Machine Gun Kelly's latest tattoo transformation has certainly surprised fans, as he shared a photo of a huge change to his appearance on his freshly wiped Instagram.
Megan Fox's fiancé, 33, is known for being heavily tattooed, but now he's covered most of them with black ink all over his torso, chest, and arms. Lines of his original tattoos peek through beneath the black ink, forming a large cross on his chest.
The rapper, real name Colson Baker, looked brooding in the photo as he looked down at his freshly inked skin. He captioned the photo: "for spiritual purposes only".
Needless to say, his fans were divided by the change.
"I like your old tattoos they were like your history and so iconic", one fan added.
A second wrote that he was: "Proud of u brother, the change has been beautiful to watch".
Other fans thought that the tattoo change was "so fireeeeee" and "so beautiful", with the latter fan adding "i love watching your transformation".
Singer Boy George commented: "Wow! Pain! He must be a Libra?" In reference to the fact that blackout tattoos are notoriously painful.
Blackout tattoos, like Machine Gun Kelly's, require going over the skin with black ink multiple times in order to achieve the intense saturation and level of coverage, leaving skin feeling sensitive and raw.
Roxx, an experienced blackout tattooist who completed the rapper's tattoo, told Healthline that healing a blackout tattoo can come with its own set of side effects.
“There’s a lot of swelling that doesn’t usually happen with other kinds of tattooing", they explained. "The best tip I can give to people is to time their appointments with a couple of days off after the appointment, so they can fully rest and recover from the process."
"You don’t want to get a blackout tattoo and then go right back to your normal life, using your arm (or whatever you got tattooed)," they said.
Blackout tattoos are also notoriously difficult to get removed. The average tattoo reportedly takes between three and eight sessions of laser removal to disappear, while blackout tattoos can take more than 15 sessions with a laser technician.
Revealing MGK's reason behind his new ink, Roxx told TMZ that his existing tattoos no longer resonated with his current mindset, calling them "chaotic".
Roxx added that this was one of the biggest projects they had ever done in such a short time, as Colson came to see them four days a week for 13 six-hour sessions - and the project still isn't done. The tattoo artist said they still had a bit more to do before the job was officially finished.