Zulu Tattoo
|  | | Jerome Anthony Beck | | On a recent trip to Los Angeles, I spoke with famed tattoo artist Zulu, whose celebrity clientele include newlyweds Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon, Janet Jackson (who will begin her "Discipline" tour in September), Christina Aguilera, Bruce Willis, Rosie O'Donnell and Dennis Rodman. Zulu and his wife, Khani Zulu, own and operate the prestigious Zulu Tattoo studio, located in a fashionable west L.A. district. In the 15 years he's had the studio, Zulu has become a celebrity in his own right; as a tattoo artist, he is booked a year in advance, but you can always get a quicker appointment with members of his talented staff. He's been called in by major Hollywood movies studios to sketch temporary tattoos on actors such as Wesley Snipes on the set of the film "Blade". (He uses an alcohol based dye that won't sweat off.)
The 44 year old artist, formerly Jerome Anthony Beck, took his last name from the South African warrior king, emperor Shaka Zulu. He is a self described island boy who grew up in the Florida Keys. After graduating from Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota Florida, Zulu worked as a graphic artist/commercial illustrator; he worked for a firm but found that the work was not feeding his soul. He began tattooing as a hobby, and because of his elaborate designs and precision with the needle, it quickly escalated into a career. Since his clients fly in from around the world, Zulu plans to open a studio in France called Zulu Tatouage. Ok, lets have the dish on Mariah Carey and her new husband, Nick Cannon.
Mariah was really cool. She didn't really want to talk about what was happening because I think she was calling before they got married. They said, this is very confidential, we don't want this to get out. Tattooing so many celebrities, you have to be discreet. They let me know what they wanted and I drew it up ahead of time and they approved some drawings and when the day came, we went out to their beautiful house in Beverly Hills.
We sat and talked about refining the drawings and they gave me some lunch. Mariah was really mellow, real confident, not overbearing in the least, she was polite but she knew what she wanted. She was assertive, which was cool. She decided she wanted a butterfly because she's all about butterfly. It was her very first tattoo. She sat for it and didn't flinch. She's a tough cookie. She found me on the web, and probably through her celebrity circle.
It was Nick Cannon's first tattoo as well. He got some script on his back. It was a really good experience for everyone, especially for the first tattoo, because that tends to make people a little bit nervous. They did well, like people who had a million tattoos. (excerpt from San Francisco Chronicle)
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