Kanye West quote tattoo reminds junior of friend at home
Connor Martin | Staff Photographer
Alyssa Cardina got her tattoo at the end of the summer in 2014 after working at a summer camp with a good friend.
Written in cursive on her upper arm, one of Alyssa Cardina’s tattoo attracts a lot of attention. The tattoo quotes lyrics from the song “No Church in the Wild” by Kanye West, which also features artists Jay-Z, Frank Ocean and The-Dream.
In the song, West raps about a girl who has two tattoos — one tattoo says, “Love is cursed by monogamy,” and the other reads, “No apologies.” The junior international relations and French dual major tattooed “Love is cursed by monogamy” on her arm, and her good friend from home has “No apologies” tattooed on his arm.
“‘No Church in the Wild’ was our favorite song while working at a summer camp, so we decided to get them together,” Cardina said of her and her friend’s corresponding tattoos.
The tattoos were done in August two years ago at Divine Machine Tattoo, a local parlor in their hometown of Buffalo, New York.
“We just bonded over our love for Kanye, and that was the song we would listen to whenever we were on breaks at work and on the weekends,” Cardina said.
The tattoo acts as a reminder of how much fun she had the summer of 2014 with her friend.
Cardina is often bombarded with questions about whether she agrees with the lyric that is inked into her arm or not.
“People ask me if my quote in particular is something that I believe in, and it actually has transformed into something I believe in,” she said.
She added that being monogamous does not just have to just be with another person, but can be with anything you love. Cardina said this sort of monogamy keeps you from finding other things that you may love.
“So I guess that is how I think love is ‘cursed’ by monogamy,” Cadina said with a laugh.
Cardina remains a West fan, despite recent controversies that the rapper is involved with. She said she loves his carefree attitude and the way he does not worry about what other people think of him.
“Honestly, all of the stuff going on with Kanye right now is so funny and makes me love him even more because he’s crazy,” Cardina said.
Published on February 2, 2016 at 12:01 am
Contact: lmeyers@syr.edu
