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Post Malone has said his tattoos mix music references, personal interests and designs he simply thought looked good. He has explained the meaning of several tattoos himself, but not every design has a deeper story—and the available accounts do not establish his complete, current tattoo inventory.
What Post Malone has said his tattoos mean
The clearest firsthand explanations come from GQ’s Tattoo Tour, published March 5, 2020. Malone discussed the designs below in that interview; these descriptions reflect what he said, rather than interpretations assigned to him by others.
| Tattoo | Malone’s explanation | What kind of reference it is |
|---|---|---|
| “Stay Away” | He said the words came from a Nirvana song he likes. The choice was also inspired by Lil Peep’s “Cry Baby” tattoo. | Music and cultural reference |
| “Always Tired” | He connected the words beneath his eyes with being constantly tired from touring and working, and with not taking care of himself as he felt he should. He put it plainly: “Under my eyes it says, Always tired, ’cause I’m always tired.” | Personal comment about his life at the time |
| Claymore | He said he had liked swords since childhood and joked that the tattoo would make his mother mad. | Personal interest, with a joke about his mother |
| Blackjack cards | He said he chose them for fun because he likes blackjack. | Personal interest |
| Barbed wire on his forehead | He said it looked cool as a trim. | Aesthetic choice |
| X-eyed smiley | He said he chose the X-shaped eyes and then noticed the design accidentally resembled Marshmello. | Visual choice and accidental resemblance |
| Playboy bunny | He identified the arm tattoo as his first and said he got it while recording Stoney. | Personal milestone; he did not give it a symbolic meaning in this account |
| Saint | He described a saint lifting a robe to reveal a skeleton. The same figure appeared on the cover of Too Young. | Visual and musical-art connection |
| Cow skull | He said he chose it because it looked cool, not because it had a deeper meaning. | Aesthetic choice |
Why does Post Malone have face tattoos?
Malone has offered more than one personal explanation. In GQ’s Tattoo Tour, he said, “I feel like the face tattoos make me interesting to look at.” In a separate GQ profile, he suggested that insecurity about his appearance may have played a part in his decision to get face tattoos. Those are his own remarks, not a clinical assessment or a single definitive explanation for every tattoo.
The designs he discussed show why it is a mistake to assign one meaning to the whole collection: some connect to music or his interests, while others were choices he described in aesthetic terms.
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GQ’s 2020 Tattoo Tour is a firsthand account of selected tattoos, not a comprehensive inventory. Men’s Health’s 2021 guide and News Tattoos’ 2024 guide offer broader lists, but identifications or interpretations in secondary guides should not be treated as confirmed personal intent unless Malone has said so himself. The total number of his tattoos, and any changes made after the 2020 interview, are not established by these accounts.
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