Chris Rock’s first tattoo at 55 is Basquiat crown

Chris Rock may just be the coolest dad ever—at least, he's cool enough for one of his teenage daughters to want to get a matching tattoo. That's a pretty big deal in our books. New York tattoo parlour Bang Bang Tattoo revealed on their Instagram this week that the comedian dropped by for his first ever ink at the age of 55 and brought along his daughter who got a similar tattoo.The black-and-white post shared three photos from the occasion, the first of which featured Rock in a mask (as he should be!) displaying his new Basquiat crown tattoo on his left shoulder, followed by a close-up of the tribute to Haitian-American painter and street artist Jean-Michel Basquiat.

 

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First tattoo for King @chrisrock and his wonderful daughter. Thank you for the trust ? #basquiat Check out our charity and non profits list at bangbangforever.com

A post shared by Bang Bang Tattoo (@bangbangnyc) on Jul 15, 2020 at 3:07pm PDT

The post doesn't specify which of the Rock girls got inked (Lola is 18-years-old and Zahra is 16), but the third photo shows what looks to be one of Rock's daughter's shoulders sporting a commonly referenced image of Basquiat's—a dinosaur with his signature crown above its head. Now that's some adorable father-daughter bonding.The crown is a motif so common in the late Jean-Michel Basquiat's work, it's essentially an artistic signature. He used the crown to elevate figures in his art to royalty, particularly Black male artists, writers, athletes and musicians. His friend and contemporary Francesco Clemente once explained, "Jean-Michel’s crown has three peaks, for his three royal lineages: the poet, the musician, the great boxing champion." The absence of a crown also made a point in his art—as evidenced in his piece "Irony of the Negro Policeman" where he pointedly topped an image of a misshapen man with a hat, rather than the crown. Rising to fame in New York City at the same time as hip-hop, a lot of the themes in his art reflected the same sentiments.