Rihanna went to great lengths for her newest ink. The “Pour It Up” singer, 25, flew tattoo artists Keith “Bang Bang” McCurdy and Cally Jo from New York City to the Dominican Republic to cover up the Maori tattoo she got recently in New Zealand, a source confirms to Us Weekly. (E! News was first to report the unusual travel arrangements.)
The new tat — a henna-inspired design on the Barbados-born star’s right hand — “goes over the knuckles and wrist,” Bang Bang tells Us. “It was made to complement what was already there. It looks like a henna tattoo, but it’s the real deal. She’s a champ.”
Indeed she is. As seen in a video of Rihanna posted to YouTube earlier this month, the “Diamonds” singer first got her hand tattooed with a chisel and mallet in New Zealand. The painful method, known as Ta moko, is traditional to the Maori culture. Rihanna remained silent throughout the process, but her hand was left bloodied and bruised after.
The ink-loving star has several other tattoos, as well. Among them? A trail of stars down the back of her neck, a handgun near her armpit, a falcon on her right foot, the Egyptian goddess Isis on her chest, and her best friend’s birthday on her shoulder.
“I like hanging out in tattoo shops,” Rihanna told Atlanta Peach magazine back in 2007. “Sometimes I get dressed and go to the tattoo parlors in SoHo and hang out. I am so intrigued by tattoos. It’s an entire culture, and I study it.”
