Pride: Miami Tattoo Artist

"CAN'T GET ENOUGH"
MIAMI'S TATTOO KINGPIN HAS RAPPERS COVERED.

They say tattoos can be addictive, and based on the multiple pieces of body art on Lil Wayne, Baby, Young Jeezy and Yung Joc, there's some truth to that theory. The man responsible for easing those and many other rappers' ink obsessions is Miami-based tattoo artist Luis Bustos (a.k.a Pride), whose custom line work has made him tops in the game.

Born in Brooklyn, the 27-year-old tattooist split his youth between his parents' native Bogota, Columbia and Miami, where he developed a passion for drawing portraits at age 12. After viewing the Latin crime flick Bound By Honor, Pride was inspired to turn his artistic flair into a full-time career. "I saw Mexican dudes in jail [with] tattoos that were really good," he recalls. "That gave me an idea, like, that's what I want to do." Dropping out of high school in ninth grade, Pride spent his teen years apprenticing at local tattoo shops. In 1999, he scored his first celebrity client—fellow Dade Count resident Trick Daddy—after meeting him through a mutual friend. Having seen Pride's work around the way, Trick solicited him for four tats, including one of a smiling clown with three dice and the words "head crack" on his arm.

Pride kept perfecting his craft until 2005, when he opened his own parlor, Prides' Tattoo Gallery, in Miami's South Beach. The skilled ink man soon landed high-profile clients like Miami Heat players Udonis Haslem and James Posey and quickly became known as the area's best portrait tattooist. So when M-I-A transplant and Cash Money co-founder Baby wanted etchings of his loved ones on his skin, Pride, who has also inked Pharrell, Cee-Lo and Jacki-O, was the obvious choice. "Most of the newer stuff, from the past two or three years, between [Baby] and Wayne is all my work," says Pride. "They got something, like, every three weeks." While Birdman boasts tats of eight family members on his stomach and chest done by Pride (including the infamous portrait of Wayne on Stunna's right pec), Wayne has serveral nonportrait drawings, including a depcition of Hurrican Katrina and a Jay-Z verse, by the skin artist. "He the talk of Miami 'cause he a real dude, and it reflects through his work," says Baby of Pride. "Dude is gifted. That's why everyone comes back."

With prices ranging from $300 to $15,000, Pride can accommodate the common man's budget while still setting the benchmark for originality. "I don't want to repeat my tattoos, and I don't want my tattoos to be duplicated," he says. "Whenever [people] come in here, they're gonna get an orginal piece."
That's why he's the besssst.


XXL Magazine 2007
October Issue #96