People have used tattoos to identify themselves as part of a certain culture since prehistory.  It’s believed the practice of tattooing goes back as far as 12,000 BC. In the present, tattoos are often seen in places where instant identification is important.  In prison life, knowing a potential friend from an enemy is the key to survival, and they often use gang tattoos. Hip hop culture, an offshoot of gang, prison and street life, has embraced tattoos not always to identify themselves as part of a gang, but to show they identify with the hip hop artists who also have them. It should be noted that in some cases having a gang tattoo can place the wear in danger from genuine gang members.

The thug life tattoo has long been seen in prisons, especially in the eastern United States.  Slain rapper Tupac Shakur introduced this lettering tattoo to the hip hop world when he had it placed on his abdomen.  This particular tattoo became very popular thereafter and when some people hear the phrase thug tattoo this is the first thing that comes to their mind.  There are many other thug tattoos however, such as the tear drop tattoo.  This is a usually a simple tattoo of a tear drop done in black or dark blue.  The tattoo is placed under the eye near the corner where it’s easily spotted and almost impossible to hide.  This thug tattoo was created in the 1940s and used by Hispanic gangs in California, Mexico and Puerto Rico.  A variety of meanings have been ascribed to the tattoo from having been incarcerated to being a murderer.

These meanings are becoming more blurry as the tattoo becomes popular with celebrities and fans.  For instance, Larry Hughes, a basketball star who plays for the Cleveland Cavaliers, has two tear drop tattoos in memory of his lost brother.  Another thug tattoo is known as the dot tattoo. These are series of dots usually in dark black or very dark blue ink placed in the area around the eye.  These can also be placed on the wrist, elbow and in the web between fingers.  These dots are often used to form a triangle.  There are several gangs who used these designs to indicate membership.  The dots are said to symbolize the term ‘mi vida loca’ or ‘my crazy life’.  They are sometimes also known as party dots.  It should be noted again that signifying or giving rise to the belief that you’re in a gang when you aren’t is dangerous.  Many tattoo artists will refuse to do a tattoo if they know it is associated with a gang life.  When looking at a thug tattoo through it’s up to the person getting the tattoo to do the research and fully understand what the design might signify to others.

Where to go from here:

• A Ghetto Tattoo For Everyone
• Who Would Get An Urban Tattoo