Meet Kevin ‘Threat’ Rainey | Tattoo artist & wizard

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kevin ‘Threat’ Rainey and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kevin ‘Threat’, what role has risk played in your life or career?
Risk taking for me is really important I started my career like every artist just trying to build clients threw social media and putting my artwork out there. when one day a homie told me about these tattoo conventions. I was barley getting by so dropping hundreds of dollars on the booth, travel, and stay was not really the move but I wanted to watch these great artist run in person. It ended up being worth everything at the end I learned so much met so many dope artist and became a lot better than I was. So now I don’t hesitate to risk it I jump ten toes in and embrace what ever I get out of it.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I’d say that my style is influenced by my back ground heavily. Being involved with gangs when I was younger I always drew and the homies seeing that started getting me to hand poke tattoos on their bodies. Eventually I would end up in prison where I learned how to use a prison rotary machine and started running every day. I had to go threw a lot and becuase I didn’t go the traditional way of an apprenticeship it took me years to get into a shop after getting out. Chicano art is what I was known for and that’s what I started with as a portfolio but it’s slowly morphed in to this gang influenced creepy portrait black and gray style that I really enjoy doing. I’m aiming to be an influence in the tattoo industry. I want other new artist and people wanting to tattoo to look at my art and be inspired and want to tattoo like me. I have a long way to go but I’m enjoying the journey. I love what I do and have found happiness in my life because of this. One thing about tattooers is we don’t care about your past, we don’t care that your a weird, we don’t care about your personal choices, we except people 100 for who they are because we are weird asf too hahaha a band of misfits where we belong. I try my hardest to be the best version of myself every day and tattooing is pet of me so I have to keep getting better.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Definitely need to shout out my little brother. He doesn’t tattoo but had a dream of opening a shop and getting something started that would be in the family forever. He came to me one day when I was already working out of a little walk in shop around my area. Asked me if I would be down to help him and be a part of it, So of course I jump at it and that alone made me have more pride for my career and what i do, when I helped put the walls up myself. Every step of the way he has supported me and has always been in my corner. I couldn’t ask for a better brother. He’s had my back since day one and we are going to build a space for artist that will leave its mark in this industry forever.

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