Benjamin Hammond Haggerty, better known by his stage name, Macklemore is an American songwriter and singer. He has been making music with producer Ryan Lewis since 2000. Their song, “Thrift Shop” peaked at the US Billboard Hot 100 in 2013, making it the first song since 1994 to peak the charts without the help of a major record label. Their second single, “Can’t Hold Us” also peaked the charts making them the first duo in history to have their first two singles top the US Billboard Hot 100 charts. Macklemore has some pretty interesting tattoos on his body. He got all of his tattoos after the age of thirty because he used to say that you do not put a bumper sticker on a Cadillac. Obviously, things changed. Let us take a look at them and the meanings behind them.
1. ‘Woman’ Tattoo
Tattoo: The right side of his chest contains a tattoo of the face of a woman, wearing a hat and a scarf with a cigarette in her mouth.
2. ‘Scorpion’ Tattoo
Tattoo: The left side of the rapper’s chest contains a tattoo of a large Scorpio on it. Below it is the name, “Sloane” tattooed.
Meaning: The name belongs to his firstborn daughter, Sloane Ava Simone Haggerty, born in 2015.
3. ‘Leopard’ Tattoo
Tattoo: Macklemore’s stomach contains a tattoo of a leopard on it.
4. ‘Tiger and Eagle’ Tattoo
Tattoo: The left shoulder of the singer contains a tattoo of the face of a tiger on it. There is also a tattoo of an Eagle below the tiger with the words, “NO MATTER WHAT” tattooed in between both the tattoos.
5. ‘Woman, Eye, and Cherry’ Tattoo
Tattoo: The backside of his left upper arm contains a tattoo of a woman on it wearing boxing gloves with the name, “Helen” tattooed above her. Above the name is a tattoo of a single eye that is crying drop of blood. There is another tattoo on his left upper arm of cherry along with the words, “23rd & Cherry” tattooed above it.
Meaning: The woman on the backside of his upper arm is a tattoo of his grandmother, Helen. The cherry tattoo is one of his favorite tattoos because it represents the name of a street in his hometown, Seattle. The tattoo also serves as a reminder and helps him to keep sober as he joined a fellowship hall on the same street to keep sober.
6. ‘Mama’ Tattoo
Tattoo: The upper side of his left forearm contains a tattoo of a flower on it, with a band wrapped around it that reads the word, “MAMA”
Meaning: Macklemore got this tattoo to show his love for his mother, Julie Schott, and his baby mama, his wife, Tricia Davis who had been bugging him to get a tattoo of her name after he got their daughter’s name tattooed on his chest. He included both his wife and his mother into a single tattoo because he thinks it is bad for a marriage to get the significant other’s name tattooed on your body.
7. ‘Parrot’ Tattoo
Tattoo: The side of his left forearm contains a tattoo of a parrot on it.
8. ‘Skull’ Tattoo
Tattoo: There is a tattoo of a skull done over the design of a spade, on the upper side of his left wrist. The tip of the spade is piercing the skull’s forehead and coming out.
Meaning: Macklemore revealed how he likes to get cool tattoos and then apply meanings on them afterward. He got this tattoo because it looked hard and he thinks it represents the idea not to play with death.
9. ‘Cross’ Tattoo
Tattoo: There is a tattoo of a square on his left middle finger which contains a cross left out inside it.
Meaning: The cross represents the religious views of the singer.
10. ‘Woman and Flags’ Tattoo
Tattoo: There is another woman tattooed on the outer side of his right forearm along with a pair of checkered flags tattooed on the upper side of his wrist.
11. ‘Eagle’ Tattoo
Tattoo: The upper side of his right forearm contains a tattoo of an eagle on it. There is a little heart tattooed above the eagle with the word, “Lucky” tattooed above it.
12. ‘Rat’ Tattoo
Tattoo: There is a tattoo of art on his right upper arm.
13. ‘Horseshoe’ Tattoo
Tattoo: There is a horseshoe tattooed on his right bicep along with a lucky three-leaf clover tattooed along with the horseshoe.
14. ‘Snake and Balance’ Tattoo
Tattoo: There is a serpent tattooed on Macklemore’s right shoulder. There is also a tattoo of a balance scale below the tattoo of the snake. The balance has the number 33 tattooed near the scale and a pair of branches tattooed below the scales.
15. ‘Seattle’ Tattoo
Tattoo: There is a tattoo of a pair of dice on the inner side of his left forearm along with the word, “Seattle” tattooed below them. There are also a few more little designs tattooed above the pair of dice.
Meaning: This tattoo represents his love for his hometown, Seattle.
16. ‘Cross and Skull’ Tattoo
Tattoo: The inner side of his right forearm contains a tattoo of a skull on it wearing a band over its eyes and the word “EGO” tattooed on its forehead. Below it is a tattoo of a cross with the name, “NOAH” tattooed below it. There is also a tattoo of a woman on the inner side of his right wrist.
Meaning: He got the cross tattoo as a tribute to one of his childhood friends, Noah who passed away.
17. ‘Leaf’ Tattoo
Tattoo: There is another three-leaf clover tattooed on his right middle finger. This is also the first tattoo that he got with Ryan Lewis.
Meaning: The three-leaf clover is considered to be lucky which is why he got it on his finger.
18. ‘Shark’ Tattoo
Tattoo: There is a shark tattooed above the singer’s left kneecap.