Tattoo: Johnny Cash/C.R.E.A.M.

 

It was either me or tattooist Chad Koeplinger who came up
with the idea; Johnny Cash came first and the Wu-Tang Clan pun seemed too good to resist – C.R.E.A.M. stands for Cash Rules Everything Around Me, from 1993's Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) album. It works because it appeals to my sense of humour, and I have a genuine reverence for both parties. There's something nice about making hitherto unseen connections through lightheartedness.

It probably took me minutes to decide to get it done, certainly less time than it took to do the actual tattoo. Why Cash and Wu-Tang? I admire the simplicity of Johnny's delivery and arrangements and the moral ambiguity in his storytelling; sometimes sacred, sometimes profane,
always entertaining. Shame they had to ruin it with that rotten film,
but that's the way of the world.

With Wu-Tang Clan, I'm a fan of their occulted view of the mundane and everyday, specifically seeing the trials of streetlife through the prism of martial arts and Oriental philosophy. But they never let these elements weigh down a good track. They're unparalleled in hip-hop.

There's certainly a connection between outlaw country and hip-hop; the central theme of both is money and women. The Wu and Cash could be seen as offering a little broader scope and a spiritual dimension to the mire; some content beneath the braggadocio. I'm not about to get a Gucci Mane tattoo, put it that way.

In my questionable yearn to look like a French criminal from the 20s, I'm steadily covering my body with tattoos that mark important events, people, rites of passage and sometimes just jolly nice imagery. I don't love all the tattoos I've had done, but the person who lives without regret is either shallow or lying. The tattooist Thomas Hooper once told me that you have to make sure you like what you have tattooed on the front of your thighs as they're the first things you see every morning when you get out of bed. Actually, he might have said when you sit on the toilet, but the point is the same. I've never regretted this tattoo for a second.