Rihanna’s Maori tattoo was created with the help of a traditional inked mallet and chisel and the painful looking event was captured on video.
The famed singer decided to get the tattoo in New Zealand while traveling for her Diamonds World Tour.
According to Rihanna she really loves the country’s rich culture and she wanted to celebrate that culture in her own special way.
Maori tattoo’s are applied using a chisel, ink pigment, and a mallet.
The two-minute video of the process was filmed by local musician Tiki Taane. Rihanna’s Maori tattoo was applied by artist Inia Taylor.
Watch closely and you will see as Rihanna grimaces in pain, especially during the most painful parts during the end of the tattooing process.
At the end of the tattoo process Rihanna’s hands are covered in blood and are bruised from the chiseling process.
The new tattoo features an elaborate design of lines and symbols that likely added to the complexing of the process, and therefore additional pain for the “Umbrella” singer.
The tattoo was applied at Moki Ink. According to the company’s website:
“Moko Ink is the world’s first Maori Tattoo Studio specializing in the contemporary use and creation of traditional Maori and Polynesian Tatu… We make one off body art keeping alive the language and traditions that are unique to the art form. All our art is custom designed for each person on a consultation basis. The language of Ta Moko is used to design a unique piece of body art expressing aspects that relate to the wearer.”
Rihanna has since left New Zealand as she continues her worldwide tour.
The YouTube posted video has 664,832 views since being uploaded on October 8.
Here’s the final product from the tattooing process:
Take a look at the Rihanna Maori tattoo video and let us know if you could go through the traditional chiseling process.
