‘Black Ink Crew’ Season 5: Who Is Young Bae?

When Black Ink Crew returned to VH1 for Season 5, several new faces were introduced but none were nearly as interesting as Young Bae. The South Korean tattoo artist quickly took up shop at Black Ink 113, the store known for hard partying, drinking, and lots of drama. Although Young Bae’s tattoo skills are top notch, the self-confident immigrant-turned-tattoo-artist jumped right in, creating a pretty nasty beef with another newbie right away.

Young Bae on Black Ink Crew has been in the United States for nearly a decade. When she first landed in New York City, the now-famous tattoo artist didn’t even speak English. Young admitted that she struggled a lot when she first moved to America and even was homeless at times. After all, she immigrated to the U.S. at the age of 22, not knowing anyone and only having $80 to her name. She talked on the VH1 reality show about how she did whatever it took to earn a living, including working in nail shops and restaurants.

When Young Bae first walked into a tattoo shop and asked for a job, she had never done a tattoo in her life. That didn’t stop her from trying though and even Young admitted that she lied about her experience and got the job. Thankfully, she’s really good at tattooing and rather than making a mess for herself, she made a successful career. In the last few years, Young Bae’s Instagram account started picking up followers and now she is just under 35,000.

Prior to joining the cast of Black Ink Crew, Young Bae spent some time tattooing on her own for another shop in New York City. Soon after, the self-taught artist opened up her own small shop that had just two chairs according to Starcasm.

Young Bae’s tattoos started to get really popular and now she is one of the more well-known tattoo artists in New York City. It’s no surprise that Ceaser Emmanuel was impressed with her work even after Young totally dissed him the first time they met, not recognizing that he is the owner of Black Ink.

Now that Black Ink Crew‘s Season 5 is a few weeks in, Young Bae is proving that tattoos aren’t all she is good at. She’s also really great at creating drama during filming, picking fights most recently with another newbie to the show, Tiffany Perez.

Young Bae was told that Tiffany Perez was talking about her behind her back after the two had talked and decided to work together since they are both newcomers at Black Ink. Even though Young confronted Tiffany, who denied ever saying anything bad about her, Young admitted that she “blacked out” and attacked Tiffany at the shop. She was seen throwing chairs and acting pretty irrational over the perceived Tiffany Perez slight, and later, even Young Bae admitted that she had gone way overboard and it was all caught on film.

Despite her tantrum, Young Bae is still one of the best artists tattooing at Black Ink 113. Based on some of the pictures she has shared on Instagram, Young Bae has hit it off with Donna Lombardi, who was previously fired from Black Ink after hooking up with Dutchess while on a girl’s trip to Miami. It looks like Donna might be back in the shop too, though, after Sky’s efforts to get her friend employed under the new persona “Bianca.” Donna appears in several pictures on Young Bae’s Instagram and it looks like they are even close enough to share the hashtag #donnaandbae.

For more Young Bae and Black Ink Crew on VH1, be sure to tune in on Wednesdays at 8/7c.

[Featured Image by Young Bae/Instagram]