Tattoo Stories with Nina Sky
By Nicole Mastrogiannis
August 15, 2016
Twins Natalie and Nicole Albino, the hit R&B duo that make up Nina Sky, have been making music together from a very young age, and in 2004 kicked off their career in music with their top 5 Billboard Hot 100 debut single "Move Ya Body." Over the last 13 years, the duo has released three full-length albums, and now, in 2016 are getting ready to drop their fourth studio album Brightest Gold, via Tommy Boy Entertainment. The record features their first single released last year called "Forever" and new song "Champion Lover."
Nicole and Natalie recently stopped by iHeartRadio HQ, where they opened up to us about the stories behind their many tattoos during an exclusive interview. Check it out below!
The sisters from Queens got their first tattoos together at 16 years old -- the day after their Sweet 16 birthday, in fact. The girls knew what kind of tattoos they wanted, so once they got to the tattoo shop, they explain that they picked the designs off the wall there. "We were young, and I knew I wanted a sun, and she knew she wanted a moon. So we kind of just picked something off of a wall. We just walked in and were like, 'We'll take that one.'"
On their first tattoo: Natalie's sun on her right shoulder & Nicole's lower back tattoo
"We got our first tattoo when we were 16. It was the day after our sweet 16, and we were like, 'What are we gonna do with all this money? We're going to go get tattoos.' So we went and got tattoos. The worst tattoos we probably have ever got in our lives. I [Nicole] have a tramp stamp, and Natalie has a sun, but it looks more like a bull's eye, or like target practice. But at the time, it looked nice. We thought it was cool. I don't remember how it felt. I just remember thinking I was so cool."And while the girls may not remember how their first tattoo felt because of an adrenaline rush (they mother had no idea they were getting these tattoos), they do say that "anyone who says a tattoo doesn't hurt is lying to you. They're poking you with a needle."
On how their mom found out about their first tattoos
Natalie and Nicole got their first tattoos without their mother knowing, and their story about how they concealed the ink from her (or at least tried) ended up with a trip to the hospital following a full-blown panic attack that turned into an asthma attack. The girls had first told their mother it was a henna tattoo, which they got often in their early teen years, hanging out around St. Mark's Place and West 4th Street in lower Manhattan in New York City.
"We used to come and hang out on St. Mark's and [the] West 4th Street area since we were 14 years old. So we'd go and get henna and our mom already knew that we would have designs on our skin. So that was kind of what we went with after we got our first tattoo. It was like, 'Oh, it's henna.' And Nicole went with that. She never noticed mine, but she noticed Nicole's. And then she came up with this whole story like, 'Oh, it's henna. You know, we got it on West 4th Street.' And she was like, 'No.' She found a gauze pad that used to cover it with, and then she screamed at me. She's like, 'We have maxi pads. Why is there a bloody gauze in the garbage?' I'm like, 'Seriously, woman?' So I had a, like a freak out, a panic attack. She was gonna scratch it off. But I had a panic attack, and I ended up in the hospital, because I had an asthma attack freaking out about my mom freaking out about my tattoo. And she ended up telling her. Cause my mom's like, 'That's not henna. I'm going to scrape it off your back right now. Give me a cloth. I'm going to wash it off.' Mind you, I'm standing there with my tattoo on my back, and I'm like, 'Oh my God. Please don't.' I'm like hyperventilating, sweating. So, it just ended with me in the hospital with an asthma attack. She was upset. Our mother was pretty upset at us."The twins' mother may have been upset back then, but the duo revealed that she actually has two tattoos herself as of today. They explained that their mom got her first tattoo at around 50 years old. "She got hers when she was like 50, so I think she was like, 'You should just wait til you're older.' She wanted us to wait til we were 50."
Nina and Nicole say about their mother, "It's really funny to talk about it now, but our mom ... I think when she was raising us, she wanted to be so serious and do things the way her parents did it. But our mom is so cool. Like if you meet her now, as she's gotten order, she's gotten cooler. So she's, just a little more laid back, because we're not in the house torturing her everyday."
Natalie and Nicole tell us that they have about six tattoos between them both that are matching. They each have a quote on their inner biceps that say "My sister knows the song in my heart, and sings it to me when my memory fails" (which their little sister came up with and was also supposed to get), a happy face on their left forearms, "New Yorker" on the lower part of their arms, in addition to having their names tattoo on each other.
On the quote tattoo from their sister on their biceps
"We have this one that says 'My sister knows the song in my heart, and sings it to me when my memory fails.' We actually asked one of our little sisters, our younger sisters, to give us a quote that she thought represented all of us. That we could all get tattooed on us. We got it, and she never did. But we got this in a studio. We were in a session with Bruno Mars, and he called in an artist, and we got this one done and another one. I got this one done, and I got a gun on my waist. So we just had a tattoo party in the studio, which is cool."On the smiley face tattoos on their left forearms
"We were in the Philippines in Boracay. And, we saw this smiley face on the stairway. Every time we'd walk up the stairs, this smiley face would be staring at us. So we told the promoter, I think we want to get that tattooed on us, just like as a memory. We never thought we'd be on Boracay, this beautiful island performing for thousands of people. So they called in a tattoo artist, and we got this in a restaurant in the Philippines. They came, we were eating our dinner, and they're like, tattooing us. It was cool."On their "New Yorker" tattoos on the lower part of their arms
"The 'New Yorker.' This one we got for our birthday at Nicole's house. Probably four years ago. So, twenty-something. 26 maybe, 25?"On their name tattooed for each other on the top of their wrists
"We both have each other's names tattooed on us. I [Natalie] have Nicole here. And mine [Nicole] is, right there. Both on the wrist. We were supposed to get this tattoo together [with their younger sister], and then she never got it. She ended up getting a matching tattoo with our mom, instead of us. She totally flaked."
The girls explain that their name tattoos for each other are their most meaningful. They tell us "We're really close. When you're a twin, it's like you have like this friend, your sister. And we work together. This one's really important."
Natalie on her "Mom" Tattoo on her inner left bicep
The twins' younger sister may have a matching tattoo with their mom, but Natalie has a "mom" tattoo of her own on the inside of her left bicep. The world "Mom" is featured on a banner wrapping around a heart with a dove-like bird flying in front of it.
"I have 'Mom.' This was for my mom. I never finished it. I don't even think I showed it to her. I think she's seen it, but when I first got it, she was like, 'Are you a mom? Are you gonna be a mom?' I was like, 'Mom, really?' But, I don't think I've ever showed it to her. Like said, 'Here mom, look I got this for you.' I never announced it."On their Ganesha Elephant tattoos
While it may not be the exact same tattoo design, Natalie and Nicole also each have an elephant tattoo. Natalie's elephant tattoo is on her left forearm and is inspired by artist Salvador Dali's 1948 painting "The Elephants," while Nicole's is more elaborate and located on her right bicep. Both are Ganesha elephants -- Ganesha is one of the best-known and most worshipped deities in the Hindu pantheon
"We both have a Ganesh. Nat really loves elephants, so I got this tattoo because I [Nicole] wanted to get a tattoo especially for Natalie. Wasn't enough that I had her name on it, so I got a whole sleeve for her. Nicole got that first, and then I [Natalie] got this one a few years ago. I was always obsessed with this one picture. I love elephants, and I love Salvador Dali, and I love how he does them in a surreal way."Nicole on her dog Wow Wow's face tattoo on her right forearm
On the inside of her right forearm, Nicole is a very detailed tattoo of her adorable dog Wow Wow. She explains that she's always wanted him tattoo'd on her and the Wow Wow tattoo is actually her most recent. So why did she name her dog Wow Wow? "When I first got her, I wasn't home, and my younger sister kept calling her, 'Wow Wow, Wow Wow.' So I was like, 'I guess that's her name now.' Because I didn't get to name her, so it just was Wow Wow."
Nicole on her Musical Goddess Tattoo on her inner right bicep
"It was one of those, I walked into the tattoo shop, and just went, 'I'll take that one.' It was just very not thought out. I just wanted a tattoo, and I got that. This one I got with a friend, on West 4th Street in New York City."Natalie on her hibiscus and "love" tattoo on her right shoulder
"I got this in Miami. It's a hibiscus. It's like a flower that you see a lot in Puerto Rico, so that's why I got that. And then love is, it's like my religion."Natalie on her rosary tattoo on her left wrist
Love may be Natalie's religion, but she does also have a rosary tattoo around her left wrist. She tells us, "I used to wear a rosary a lot, just for like comfort, when I was younger, and then I was like, 'I can't be wearing a rosary all the time.' So I got it tattooed on my wrist just so it'll always be with me. No one wanted to do it because it was on my hand. A lot of tattoo artists won't tattoo your hand, because they're like, 'What, what about your job? Or, you don't want to ruin your hands.'"
Natalie on the girl sitting on a giant record tattoo on her right forearm
"I got these at around the same time. It's a part of that. It's a girl on a record, because Nicole has been a DJ since we were 13. And I found this old vintage CD cover that was called the Black Albinos. And this was the picture on it. It was of a pin up girl on a record. And our last name is Albino. That's why I got that tattooed here."On what tattoo they would like to get next
Both Natalie and Nicole want to get more tattoos in the future. And while Nicole is still deciding what she would want to get next, Natalie says she would like to get a tattoo for her son Max. "I just want to get something for Max. I thought about getting 'Max' on my knuckles, but I'm like, 'That's super gangster.' Like you become super gangsta when you have a kid. Because nothing effects you, you're like super hard. So I thought about getting 'M-A-X.'"
Photos: Rachel Kaplan for iHeartRadio