattooed below his left cheekbone in 2019. Courtesy of artist Kyle Hediger, the tattoo features a gloved hand that holds a spiky flail that dips below the cheekbone and was done right before Malone’s Times Square New Year’s Eve performance.
6. A bloody buzzsaw on the right cheek
The ‘Sunflower’ crooner added another tattoo to his face — a bleeding buzzsaw — in 2020 when he was in Kansas City on a tour. He even documented the process on his Instagram and let photographer Adam DeGross share the ink session on his account.
7. A snake-tongued woman on the left side of the head
Malone has a snake-tongued woman inked on the left side of his head which seems like his personal take on the Greek mythological figure Medusa. The tattoo is pretty visible whenever the rapper is rocking an undercut or shaved head.
8. Waves
A rather artsy Japanese-inspired wave motif is also flanked on one side of Malone’s head (refer to the picture above) which he did in Tokyo. The tattoo adds a calming touch to the weapons drawn across his skin.
Malone also later got a red heart next to the waves inked on his forehead to break all the black and add a pop of colour to the huge arsenal of his face tattoos.
9. Barbed wire around his hairline
A line of barbed wire also decorates Malone’s hairline and the singer finds it uber cool. In an interview with GQ, the ‘Circles’ singer joked about the tattoo and shared, “I just think barbed wire is cool. I’m going to regret it when I start balding.”
10. ‘Stoney’ inked under the chin
As a tribute to his 2016 debut album, Malone got the word ‘Stoney’ inked right under his chin. However, the tattoo is mostly covered under his beard and rarely features in the hundred tattoo pictures on his Instagram grid.
11. Sword and Hammer on the right face
A bold addition to the arsenal of weapons on Malone’s face, he has a long sword and a blood-dripping hammer next to the smaller tattoos sitting on his right face.
12. Playboy Bunny, Heart and Smiley Face
Apart from his other screaming face tattoos, Malone also has a small collection of tiny designs under his right eye — a small Playboy Bunny rabbit head, a heart and a smiley face with Xs.
Post Malone’s hand, neck, thighs and other body tattoos
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Moving on to Malone’s body tattoos, the Road House actor literally has his full body covered in inks with countless designs. His arm sleeves are adorned with countless designs such as the Motorhead logo, a samurai skull, and a faceless man. In addition to these, Malone also has the signatures of Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes inked on his body.
13. Playboy bunny on his arm
One of the first few body tattoos that Malone got inked was the Playboy Bunny on his arm. The design was inspired by fellow tattoo-obsessed star Justin Bieber. “We were working on Stoney, and then we had a tattoo artist come through, and I was like, ‘You know what? Justin Bieber’s got some tats, and I love you, but I know I’m way tougher than you,'” he shared at the time of the album’s release in 2016.
Even the cracked appearance of the Bunny is courtesy of Bieber as he bumped into Malone while they were playing basketball just days after the rapper got inked.
14, Portraits of legends like Kurt Cobain, Nirvana and Bob Marley
Malone got an image of the late musician Kurt Cobain playing the guitar tattooed on his arm sometime in 2020.
The singer is a huge fan of the rock band and during the pandemic, he performed a Nirvana tribute for COVID-19 relief. He also wore a dress like Cobain did during his shows back in the day. In an interview with Poland Newonce, Malone expressed his love for the late artiste and said, “Kurt Cobain, I just love to death. If I was gay, I would marry him. I think he’s — I don’t know — he’s just a genius. So ahead of his time.”
Malone also has the names of Nirvana songs ‘Nevermind’ and ‘Whatever’ on his palms along with the ‘Stay Away’ script.
He has also paid tribute to other music legends like Bob Dylan and Bob Marley by getting their portraits inked on his arms.
15. A cow skull tattoo on his neck
A bold tattoo of a cow skull done by tattoo artist Kyle Hediger sits on Malone’s neck. However, a fun trivia is that people confuse it with an old man’s butt and the ‘Closer’ singer often jokes about it. “There’s really nothing to it. I just think it would be f—ing cool and then I do it. But people zoom in real close and they say it looks like an old man’s butt,” he told GQ.
16. A cigarette with a skeleton peering through the smoke on his thigh
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The words “smoke sum” sit below a skeleton peering out of a puff of smoke on Malone’s thigh. He pulled up his shorts to show the thigh tattoo on his Instagram account in 2016.
17. Malone’s iconic knuckle tattoos
The singer has the phrase ‘Rest Easy’ tattooed on his knuckles with each letter spread across eight of his fingers. Though Malone hasn’t specified if the tattoo is a tribute to a specific individual, it does look like one since he has gotten several tattoos in remembrance of late artists.
He also has portraits of some of his favourite musicians with thick barbed wire incorporated into the artsy design. The portraits include legends like Elvis Presley, Dimebag Darrell, John Lennon, George Harrison and Stevie Ray Vaughn, among a few others.
18. ‘Patient’ inked on the bicep
The rapper also has the word ‘Patient’ inked in a jagged font on one of his biceps as a reference to a music video for his song of the same name.
19. ‘Molon Labe’ tattoo on the torso
One of Malone’s most notable body tattoos is the Greek phrase ‘Molon labe’ inked on his left torso which translates to ‘Come and take them.’ The historical Greek reference reportedly refers to Malone’s support of the Second Amendment, which protects the right to keep and bear arms in the U.S.
20. Post Malone’s leg tattoos: Beauty and the Beast, Skull with Headdress, Vault Boy
As we said, the artist’s entire body is covered with tattoos and his leg features some of the most iconic designs. Malone’s leg tattoos include a brightly coloured Disney’s Beauty and the Beast with the two characters in a heart, another gun design and a massive skull wearing a feather headdress.
He also has a colourful tattoo of Vault Boy, the corporate mascot of the Vault-Tec Corporation on the shin of his left leg.
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(Header and feature image courtesy: Instagram/Post Malone)
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
– How many Tattoos does Post Malone have?
Post Malone reportedly has around 70 tattoos.
– What does Post Malone’s face tattoo mean?
There are over 15 tattoos on Post Malone’s face alone with each meaning something different. A few are tributes to people like his daughter, while some are a stack of weapons, and others are simple texts like ‘Stay Away’ and ‘Always Tired.’
– What is the meaning of Post Malone’s neck tattoo?
The musician has a massive tattoo of a cow skull done by artist Kyle Hediger on his neck which doesn’t mean anything specific. However, a fun fact that Malone keeps joking about is that people often confuse it with an old man’s butt.
