Drake's Tattoo Collection Includes More Than 55 Designs

On Nov. 19, 2023, Drake was spotted with a new script tattoo above his right eyebrow. The piece reads "miskeen," which is an Arabic term that means poor or hopeless.

In August 2022, Drake unveiled his first face tattoo — a sweet tribute to his mother, Sandra Gale. Done by tattooist Noah Lee, the rapper got his mother's initials, "sg," tattooed right below his left eye in a delicate Old English font. It was the first of the musician's face tattoos.

In November 2016, Drake got a skull with flames emerging out of its head on his left shoulder with the word "Unruly" written beneath it. The single-needle design was done by the famous LA-based tattooist Dr. Woo. It's dedicated to Drake's friend and fellow musician Popcaan, who often references the term "Unruly" in many of his songs, having released a joint album with Anju Blaxx titled "Unruly" in 2012. The two close friends turned their mutual artistic appreciation into a professional partnership when Popcaan later signed with Drake's record label, OVO Sound, in 2018.

In March 2017, Drake unveiled another interesting ink on his Instagram. He got an image of a Drakkar Noir bottle on the top of his left shoulder. The popular men's fragrance by Guy Laroche is likely a callback to the rapper's old Twitter handle, @drakkardnoir.

In remembrance of the late fashion designer, Drake got a portrait of Virgil Abloh inked on the inside of his left forearm above his wrist in December 2021. The touching tribute, inked by Gangatattoo, captures the iconic image of the beloved entrepreneur throwing a Louis Vuitton kite down the runway in 2018. The black-and-white design includes intricate attention to detail, showcasing even the shadow of Abloh's pose.

Placed horizontally on his left anterior forearm parallel to the crease of his elbow, Drake got a quote tattoo broken into four consecutive lines, reading, "Everything happens / for a reason / sweet / thing." Inked by Dr. Woo in 2014, the design features small font text in capital letters. The meaning behind the script isn't known.

On the back of his left hand, Drake got a spider tattoo flexing its many limbs. The digit "6" is inscribed within the central body of the spider, which is a significant number to the Canadian rapper, who often refers to his hometown, Toronto, as "The Six" in his music.

During his May 2016 appearance on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," the rapper confirmed the meaning behind the cryptic usage of the number. "Yes, our area code is 416," he said. "We were debating on 'The Four,' but I went tail-end on them and went 6. And at one point, Toronto was broken up into six areas, so it's all clicking, man," further justifying his decision.

He also has a mysterious symbol design inked on the left side of his left hand. The first letter appears to be the Chinese symbol (力) for strength and power. The meaning of the two characters that follow isn't known.

Believe it or not, two text-message bubbles have also made it into the rapper's tattoo collection. The texts, inked directly above his outer left wrist, read: "I'll kill u" and "I miss u." Though who exactly these very specific messages are for — or from — remains a mystery.

Drake's left forearm bears the word "Sicko," which is the logo of the namesake clothing brand from the rapper's friend and stylist Ian Connor.

Situated right below his "Sicko" tattoo is a lion-head portrait with the Swedish words "Oktober Lejonhjärta" surrounding it. It translates to "October Lionhearted" in English. While October is Drake's month of birth, Lejonhjärta is a nod to the last name of the twin models Victoria and Elizabeth Lejonhjärta, who are good friends with the rapper and were there when he decided on the impromptu design in 2016.

In 2019, Drake bested The Beatles' long-held Billboard Hot 100 record by logging 12 tracks in the top 10 spots in one calendar year. To celebrate the historic moment, the singer got a Beatles-style tattoo on his left forearm. Similar to the cover art of the group's 1969 record "Abbey Road," the piece shows the four members of the English band crossing the road with Drake walking in front of them, waving them back over his shoulder. As one can imagine, fans of The Beatles did not take kindly to this controversial commemoration, deeming it disrespectful to the former rock-band members.

On the inside of his left wrist, Drake has the number "11" inked in black. Many speculated that the tattoo might be dedicated to Jorja Smith, the English singer with whom he was briefly romantically linked in 2017. Smith, born on June 11, 1997, also has the same number inked on her left middle finger. Though the singer denied all rumors about their supposed matching ink, Drake teasingly addressed the speculation in his 2018 song "March 14." "I got this 11 tatted for somebody, now it's yours," he sings in the track, as he talks about now relating the tattooed number to his son, Adonis, who was born on Oct. 11, 2017.

Drake has three solid-black curved rectangular shapes inked on the inside of his left wrist, right next to his "11" tattoo. It's the symbol of his record label, OVO Sound, which he cofounded with long-time collaborator Noah "40" Shebib in 2012.

"BBK" is tattooed at the top of his left shoulder in Old English font in all small letters. This piece is an homage to the British grime group Boy Better Know, which Drake added to his ever-growing tattoo collection in 2015.

On Drake's left triceps is a portrait of Lil Wayne, which shows him looking sideways. The piece holds sentimental meaning for the rapper, who paid a sweet homage to his mentor through this ink in 2017. The "Love Me" rapper helped kick-start Drake on his musical journey in 2009 when he got signed under Lil Wayne's Young Money label.

In 2015, Drake stopped by Dr. Woo's studio to get an intricate imitation of the CN Tower on his left triceps. The geometric design features delicate circular shapes and straight lines and beautifully pays homage to Drake's hometown, Toronto.

Drake memorialized his late friend Anthony "Fif" Soares, who passed in 2017, by getting his face portrait inked on his left bicep. "FOREVER FIF," it reads above the ink.

In another tribute to his hometown of Toronto, the Canadian rapper got a black-and-white compass design inked on his left bicep with the letter "E" representing the Eastside. This piece was also done by Dr. Woo in 2015.

LeBron James's portrait can be seen on Drake's left upper arm, next to the compass piece. The NBA player is wearing his iconic high school Irish 23 jersey in the black-and-white design, which sold for a whopping $187,500 in an auction in 2019.

Below the compass, Drake got the number "30," with an angel halo inked above the digit and the word "Gifted" placed below it. The ink represents the jersey number of famous NBA player Stephen Curry — Drake's close pal.

Right adjacent to the Curry tribute, Drake also honors Kevin Durant with his jersey number "35" on his left upper arm. The word "Snipe" is written below it for his nickname, Easy Money Sniper.

Though he typically only shows them off when he is on vacation, Drake has a plethora of portraits and script designs on his back.

Drake dedicated another piece of ink to his mother with a portrait of her on the right side of his back.

On the upper central part of his back, Drake got the portraits of his late uncle and maternal grandmother. They gleefully posed for the picture while hugging. The heartfelt family portrait was done by Nikko Hurtado in 2012.

Drake is a huge self-proclaimed Potterhead, and to solidify his love for the universally beloved wizarding world, he got a portrait of Harry Potter and his pet owl, Hedwig, on the lower right side of his back.

Drake's tattoo collection mostly features black and gray pieces, except for a couple of colorful exceptions. The eye-catching songbird design that sits on his left shoulder blade is one of the few colored-ink designs. The red, brown, black, and white bird is in flight, flapping its wings open, with "XO20" written in black and red beneath it. The letters "XO" might be a reference to The Weeknd (Abel Tesfaye), whose record label's name is XO.

They also mention this in the duo's 2012 collaboration, "Crew Love," with the lyrics reading, "That OVO and that XO is everything you believe in, I know." The same song also features the lyric "Tell them I'ma need reservations for twenty," likely referencing Drake's number of close friends, which might explain the "20" in the tattoo.

A portrait of the late R&B singer Aaliyah is situated directly below the songbird tattoo on his back. Drake has never shied away from expressing his admiration for Aaliyah and her inspiring artistry, which translated into this ink tribute in 2011.

Drake has another portrait dedicated to his longtime music-producing collaborator and close friend Noah "40" Shebib, which sits on the lower left side of his back.

On the left of Aaliyah's portrait, he has the words "I Love You," followed by another unknown word, which is hard to read. The script tattoo is prefaced with a peace sign and ends with the female gender symbol. The script tattoo runs vertically down the length of his back. The inspiration behind it remains unspecified.

A still of Edward Norton and Matt Damon from their 1998 movie "Rounders" is inked on the right side of Drake's back near his ribcage. In the portrait, both actors are all smiles as they sit at the poker table with a stack of chips in front of them. The hyperrealistic design was drawn by Inal Bersekov in 2018.

Drake has his clothing line's logo of an owl on his right shoulder blade. To the left of the design, he also got the lyric to Lil Wayne's "John (If I Die Today)" tattooed in a light script that read: "If I die today . . . it'll be a holiday." He also has a list of acronyms close to him in the lines below the lyrics that say, "atf / ovo / ymcmb / reps up." "ATF" refers to All Things Fresh, Drake's official fansite, while "YMCMB" stands for Young Money Cash Money Billionaires, aka the artists repped by Lil Wayne's Young Money Entertainment.

In 2018, Drake unveiled his biggest tattoo yet: a massive owl at the center of his chest that's chasing a mouse. The hyperrealistic design extends from his clavicles and almost entirely covers his upper torso. It's likely another nod to Drake's OVO store.

Drake has been a longtime admirer of Sade Adu, so, as is par for the course, he honored her by getting her portrait on his body. He got the first portrait of the British singer-songwriter on the left side of his torso in March 2017 with the words "With Love Sade X" scribbled below it. Then, a few months later in June, he added another portrait of the "Kiss of Life" singer right above the former, filling out the surrounding area with scenic clouds and a palm tree.

The Canadian native honored his roots by getting his hometown area code, "416," inked in large font, placed vertically along the right side of his torso.

A portrait of Denzel Washington from the 1990 musical dramedy "Mo' Better Blues," where he's looking ahead intently while holding a trumpet, is placed on the lower right side of Drake's torso.

Drake also has the portrait of his close friends and twin Lejonhjärta models on his right lower torso. Situated above the design of the twins is what appears to be a tennis racket. However, its significance to the rapper is not known.

Located on his top right shoulder, Drake has a gorgeous purple-pink hibiscus flower design with a bee sitting at its center. The ink is lifelike imagery of the rapper's 2017 mixtape "More Life," the promotional visuals for which included similar pink flower emoji.

Right next to the flower, Drake has the names of his godchildren tattooed on the top of his right shoulder.

Drake has the official logo of the Houston Astros on the top of his right shoulder, which features a bold outline for the letter "H" sitting atop the solid black-inked star.

In 2012, Drake got a medium-size CN Tower inked on his right bicep, which he later covered up with a black-inked eye. The Egyptian symbol of the Eye of Horus represents well-being and protection.

Drake's right bicep bears the words "All Kinds" in block letters, which he got in 2012. This piece is a nod to the often-repeated phrase that Drake and his friends use among themselves.

Below the floral design on his right bicep, Drake has a portrait of Jesús Malverde, the legendary Robin Hood-esque figure from Sinaloa, Mexico, who would rob the rich to help the poor. He was famously known as the "Narco-Saint" and the "Angel of the Poor" among the local people.

A portrait of Drake's father, Dennis Graham, can be seen on the back of his upper right arm, which he got in 2014. The rapper initially had a strained relationship with his father following his parents' divorce when he was just 5 years old, however, since then, the father-son duo have reconnected and grown closer. In 2017, Graham returned the sweet gesture and got a massive face portrait of Drake on his shoulder, which the rapper poked fun at on his social media in 2022.

Drake also added a tiny Virginia Black whiskey bottle (which he co-owns) directly above his dad's portrait with a tiny addition symbol connecting the two designs. Right below the two tattoos, he got an equal sign and added a smiling portrait of his own face from when he was a kid.

Drake's right bicep has a portrait of Robin Givens on it. The phrase "Be Careful Out There," written in cursive letters, surrounds the face.

As an ode to the 1992 animated comedy film "Bébé's Kids," Drake immortalized a still from the movie by getting its black-and-gray portrait on his upper right arm. The body art shows the kids hanging at the back of a vintage car.

Drake has two portrait tattoos of his son, Adonis, on his right lower arm – one near his elbow and another near his outer wrist.

When life gives you birthmarks, turn them into body art. Drake put an artistic spin on his round birthmark by incorporating it into his mythological design. He has the Greek figure Atlas on his right forearm, where the Titan god is carrying the world upon his shoulders, but instead of the Earth, it's Drake's birthmark.

In 2016, Rihanna and Drake sent the world into a frenzy by getting matching tattoos of a camouflaged shark. While the "Toosie Slide" rapper got his design on his right forearm, the Fenty Beauty founder placed hers on her left ankle. Done by Bang Bang Tattoo, the twin designs hold a lot of significance to the former couple, who shared a romantic moment on a date at an aquarium in Toronto where the rapper reportedly gifted her with a plush shark toy. However, since their split, Rihanna covered up the shark ink with a crown that wraps around her ankle.

At some point after parting ways with Rihanna, Drake also covered up his matching shark tattoo. He instead converted the former design into an elaborate anchor. It also has a banner flying across it carrying some small text, though we don't exactly know what those words read.

Gearing up to his 2014 track "6 God"'s release, Drake got a commemorative tattoo on his right forearm that shows the number "6," with a praying-hands emoji drawn next to it. Dr. Woo was behind the design, and a year later, in October 2015, the rapper paid him another visit to retouch the hands. This time, he gave the design more dimension by making them look much bigger and more realistic.

A true October enthusiast through and through, Drake has a Halloween-style, carved-out pumpkin lantern inked above his right wrist. The piece also features text beneath the lamp that says "Halloween Gang" in a closely packed hollow font. He got it in 2016.

He also dedicated another portrait tattoo to his parents where both of them are smiling in the same frame. The tattoo sits on his upper right forearm, left of Adonis's portrait.

On his right shoulder, next to his dad's portrait, there's a horse's head design enclosed in a circle. It's a similar design to one seen on his merchandise for "Morning Hills," the name of his former LA mansion.