Rihanna’s Tattoo Artist Gets Real About Her New Shark Ink

Rihanna got a new tattoo, and it was big deal. Rihanna doing anything is notable—walking while drinking, for example, or smiling for a picture when it’s actually a video—but the buzz surrounding the singer has added electricity after Drake’s VMAs speech. While presenting her with the Vanguard Award, the rapper said he’s loved her since he was 22, and then there was a confusing kissing incident. There was another confusing kissing incident on stage in Miami last night. All of it fed rumors they’re K-I-S-S-I-N-G offstage as well, in a couple kind of way.

So when images emerged of a camouflage-print shark tattoo where Rihanna’s left shin meets her foot, it didn’t take long for Internet super sleuths to find the link back to one Aubrey “Drake” Graham. The working theory is that the shark design was based on a stuffed version that Drake got for her when they had a midnight dinner date at Toronto’s aquarium in early August.

Keith McCurdy, better known as “Bang Bang” thanks to twin pistols on his neck, could not confirm the meaning of the new ink for his client, but he did confirm it has meaning beyond, well, being a shark. “The significance is personal,” he told Vanity Fair over e-mail Thursday afternoon. “That’s really all I can say. I’ve seen many people guessing the meaning online, but it’s not my place to share publicly. I will say, I’ve made many tattoos for Rihanna and this one was my favorite!”

The significance of the tattoo may be Rihanna’s secret, the significance of the job is clear for McCurdy. “I have never been so close to the work both artists put in,” he said. “I’ve actually never seen Rih after a concert, so it was special in that way. It was especially significant being in Drake’s dressing room and listening to him warm up and sing, but I was the only one there. That was an incredible memory I won’t forget.”

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“And then beyond that it’s fun to catch up and relive old memories with her,” he continued. “We go back 10 years now and only see each other when I’m inflicting some amount of pain on her, so it’s fun to play catch up—especially with the woman that has had the most influence on my career.”

Rihanna was McCurdy’s first celebrity client nearly a decade ago, and since then he’s built a name around tattooing famous flesh. Everyone from Cara Delevingne to Justin Bieber make it a priority to stop by his shop, now on Broome Street, when in New York. If you’re Rihanna, however, you fly him to you. He popped down to Miami without a lot of prep time. “The description she gave me was a camouflage shark,” McCurdy said. “So I designed three different versions while on the flight down and she ended up liking one.”

From there, it was just a couple of pals hanging out in Drake’s dressing room, creating memories and sharks with a tattoo gun.