The 23-year-old R&B and pop star Rihanna Tweeted a photo of herself on Jan 25 showing off a faint, scar-like, pink-colored imprint of the phrase "Thug Life" on her knuckles. It is the name of the former group of Shakur, who also went by the nickname 2Pac and sported a tattoo on his stomach that read "T.H.U.G. L.I.F.E." He was shot dead at age 25 in 1996. The killer was never found. Perhaps her new tatto is inspired by that slain rapper. Rihanna's picture was taken at the Shamrock Social Club in Hollywood, the tattoo parlor of Mark Mahoney, who also appears in a photo posted by Rihanna.
"All these bitches screaming that 2pac back #THUGLIFE," Rihanna said in a message underneath her photo, quoting a line from the song "Tupac Back," which was released by rappers Rick Ross and Meek Mill in mid-June 2011 on what would have been Shakur's 40th birthday.
The late rapper's "Thug Life" tattoo stood for "The Hate U Give Little Infants (Expletive) Everybody." Like him, Rihanna has several tattoos all over her body, including on her neck, wrist and back.
In another photo posted on her Twitter page around the same time, the singer is seen lying on her stomach on a table, holding a beer bottle, as a man bends over her back. His face is not shown. Rihanna wrote under the picture:
"Tat my (expletive) name on u girl so I know its real!!! #MINE"
The sentence is a lyric from "Free Spirit," a song released last year by hip hop singer Drake, Rihanna's longtime friend and collaborator, that also features Ross.
I #LOVE my new tattoo!!!" she Tweeted. "Can't wait for yall to see it!!! I got it in "Tibetan" this time!!!"
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| Tupac Shakur |
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| Rihanna with Michale Jackson |
