— vm (@ViralMaterial) June 24, 2021
If you’re looking for a new Drake album about heartbreak and betrayal, this may just be the ticket. Singer-songwriter, makeup mogul and self described “bad girl” Rihanna was recently seen on an outing after she had covered up a matching camouflage shark tattoo she shared with Drake.
Out and about in New York City with boyfriend A$AP Rocky, pictures of Rihanna from that outing show that the ankle tattoo had been covered up by a crown. The version of the tattoo that Drake has is located on his arm, and according to an interview with the tattoo artist who inked Drake in Rihanna from 2016, the significance of the tattoo “is personal.”
“I’ve seen many people guessing the meaning online, but it’s not my place to share publicly,” the tattoo artist, Keith McCurdy, aka “Bang Bang” said. “I will say, I’ve made many tattoos for Rihanna and this one was my favorite!”
The images of the two with matching tattoos first emerged in 2016, with internet sleuths hypothesizing up and down what it could possibly symbolize. According to the report however, the most likely answer is the tattoo symbolizes a stuffed animal that Drake, otherwise known as Aubrey Graham, gave Rihanna on a date to the aquarium in 2016.
Could this tattoo cover-up be a symptom that Rihanna has officially distanced herself from the Canadian rapper? Or is it out of respect for her new, very public romance with rapper A$AP Rocky?
Fans across Twitter have very mixed feelings about the tattoo cover-up.
Rihanna covered up her matching tattoo she got with Drizzy.. Man I can't wait to hear "Robyn's Interlude" on his new album 😭😭😭.. This about to some of the best Drake we've ever heard 😭😭
— Hustle Carter ➐ (@RockStarHustle) June 25, 2021
rihanna covered up the matching tattoo she had with drake lmao don’t nobody feel my pain i promise
— LB (@lnbshr) June 24, 2021
Rihanna covered the shark tattoo…. I know Drake somewhere out there bawling his eyes out
— 𝔤𝔲𝔞𝔭𝔬 (@marleyaq) June 24, 2021
A lot of sympathy is going towards Drake, who, according to his music, gives off the sensitive and sentimental “soft boy” presence. It will be interesting to see if, from here, Drake will have his tattoo covered up or if he’ll keep it visible, hanging on to any last string of possible connection to Rihanna. If history shows us anything, given that Rihanna is pretty concrete and literal in her actions with not much room for speculation, it would be safe to assume that the duo is done for good.
“[Drake and I] don’t have a friendship now,” Rihanna said in a 2018 interview. “But we’re not enemies either. It is what it is.”