- I've been having medical issues for the past year now. - Damn.
- I made an appointment for the specialist.
- Is it something more serious?
My biggest fear is leaving you out here by yourself.
- I was impressed what I heard from you.
I want you to perform in my showcase.
I would love for you to be a part of this RGLR
thing that I got going on.
- (indistinct)
(screams, bleep)
Ah, (bleep).
- It's us versus racism.
So let's win this fight together.
Today I'm leading a Blasian Unity Walk.
It's really important that we stand for one another.
- Black Ink Battle! Yay!
- Battle of the Sexes.
- (Spyder) I'm gonna bring home a victory for the guys.
- Team bitches all day, you heard?
- We have to think about,
you know, what we're working with.
So I don't think full color is the option.
- It didn't go well. - What do you mean?
- Everybody's not happy. - What is it?
Can somebody tell me?
- The client felt like you made
their whole situation worse.
And they legit said "you."
(intense music)
- What did I do?
- The one thing that Black Ink,
this brand was built on,
was to make sure that black people were comfortable
getting tattooed. - Right.
- The client contacted me after the competition
and basically said that her whole experience with the women
getting her tattoo was terrible.
And since Ceaser's still on vacation,
it's my job to take care of this whole situation.
Wanna know what's the one thing
that most black people don't like to hear
when they're getting tattooed...
- Please. - "You're too black."
- Who said-- I said that? I say, "You're too black"?
But Puma, I did not say that at all.
I don't think full color's gonna work.
We have to think about,
you know, what we're working with.
We want to give you what's best for you
and what's gonna stay. - Right.
- So I don't think full color is the option.
It's my job to let them know
what's gonna happen after the healing process.
I don't want them to think that, oh, this is gonna
stay just like this and it don't.
That's not fair to them.
What I want is for her to have the best result.
- I understand that, but the context of how it came out
and being that she-- it's her skin complexion,
she already feels self-conscious about that.
- She did? - She told me--
- Why? She's beautiful. - But see,
that's the part about
the culture that you may not understand.
It's all about in context, how you say it.
Being dark-skinned has a really ill...
stigma to it sometimes.
And a lot of people have dealt
with a lot of traumas from that.
This is not what the Black Ink brand was
created for,
for people who look like me to feel like this.
- I feel so horrible that the client
feels some type of way about what I said.
Because that's not my intention
and I have to make things right.
It feels so horrible that
the client had a bad experience.
No matter what my intentions were,
I offended somebody
and I don't want to be that person.
- Why, hello. - Hello.
(exciting shouting) - Hey, ladies!
- Hey, guys.
- Welcome to the conversation.
- It's like everybody's upset and...
- Yeah, we're not happy. - What happened?
- The fiasco of our team-building activity.
They were not happy at all with their female experience.
- (Tatti) I was a little worried about this.
Both clients had a rough experience
throughout the whole night.
- It's like totally different.
Like totally different.
Like it doesn't really like give what I gave at all.
- Oh!
- Rok, you are a tattoo artist
that clients will walk over.
(Rok) My customer is always happy.
- The customer is not always right.
(bleep) no, not in here.
- Even though they left happy...
- Oh, my goodness. I really like it.
- I love it. - You love it?
You love it? - I love it.
- ...or so they said.
- They felt like they set the tone...
- Right. - ...of making everybody
feel like she was too black to get tattooed.
- Oh, no! Don't, don't do that.
I did not say that.
- Had Bae told a client
she was too dark for a color piece,
I probably would have stepped in and...
stopped her myself.
I understand 100%
how she may have felt offended by that.
You know what I'm saying?
As tattoo artists, though, it's our jobs
to talk to our clients.
And whatever piece we do, we have to stand by.
- The point of this whole activity
was supposed to be to build morale in here.
You know what I'm saying?
And you mother(bleep) let me down.
Horribly.
Yes, the men did win the competition,
but there's really nothing to celebrate right now.
Because what we saw from our tattoo artists
in Black Ink was not to the standards
of the Black Ink brand.
I'm black. I'm not--
- No, don't make this about-- - No, no, no.
Listen to what I'm telling you, though.
I am black and I'm a black person
that walked into many tattoo shops in my life.
And-- - All right.
I get how this may have come out, right?
But in my head, I'm not thinking about race.
I'm thinking about tattoo. That's when I went wrong.
- I feel like it was a hard conversation to have.
- I agree. It was definitely a hard conversation.
- Nah, nah, listen, no. It's not even about that
because this is not what the (bleep) ending of this was.
- I don't want to be insensitive.
I don't want to be tone deaf. I want to learn.
So why you bashing me?
This is all too much for me right now.
I just need some time to process everything.
- The main point of this whole situation
was for us to build community.
And you guys took the steering wheel
and went left.
- I feel like the only person
that was comfortable enough to do that tattoo was Vanity.
Everybody else chickened out.
- So are you including yourself?
- I'm a black-and-gray artist.
Like I do color here and there,
but that's not my strong suit.
- Right. - So I opted out.
- Technically I do color work,
but on a daily basis in Black Ink 125th,
I wouldn't have done the tattoo.
I would have honestly referred her
to an artist that specializes in this.
- I think that your honesty in just saying
that we can't tackle this at the moment
would've been better off than how she felt at the time.
- I 100 million thousand percent disagree with Puma.
Because if we walking into a competition,
how would it have looked if the ladies would have been like,
oh, we're not comfortable doing this?
- So what's the lesson that we've all learned
from this team-building experience?
- Don't bite more than what you can chew.
- Goddamn it, Rok, gold star, Rok!
- Oh! (clapping)
- You know what? - What the (bleep)?
- I might keep this mother(bleep) in Brooklyn
a little bit longer.
- ♪ Ooh ♪
♪ I'm dropping I'm getting this money ♪
♪ I hear, ooh ♪
♪ I'm running these streets actually hated them ♪
♪ Watching my boo ♪
♪ Make money, take money money money money ♪
♪ Ooh ♪♪
(electronic music)
- (bleep), what's popping?
What's good with you, man?
- Had to come check y'all.
- How you doing, kid? (overlapping chatter)
- I'm stopping by the studio today
to talk business with Ted.
And it feels good to finally get out the shop
and all that drama.
But I feel like I'm not gonna be the one
to tell him about what happened after that competition.
I feel like that's Puma's job.
- What's up with you, though? - Working.
- All right, the shop is cool.
I don't really want to talk about that.
Save the tattoo talk for the tattoo shop.
Ever since Krystal performed at my showcase in Atlanta,
people have been going crazy.
My DMs trying to figure out when and where
could they hear the next song.
She agreed to work with me while we were in Atlanta,
but now that we're back in New York,
we have to get the ball rolling.
What's up with this music thing?
- I mean, I'm still working on that song
that I performed.
♪ I flip the script up on these hos, and watch 'em copy ♪
♪ Got your (bleep) money ♪
♪ I think they got 'em cranked out... ♪
- Solo sounded very good,
even though you fell off that mother(bleep) stage.
(air horn blows)
- (bleep).
(screams)
- But once you're working with me,
I'll hook you up with the best choreographer in the business.
- I definitely have to start working on these moves,
'cause I'm trying to get taken seriously as a rapper.
I definitely want to do like choreography
so I can be like, all my Kalani (bleep) there.
- How 'bout we get the first song done
while you're taking choreography classes,
and then we can shoot the video.
You know what I'm saying? That'd be one song
you can turn into the distribution company.
Then we work on a five-song project after that,
if you decide to work with me.
I'm gonna take Krystal
and turn her into a bona fide rapper and a superstar.
I just gotta figure out a name.
Kpac, Biggie Falls, Special K-- I don't know.
I'll think of something.
Either way, note to self, get a great insurance policy
just in case she falls off the stage again.
What's the name of the song album?
- "On My Mama."
(laughs)
No, it's-- I don't know. I haven't picked a name yet.
- I mean... - Let me holler my name.
"Oh, Mommy."
- "Oh, Mommy." You two brought to me.
- "Word To My Mother." - You two brought to me.
I love it. (laughter)
♪♪
- You nervous?
- I'm gonna tell you the truth, a lot.
- There's nothing to be nervous about.
- How you doing? - Hi, how are you?
- Dr. Shake. - Dr. Shake?
Okay, if you have a seat, I'll give her a call
and she'll be right with you. - Thank you.
(sighs) Oh, boy.
- We went through several doctors already
trying to figure out what was going on,
but I'm hoping and confident today
that the neurologist got something to say,
something good, because at this point,
it's starting to affect my work.
Even the other day with the competition,
you feel me, I'm going through it feeling the pain
and (bleep), whatever.
I was on my A-game, but I wasn't on my A+ game.
And I usually like to give my clients at least 110%.
- Why don't you tell me what's going on?
What brings you here?
- Oh, well, I started feeling like
this kind of like fire in my jaw,
almost, whatever.
Like just like on the side of my face.
And I wear like my glasses at one point.
Then like just couldn't even lay on this side.
- Can you describe the pain to me?
- It's-- it's like a distant pain
that's like right in here.
And sometimes like I feel it in my teeth.
- And it's only ever on your left side?
- Yeah. - So I'm gonna start off
by checking the strength in your face,
your arms and your legs.
- Since this (bleep) started, we done been to multiple doctors
spending thousands of dollars out of pocket.
- Let me know if any pain starts.
- Countless sleepless nights
that my wife gotta wake up
and see me in a corner in pain.
- Does it feel the same? - Yeah.
At this point, I'm definitely desperate for answers.
- Side to side.
That feels okay? It's not painful?
If you guys don't mind, I'm gonna take off my mask
so we can talk. - Yeah, sure.
- So, after talking with you
and hearing about what's going on
and then doing your exam,
I do think that you have a condition
called trigeminal neuralgia.
The trigeminal nerve starts in your brain
and it basically provides the sensation to your face.
Sometimes what can happen is that nerve can start
to be so overreactive that it's painful.
- (sighs) Okay, so...
trigeminal neuralgia it is.
But at the end of the day, I'm happy
that we understand what's going on and what we up against.
- Is there a cure for this?
- Well, straight answer is no.
- (groans) - Yeah.
- After we done been to 20 doctors,
spent $20,000,
no, there have to be some type of cure for this.
- There's surgery.
- Brain surgery.
That's heavy.
What the (bleep) you mean, brain surgery?
Like what, cut open my brain and (bleep)?
That (bleep) is rough.
(sad music)
- Don't be crying, babe.
Don't cry.
I know this is really tough for you.
But we found the solution, you know, we got this.
- We're gonna do one thing at a time.
We're gonna get an MRI... - Right.
- ...to make sure that nothing else
is irritating that nerve.
Also really important that your stress hormones go down.
'Cause pain is actually worsened through stress.
And then we'll go from there.
- We're gonna do this together.
Okay? Give me a hug.
Mmm, I love you.
- Ultimately it was a tattoo competition
and the last two lead artists were you and Bae.
- Yeah? - And neither you nor Bae
tattooed this-- the client. - Yeah.
(Ceaser) Has anybody spoken to Bae?
- I tried to talk to her,
and I feel like...
she put up a front.
- I don't like that
our customers feel any type of way.
I don't want you to be in a spot that you not comfortable at.
- What the (bleep) is Ceaser saying right now?
You tryin' to fire me?
♪♪
- ♪ She said I'm bad ♪
♪ Who's mad? ♪
♪ I'm bad you glad ♪
♪ He said, she said ♪♪
(Ted) How was your vacation?
- I ain't gonna lie, I had some fun on my vacation.
- That's good. You needed that.
- Yeah, I definitely did.
Suzanne and I went to Costa Rica for my birthday,
and that (bleep) was lit.
- Cheers to the weekend.
- Happy birthday to me.
We both vaccinated, so it felt great
to finally get out the country and see the (bleep) world again.
- When y'all gonna send me on a vacation?
- For what? What you need a vacation for?
- You don't need a tan, bro. - Boy, you black as hell.
What you need a tan for? - It's not about the goddamn tan!
It's about this goddamn stress
of this goddamn Brooklyn shop, B.
- What's up? - All right, so...
after the whole Spyder and Rok
"Come on, rhino!" situation,
I did another Puma production.
- What?
- "Battle of the Sexes."
- Oh, (bleep).
- Oh, man, why would you do that, Puma?
- I had to (bleep) boss up and goddamn do what I had to do.
I'll admit, things started off a little rocky with the guys,
but then everything worked out good.
And then the girls' client reached out to me.
She kinda put on a mask of everything was all good
while she was here. - Mm-hmm.
- But in reality, she wanted colors
and not everybody specializes
in giving dark-skinned people colors.
- Wait, in that group, none of them are experienced
in color on black people? - All of 'em acted like
they didn't know what the hell they were doing.
- I'm not thinking about race.
I'm thinking about tattoo.
- Like I do color here and there,
but that's not my strong suit.
- In Black Ink 125th,
I wouldn't have done the tattoo.
- So the girl legit,
her words, when they started,
it all went downhill from there.
"You can't get color. You're too black."
- Wait, what? They told her that?
- That's what the client heard.
- We have to think about, you know, what we're working with.
We want to give you what's best for you.
So I don't think full color is the option.
- Like their communication skills were just terrible
across the board.
- I don't think Bae's a racist,
but certain things you say can offend people.
- Yeah. - You know what I'm saying?
The same way how when we was in Atlanta,
she told us, "Sometimes y'all say things, y'all offend me."
- Yo, Bae, do you feel like we sometimes
may be insensitive to like your culture, to you?
- That's what I'm saying.
- She needs to learn that it goes both ways.
- Yeah, and Ceas, I definitely need you
to talk to that young lady, bro.
The last thing we need is to have black women
feeling like we're not here for them
and we're treating them less than.
The mission for the Black Ink brand
was about a shop that caters to black people.
And I feel like we are losing what the (bleep) we are.
And I think this is why I'm so upset.
- I'ma talk to her. It's just like
(bleep) just got me (bleep) up right now
because we all been there before.
- Exactly. - I know getting tattooed
back in the day, what they used to say about our skin.
Black Ink started as a shop
that said we was gonna break all the rules.
We can't sit here and turn around
and be just like them same shop
that said, "Black people can't get color"
or "You're too dark black."
We're gonna have to change the narrative
for Black Ink, bro.
We gonna have to get back to how we used to be.
- Not even change the narrative,
push the narrative more of what Black Ink is.
- Yeah. - Why it's called Black Ink.
- Maybe even have to teach a class
on how to (bleep) do darker skin.
- (bleep), I know, I know one that's great at it-- Poch.
Poch is one of the most talented black tattoo artists
of this time.
And he's the perfect person
to teach my team
how to do color on dark skin.
Yo, see what's up with Bae.
- I'll try to talk to her.
'Cause, you know, we're close.
- I think I'm gonna have to have a conversation
with Bae, too.
I love everybody, but they gonna have to understand
that (bleep) they can't just come in here and getting money.
We need to start weaving out the people
that really ain't for Black Ink
and get people that is really in Black Ink.
- That's true. - And we're never gonna leave
Puma alone again... - (bleep), I had it, I did!
- I agree we shouldn't leave Puma alone.
(Ceaser) Okay, Puma, you (bleep) up.
- ♪ You ain't know my... ♪
(indistinct rapping)
♪ We ain't talking with the bag out ♪
♪ I'm only winning if I see we on a bag ride ♪
♪ Yeah ♪♪
♪♪
- I heard heels.
I said, "Oh, okay."
- You didn't think it was me, huh?
- What's up, girl? - What's up?
- Let's get you a drink so we can chitchat.
Listen, during the competition, I was a judge.
So I was paying attention to both the girls and the boys.
So I don't really know what happened
with the girls' client.
And I've been trying to reach out to Bae,
but she had not returned none of my calls or my texts.
What happened? I was so excited for the girls.
- Me too. I feel like it was supposed to be a competition
to bring Rok and Spyder back together.
- Right, like... - It made us all drift apart.
I just hope that we have a chance
to redeem ourselves from this.
- From an outside looking in,
I feel like everybody could have done better.
- I could've helped a little more.
- The last two lead artists are you and Bae.
- Yeah. - And neither you nor Bae
tattooed the client.
- I'm not doing nothing in it.
- Sorry, I have to go!
- I feel like we picked certain roles for certain people
'cause we thought that they would do it well.
I didn't know that I was dropping the ball.
Like I regret it and I wish I would have
dealt with the client 'cause maybe she would have
had a better experience.
Yeah. - I don't know.
Have you spoke to Bae? - No.
- I mean, I-- I know that she's feeling some type of way
because I speak to Bae fairly frequently
and she has not hit me back. - No?
- Like at all.
- If I was Bae, I would be upset, too.
- In my opinion, I feel like Puma kinda did too much.
I do disagree with Puma coming at Bae like that,
especially since the guys (bleep) up too
and nobody gave them a hard time.
- Less is more, especially dealing with darker skin.
Certain colors won't even apply.
- And now I'm worried that maybe Puma
is gonna get in Ceaser's ear
and maybe convince him to get rid of Bae,
or Bae may just take it upon herself
to not want to be part of the team anymore.
- You know how America's going right now.
Maybe he's triggered. - Yeah, that's what I'm saying.
Like that's why I think Puma is somebody
who's in that leadership platform would be
a little bit more mindful of how he would say things
and handle things. - True.
I understand completely where Puma's coming from.
Because he made this business to cater to our community.
So when we're letting down our community,
that-- that speaks volumes within itself.
This is to everything going better.
- Yes. - Hopefully.
- It will. Puma production.
- (laughs) - It's all you.
You did that.
♪♪
- Do me a favor, walk on the inside, please.
Women should always walk on the inside.
- Okay. - What's up?
I ain't see you at the shop in a couple of days.
How you been? - Good.
- How's Niko? - Niko's great.
- What's wrong?
Talk to me. Why you look so upset?
- I'm not upset.
- You hot? You want something
from this little ice cream thing to cool you off?
- No. - You sure?
- Yes. - I'ma get something.
Uh, what we got, boss?
I'm still in disbelief of what Puma told me
about the competition the other day.
So I need to speak to Bae and hear it from her mouth
and find out exactly what happened.
Everything okay? - Mm-hmm.
- You sure?
I heard about what happened the other day
with this whole tattoo competition thing.
- Yeah? - And I just like really called you ahead
just to get your side of what was going on.
- I walked in and everybody started going crazy on me.
For me, that's what happened.
I'm like, I'm confused because I started tattooing...
with black people and black people only first.
The other day was really hard for me.
I understand that I made a big mistake.
But also at the same time,
I did not expect that type of reaction from Puma.
- Puma told me there was a client in the shop
and something was said that made her feel very uncomfortable.
Something about her being too dark for color
or something like that. - Mm-hmm.
What I said was, you know, this is gonna show,
this is gonna be better, this is gonna be whatever.
English is my second language.
But that don't mean I don't care about people's feelings.
And I also understand that I'm not always right.
But I'm open to learning new things
and finding better ways to deal with people.
I'm open to that.
- So at no point in time was it said by you
that she's too dark for a tattoo?
- I don't remember saying that.
- Like even if it came out,
just making her feel uncomfortable
that she's a dark-skinned woman
and she can't get a color tattoo.
I'm not a tattoo artist,
and I do hear that float around the tattoo industry a lot.
"Black people are too dark for color."
"You're too dark for this." And it's very offensive.
So I said, "That's not like Bae."
Like I don't think Bae is racist.
But in Atlanta you went through a whole racism thing
and you told us that we say things that we don't realize
and it be offensive to you. - Right. I feel horrible.
I feel horrible. - Ceas, I believe,
is doing a mandatory meeting.
So I really want you to show up.
- Yeah, I'm definitely coming to the meeting.
Like that's-- that's not even a...
Don't even ask me 'cause I'm showing up.
- All right.
I'm relieved to talk to Bae
'cause I can tell she genuinely feels bad about the situation.
And I'm also happy she's coming to the meeting
'cause I need Ceaser and Puma to see the same thing.
Listen, I never really felt any type of way
because I know you.
But just moving forward,
just understand the establishment that we're in,
and not the way the world is.
You don't want to be offensive to anybody.
- Yeah. I just feel horrible.
- I was calling you about this girl named Krystal.
She got some dope songs,
but she definitely need to work on her stage presence.
- I flip the script up on these hos, and watch 'em copy--
Oh, (bleep). - You broke my mic!
- Mr. Green, we're ready for you.
- So, on a scale from one to ten,
a hundred.
♪♪
- I'm still trying to figure out how to handle
the situation from the competition.
But luckily, I talked to the client
and she was very understanding.
As a black man who owns this company,
I never want my people to feel like that.
I-- I really do apologize for your experience.
- It's all right. (bleep) gotta go wrong
for it to go right, you know what I'm saying?
- My bad, yo. We good?
- Yes.
- But... I don't know what the (bleep)
to do at this point.
Fire all the girls? What would that teach 'em?
- Yup?
- Yo, bro, what's good, yo?
Me and Poch met at a tattoo convention.
We was the only two black guys at the tattoo convention.
So, you know, we said, hey, black man, how you doing?
How you doing, black man?
There ain't too many of us in this convention, huh?
And that joke created a friendship
that lasted a decade.
- Gotta link up soon, man.
- Um, yeah, we could link up sooner than later
'cause I need a favor from you, bro.
- All right, w hat's up? Holler at your boy.
- A'ight, a little incident happened in here the other day.
A client was, you could say darker-skinned,
and the girls basically made her feel uncomfortable.
You know what I mean? Talking about they can't
put colors on a dark-skinned female, you feel?
It's just-- it's just crazy.
I need somebody who knows how to throw down
on... black skin. You hear me?
- Don't say no more, dawg. I'll hop on a plane
and I'll come out. - Yo, bro.
You just took a ton off my mother(bleep) shoulders, bro.
Thank God for Poch.
With him teaching my crew color and customer service
really could put my mind at ease.
Listen, thanks, bro.
- Anytime, bro.
- A'ight, I'll talk to you later.
- All right, bro, later. - Later.
(sighs)
(bleep) bugs are tearing my legs up.
- ♪ Hey, one shot ♪
♪ Only got one shot ♪
♪ You can run away ♪
♪ One shot only got one shot ♪
♪ Practice makes perfect ♪♪
(line ringing)
(man) Yo, bro.
- Yo, Lunden, what's good, bro? You busy?
- Um, I'm at a shoot but I'm good.
- Oh, okay, that's actually what I was calling you about.
I gotta do a video for a female now, bro.
- Oh, oh! Who you got? Who you got?
- Um, this girl named Krystal.
After my last meeting with Krystal,
I assembled the A-team to start working on this video.
I hired a stylist. I even hired a choreographer
that worked with Beyoncé and a dope-ass visual team.
You can just call me Puff Teddy.
Excuse me, Brother Love.
- Let's get it! Come on! - Whoo! Oh, my God.
- One, two...
three.
- Whoo!
- Four. - Damn, I tweaked my wrist.
- What's her deal? Is she bad?
- She got some dope songs, but she needs some work.
She definitely need to work on her stage presence.
- Have you had any dancing in your background? Like...
- I did cheerleading. - Cheerleading?
- Yeah, middle school.
- Did the artist showcase in Atlanta.
I let her perform at the showcase.
She did well overall.
- When you're rapping on the stage, right,
are you hard-core, are you sexy?
- I'm a rapper, you know? - All right.
- She's just starting out and like I'm trying
to develop her as an artist.
- So right now I'm gonna go over the song with you
and some choreography and really like build
your character up right now. - Yeah.
- You know what I'm saying? - Uh-huh.
- Let me get the mics. Let's start.
- I'm ready to blow up.
So when you see Krystal coming up,
you better come (bleep) with it.
- ♪ Boom in that (bleep) sweet, unh ♪
♪ Da da da da da da da ♪
Kick, down. - Oh, wait.
- And kick, down, drop. - Ahh!
♪ I flip the script up on these hos, and watch 'em pop ♪
- Keep it movin'. - (bleep), I keep this pace?
- Come on! - (bleep)...
♪ ...the script up on these hos and watch 'em copy ♪
- (Ted) Like I said, she has raw talent,
but we gotta develop her into greatness.
It's a good opportunity for both of us
'cause I think this song could go viral.
- Get to it. I totally agree. - All right.
- ♪ I flip the script up on these hos, and watch 'em pop ♪
- That's it right there. - Oh, (bleep).
- You broke my mic! - (laughs)
- You broke my mic!
- No! - Aw, (bleep).
♪♪
- ♪ I made it and you ask me would I ask for better ♪
♪ I take 'em through the moment ♪
♪ 'Cause nothing lasts forever ♪♪
- How you doing? Spyder Green.
Today we're at this MRI place
and we basically want to see what's up with my brain today.
"Are you pregnant?"
I don't think so.
- So Ceas was cool with you taking time off for this?
- Nah, I just swapped shifts for the day.
- Spyder haven't told Ceaser what happened to him
because he don't want to put his problems on another person.
And he feel like Ceaser got his own problems.
That's just how he is, you know?
- (woman) Mr. Green, we're ready for you.
- Yup, baby, come on.
So, on a scale from one to ten,
as far as being nervous, I... a hundred.
- Ready? - Yes.
I've never had an MRI in my life
and I don't know what to expect.
- (man) Are you okay? - Yes.
- Here we go.
(machine beeping)
- What I would tell you to anybody
that might get an MRI in the future is
don't ever smoke weed and get an MRI
'cause you gonna feel like you getting abducted by a UFO.
(man) He's handling it really well.
- (echoing scream)
(man) He handles it well.
- Word up.
- That's it, man. - All right.
- Just gonna take this out and it's a wrap.
You did great. - Thank you, man.
- Yay!
- You did great.
Just gonna wrap him up and he's good to go.
- Ah, man, it was totally easier
than I thought it was gonna be.
Now it's the hard part-- waiting for the results.
- How was it? - It was cool.
Relaxing. (laughing)
- If y'all don't know who Poch is,
he done helped me a lot in this industry.
He done made me understand the ethics
of being a minority tattoo artist.
I notice Bae's not here.
And honestly, that's not a good decision on her part.
♪♪
- If I show 'em my artwork,
I would have my colors up for all these for that.
I would know exactly...
- What up, y'all? - Bro, bro.
- It's amazing how Poch got all the artists
just surrounding him and watching him.
It's almost like he has a silent command of the room.
It's-- it's like he's the perfect person for this job.
How you been? - What's up, man?
- How you doing, brother? - You all right?
- Chilling, chilling. - Oh, man, okay.
- You know me, bro, come on.
- Vibe seems a little bit better
since the competition, and I'm kinda glad
because we needed this moment to breathe.
- If y'all don't know who Poch is, you feel me,
he don't give himself that much credit.
But he done helped me a lot in this industry.
He done made me understand the ethics
of being a minority tattoo artist.
It's a huge deal that Poch actually came out
to Brooklyn to do this,
so we could get past all this bull(bleep)
of telling black clients with darker skin tone
that they can't get no color.
But I notice Bae's not here and honestly,
that's not a good decision on her part.
I want to get around all these obstacles
that we have in front of us right now.
And this man is the perfect person
that can get us there,
'cause, as a group, we have to grow.
We have to learn from somebody
who has a lot of (bleep) experience.
Please let's not waste his time.
You see what he about to do
and he about to get crazy on ya.
- You know what, I ain't perfect but who is, you feel me?
Less is more, especially dealing with darker skin.
Certain colors won't even apply.
I'm happy that Poch is here today.
He about to show us some real (bleep) color.
Let's do it.
Say if it's a client with a darker skin tone,
will-- are the-- the border at we were like, okay,
I need to show you this color palette instead
because this color palette won't work for you right here.
- (Bae) I haven't talked to anyone else from the shop.
But after having a conversation with Ted,
I realized this meeting, I had to come.
- I would have my color up already out.
I don't want to sit up there and make them guess.
- I want everybody that's here right now
to understand what colors we can and cannot put on
minority skin, darker pigment.
And also, how do you treat that situation?
- I'm hoping that Bae has more of an understanding
of what was going on.
I may have been a little too...
passionate about the situation because, you know,
I'm black and proud.
But at the same time, I'm hoping that she did learn something.
- We do have those clients and you do have to have
that talk sometimes because, you know--
- I mean, that talk is so rough, bro, 'cause--
- Yeah. - Like you,
if I was doing your arms, bro, I know I can't do yellow.
- Right. - Instead of saying
no, I can't do yellow, I know you want this crown, whatever,
look, Ceas, I can do a mid-tone in yellow.
But I can hide it with orange and brown.
Undertone. Get it filled out.
So whatever highlight I use, it'll make it pop.
See what I'm saying? It's not you saying
no, this can't work.
It's like, hey, I can compromise and do this
if you're open to do it.
That would allow your client to be like, yo, okay.
Cool, I can do this?
- Matter of fact, show 'em how it's done.
Let's bring the customer over here.
Let's start this consult
so they can see how a pro does it.
- Here's the concept that you wanted.
Right, still have the original thing.
Here's the colors that will work.
- All right. - And it'll still look amazing.
We can still do white and everything like that.
You know, it's not gonna be as bright as that blue,
but I can still have it pop. - Let's do it, yeah.
- Cool with that? No problem, brother.
- As the client, how did you feel
about that just now?
What made you comfortable with the situation?
- For me, it was, this is why it's a little better.
He actually explained it.
- Did he use the word "no" at all?
- Never. Never said no.
- So you would never tell a client
that they're too dark for a color, right?
- Honestly, I used to do that,
but as I grew over the years, now I just won't say no.
I would give options and idea.
Any more questions? No?
You guys don't have no questions?
- It's like we can't wait to see your tattoo!
Start this tattoo already!
- Gotcha, I'm gonna start right now, okay?
- I'm so happy that Poch is here.
His work is amazing.
Like his colors and love for art and everything.
I'm a big fan of his work.
- All right, the common paper.
So what I do is I'll put a paper towel underneath it
only because this white allows me to see
exactly what the contrast is worth,
especially on darker skin.
So this white will make me see how deep the blacks are.
Like if I was doing this red right now
on his skin, you see how it looks?
- Mm-hmm. - Now if I take this red,
put it up against this... - Right, right.
- ...it'll allow your eyes to see all the true color.
You know what I'm saying? So I found like,
if I take a paper towel and put it underneath the skin,
it allows me to see exactly what all my mid
and dark tones are gonna be. - Okay.
- So if I'm doing white, I remove the paper towel
because I want those darks to be in the background
so my whites can pop.
- Are you gonna line any part of the tattoo?
- No. - You're not lining?
- No, I don't line. - Straight shader?
- Straight shader, yeah. - Ooh.
- Okay. - It's gonna be good.
- What threw us off with Poch
wasn't that he doesn't use outlines,
is that he doesn't use a mag,
which is a needle that's kinda like a brush.
So you can cover large areas.
He uses a straight round shader.
That's the weirdest (bleep) ever.
- If you guys have any questions, ask away.
- What do you think about, um, using lemon cream?
- I don't use it. - Right?
- I hate it. - That's what I say.
(overlapping chatter) - That (bleep) is so bad.
- What's that, 14? You gonna use a four?
- For everything, pretty much.
- For real? - Mm-hmm.
So I'ma show you exactly how I use it.
- What kind of needles do you use?
- Right now I'm using HEXTAT. - Yeah.
- What type of machine is that?
- This is a Rook Quill.
It's my power supply I'm working on right now.
- Who would think Puma's stupid-ass idea
would turn into a customer relations nightmare?
(needle whirring)
- It's a five. - A what?
- Five? - Five?
- Yeah, yeah. - Yeah, for color practice?
- But this opportunity opened up my eyes
and made me realize that my crew needed this situation.
- Look at that. Let me see.
- Oh, my God... (excited chatter)
- That's crazy. - Yo, that's insane.
- I needed a little space.
- Bae, we're trying to get past the situation.
I don't like that our customers feel any type of way.
- What the (bleep) is Ceaser saying right now?
♪♪
- ♪ Oh yeah much work that I'm putting in ♪
♪ Taught self-worth never thought I couldn't win ♪
♪ In a world out there that I couldn't be in ♪
♪ Every "L" was a lesson and I took it in ♪
- ♪ Took it in ♪♪
- So this is the last touches, everybody.
And... I... am... done.
- Pencils down.
- That is fire.
- Yeah, I like that.
- That's amazing.
- Yeah, that (bleep) looks clean.
- Hell yeah.
And it pops out from far away.
The most useful tip I learned was to use that round shader.
Because when I first started off
and I did an apprenticeship,
I was just using liners and shaders
and they said, yo, you have to learn how to use this mag.
So I had to rethink my whole technique.
And it's like maybe I was doing it right all along.
- As I said before, you know,
there's certain colors that we couldn't do,
so I pretty much changed the tones up
and made it so it can hold the test of time
and really pop out.
- Watching Poch today, I learned a lot
from the color techniques to the shading.
And he didn't rush at all.
There was barely any bleeding in the tattoo.
Like... take your time.
The tattoo's gonna come out fine.
- Poch, we definitely thank you.
- No problem, I thank you guys for even watching.
- Word up. - I know it was long as hell,
but... (laughing)
- Nah, man, this (bleep) crazy, it's major.
- Thank you, man.
If you guys have any questions, hit me up.
You know what I'm saying? - Will do.
- Hit me up on the DM, I'll gladly answer.
(laughs) She said, "Hell yeah."
- For sure, I feel like this was super-humbling, you know.
I got to learn new techniques,
even customer service-wise, you know?
The little things really do come a long way.
- Yes, yes. It's very important.
Very important.
- The Black Ink battle kinda was a success
when you really think about it.
It actually taught all the artists something new.
They're getting a master class
from one of the best artists on the planet.
I'm gonna say this is a half-win for the Puma production.
- Give Poch the keys to the city.
(laughter) - I got you. I got you, baby.
- Bae's been avoiding me all day.
I'm just sitting there wondering,
when is she really gonna sit down
and talk to me about this issue?
- (Bae) Can I have a conversation with you?
- Okay.
- I've been wanting to speak to Ceaser
after what happened.
I'm an Asian immigrant woman.
I don't want other people to offend me.
Like I don't want to do that to other people.
I want to learn and I just want to make sure
that Ceaser knows that, that's my mindset.
- What's up with you?
- Hmm? - What? Talk to me.
- You know, for me to hear that I hurt somebody,
just this really (bleep) me up. - Uh-huh.
- I wasn't sleeping, I wasn't eating.
I was crying all the time.
- So what? - I just want to make sure
you (bleep)... that, you know, it never happened before
and it's never gonna happen again.
- I don't know because the way you were moving,
it's like, yo, I didn't know if you was like,
it's like, (bleep) this, I can't take it or...
- (bleeps). No, there's no--
You know what I'm saying? I was just like,
I needed a little space.
- Bae's been with us a very long time,
but so was Walter, Donna,
and other people that I had to let go.
I know longer can let friendship get in the way of business.
I have a decision to make.
Bae, we're trying to get past the situation.
I don't like that our customers feel any type of way.
I don't want you to be in a spot that you're not comfortable at.
- So don't come here?
♪♪
- Bae, we're trying to get past the situation.
I don't like that our customers feel any type of way.
I don't want you to be in a spot that you're not comfortable at.
- So don't come here?
(intense music)
What the (bleep) is Ceaser saying right now?
He trying to fire me?
- I just wanted to make sure
you still want to be part of Black Ink?
- Yeah, because that's what you want, right?
- I mean, I could replace you.
I seen another... - (laughs)
(both laughing)
- I was really considering firing Bae
and the whole girls' team over this situation.
But after seeing how they was with Poch,
it made me reconsider and understand
they're willing to grow.
But I want you to be comfortable.
- I was just like, I needed my space.
And I-- I'm here. What's the problem?
- So that means yes or no, Bae?
- Yes! It's a (bleep) yes. - All right.
That's how I wanted it. Damn, why you so difficult?
I can see why you single now.
Oh! Ahh!
- Hey!
- Yes! (cheering)
- We gotta do a ad campaign
with a photo shoot of all of us, yo.
Like on some "Dynasty" type of (bleep).
- Before we do this photo shoot, everyone needs to get fit.
- Come on, guys!
So we're gonna start in the saddle real quick.
♪♪
- Where is you at? We over here.
I just got finished taking my pictures and (bleep).
- My brother got into a car accident on the highway.
I gotta go to the hospital. - What?
- You know I had court the other day, right?
- For your daughter. - They trying to say
that press conference I had,
it was violation of a restraining order.
- Right now you need to be running it up
and trying to get everything in order as fast as you can.
Get your (bleep) together.
- (Tatti) Ay yo, get the (bleep) outta here!
I don't want to hear it! (door slams)
♪♪
- ♪ MTV ♪