It’s been a hell of a year, so it’s more than fitting that the 2021 Holiday Issue sends the year out with a bang! 

You can pick up your copy of the 2021 Holiday Issue at Inkedshop.com. Or, and we highly recommend this, click here to get a subscription to Inked so you’ll never miss an issue.

In case we haven’t quite sold you on the issue yet, here’s a sneak preview of what’s inside! 

Brooke Candy

Photo by Seth Pratt

Photo by Seth Pratt

We start it off with Brooke Candy on one of the most visually interesting covers we’ve ever done. The multi-talented artist was inspired by Macrophilia—a fetish involving the adoration of giantesses. Candy turned the fetish on its head and gave it a feminist spin, then opened up about how she learned how to tattoo during lockdown.

“I started tattooing during the pandemic and I found it to be such a passion that I was ready to quit music forever and only do tattoos,” Candy says. “I was like, ‘I love doing this. I can be mindful, I can be present, and I can put my phone away to just draw all day.’ It’s always appealed to me and all of my best friends are tattoo artists. [Tattooing] has the best people and a really good energy.”

FaZe Clan

Photo by JVY

Photo by JVY

While the haters like to dismiss it as “kid stuff,” Americans spend far more on video games than they do on any other entertainment industry each year. The industry’s tentacles reach into every part of our lives and on top of the heap you’ll find FaZe Clan. To learn more about what motivates the content-creation behemoth we had DJ Scheme (a gaming fanatic himself) interview two of the collective’s OGs—FaZe Temperrr and FaZe Adapt.

“You can look at someone’s tattoos and you can see what they’re about,” FaZe Temperrr says. “That is super, super dope. It’s like fashion but it’s not something you can change every day.” 

G-Eazy

Photo by Chad Griffith

Photo by Chad Griffith

The always stylish G-Eazy is featured on another one of our covers. In a conversation with Christina Lee the rapper opened up about having to postpone his latest album for a year, the way he cringes when listening to some of his older material and the deep friendship he had with the late Mac Miller.

“I cringe when I listen to [‘These Things Happen’],” G-Eazy says. “I have a very hard time listening to any of my music once it’s released. I feel like I’m always pushing myself to get better, in every way that is technical, because that is all you. can really control.” 

Moneybagg Yo

Photo by Evan Kaucher

Photo by Evan Kaucher

Moneybagg Yo’s career took off like a rocket in 2021 and it’s likely only going to keep soaring from here. We spoke with the rapper about his plans for the future, spending the bulk of the pandemic locked away in the studio and his tattoos. For his first tattoo, a decision his mother didn’t exactly support, the rapper cleverly appealed to her emotions. 

“She didn’t want me to get it, but I did,” he says. “When I showed her, she was like, ‘I told you not to it… ah, you did my name.'” 

Tyler Posey

Photo by Dylan Schattman 

Photo by Dylan Schattman 

Tyler Posey’s introduction to punk rock came when he was thrown a beer on his way to his very first Warped Tour at the age of 14. From that point on he fully embraced a lifestyle revolving around sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll… until it was too much. It was only once he embraced sobriety that Posey’s punk dreams started to come true. 

“In my song ‘Past Life,’ I give you the whole history of why I started using,” Posey told us. “It talks about how I felt so alone as a kid and then at the end of the bridge it goes, ‘I feel fucking everything and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.’ It’s very uplifting because not only does it show you why I got addicted, it shows that sobriety is awesome.”

IDLES

Photo by Rob Menzer

Photo by Rob Menzer

Few bands are more difficult to pin a genre upon than IDLES. Are they post-punk? Hardcore? Metal? Rock? The most apt metaphor we could find to describe their music is to say that it sounds like it’s rolling downhill. An unstoppable juggernaut constantly on the move. After almost two years sitting idle (sorry about the bad pun) thanks to the pandemic, the band is back with their fourth album, “Crawler.” We caught up with singer Joe Talbot to discuss the new album, addiction, tattoos and their upcoming U.S. tour. 

“If I’m allowed into America, I will have the fucking audience in the palm of my hands,” he says, “and I will force them to fuck the world. So hard. It’s going to be a beautiful thing. They’re going to be the best shows in the world.”

La Goony Chonga

Photo by Gen Real

Photo by Gen Real

In Miami, chonga is more than an aesthetic, it’s a way of life. No one exemplifies this more than Kasey Abalos, known to the world as La Goony Chonga. We spoke with the rapper about her unique sense of style, her tattoos and, naturally, being Chongafied. 

“Being chonga keeps me humble,” she says. “It reminds me to always work with what I’ve got and that it’s not about how much your clothes cost, but how confident you feel in yourself. It’s about being able to look like a million dollars in an inexpensive outfit. As long as I’m chonga, I’m reminded of who I am and what I came from.”

Donny Dust

Photo by Ashley Olander

Photo by Ashley Olander

Everybody has considered the idea of going off the grid for a bit, but few have the skills to pull it off. Donny Dust doesn’t merely survive under rugged conditions, he thrives. Dust told us all about his adventures and his unique approach to tattoo aftercare.

“I’m a huge advocate for letting your tattoos bake in the sun,” he says. “Everything in tattoo culture says you have to protect them, but I don’t think that’s how any of my work should connect to the natural world. They should be observed by the sun, they should be in the open air. They shouldn’t be closed up and encased and hidden from things. I like mine to be worn and weathered, beat up and scarred and bruised with little nicks and chips taken out of them. It’s only a compliment to the story.” 

And that’s just the surface of what you’ll find in the issue. We also have interviews with Jon Feliciano of the Buffalo Bills, Daniella Pineda, A$AP TyY and Mike’s Dead, as well as a spectacular art project and plenty of tattoos to boot! 

Grab your copy of the 2021 Holiday Issue at Inkedshop.com. And if you want to save yourself the trouble of ordering a single issue every time a new one drops, you can subscribe to Inked by clicking here. 

Source: www.inkedmag.com