Words by Wendy Day Photos by EstevanOriol.com
C
artoon holds a secure place in Hip Hop history without ever having dropped a rhyme or mixed a record. Cartoon is an artist — a tattoo artist, to be exact. And while he could name drop Eminem, 50 Cent, Fat Joe, C-Murder, Method Man, Redman, Slim Thug, David Banner, Paul Wall, Nas, Pharrell, The Clipse, and many others as his walking canvases, he never would. That’s just not his style. He’s the kind of guy you can share a secret with and know it’ll stay with him to the death. A Hip Hop O.G., he’s also a walking success story. The first time I met Cartoon was with David Banner in February 2003. We were in Los Angeles shopping his deal with Steve Rifkind (SRC/Universal). When shopping a deal, labels try to find out what’s important to the artist and the negotiator, and they try to fill those needs to build a quick bond of trust and friendship that will give them additional leverage to secure the deal. It’s hard for labels to impress me because I’m not swayed by the usual trappings: money, cars, jewelry, scantily clad hoes (or in my case, half naked buff men), etc. But Gaby, the President of SRC, threw Banner, his manager, and me in a van, and took us into a barren industrial district in downtown Los Angeles. The neighborhood was deserted and I briefly wondered if the plan was to put a gun to our heads to get us to sign the deal, because this would have been the perfect surroundings for that. Much to our delight, we pulled up to a building next to a Gun Club and walked through double doors with no markings of any kind on the outside. Once inside, the walls were covered with artistic photos of tattooed clients showing off their skin. Sitting there in what looked like a barber’s chair was Cartoon. He was one of the people I’d been dying to meet. I’d seen his work for years on various body parts of my favorite rappers and old school album covers. I had been wearing the gear from his clothing line, Joker Brand, for years. Cartoon’s graffiti had even adorned the walls in the background of a Michael Jackson video. David 18 // OZONE WEST
Banner was already dreaming of the tattoo he’d get whenever his deal was finalized and he was on his way to becoming a star. Cartoon was the only artist he had in mind. Four years later, almost to the day, I pulled up to the same deserted industrial area in downtown Los Angeles. There were still no markings or signs on the outside of the building and although it looked familiar, I wondered if I was in the right place. A door with no handle cracked open and I saw Paul Wall and Michael “5000” Watts just inside. I was in the right place. A new generation of rappers has found Cartoon. Cartoon’s operation has grown since the last time I was there. He’s still in the same complex, but has a much larger space next door. Paul Wall, who has been tattooed numerous times in the past by Cartoon, was there to fit him for a new grill. How appropriate! “Coming to Cartoon’s is an experience that you never forget,” Paul explained Cartoon’s value while making the mold for his mouth. “I have other tattoos from other artists that I had before, but as soon as I got the Cartoon tattoos, I was like a member of an elite club — an elite underground organization. So when people see it they ask, ‘Did Cartoon do that?’ I’m like the cool kid in school with the new shoes. It’s low key - there’s not a million people in here, so when I’m in here screaming and squirming, we’ll joke around about it and laugh about what’s going on. “The tattoos mean something. He makes them FOR me. I give him an idea of what I want and then we sit around and talk and kick it. We hang out and discuss it and then he makes suggestions like, ‘How about if we do this and then we change this around.’ That evolves into a piece of art on me. It’s not a picture from a book where I said, ‘Gimme that one,’ and it’s the same one that everyone else has. It’s an experience!”
I look at the most recent tattoo on Paul’s forearm, which sits just above the flag of Texas that he has on the back of his hand. It’s a signature Cartoon clown, only an exact likeness of Paul, his grill exposed and all. “Yeah,” Paul continues, “I get some, then I come back two weeks later right when they’re healing and I get another one, and then another one...” Cartoon has inked up more than just brave rappers. He’s done street dudes, homies from around the way, actors, rock stars, musicians and just about anyone willing to wait. His schedule is five months out. But his business is founded on the day-to-day people who see the value of Mr Cartoon. “The artists get me these interviews,” he notes. “Nobody wants to interview me about the soccer mom I just tattooed or the stripper or the homie that works at FedEx. We tattoo muthafuckers on the street. They aren’t a platinum rapper, they are just the right dude on the street that needs to get tattooed. They might just be someone I vibe with.” Cartoon’s spirituality and the beautiful human being that he is, is what gets the attention from most of the people who know him. David Banner told me that what made him decide to get his tattoo was a “spiritual connection. We vibed on GOD first and he told me that I carried Mississippi on my back and I should do it literally.” So he did. Banner was not a platinum rapper when Cartoon tattooed him. The Mississippi across his upper back stretching from shoulder to shoulder is also his one and only tattoo. Cartoon started on the streets of L.A. and is proud to be giving back to the community. He enjoys speaking to young people and feels the biggest problem with kids is that they don’t know what they want to do when they grow up. He reaches out to kids regularly because he feels sharing that passion and his blueprint to success is important. “Money is important, because I have 4 kids to