21 Savage‘s signature tattoo may have resulted in an all-time great meme, but right now, he’s getting a lot of attention for another tattoo signifying something a lot more wholesome than the knife between his brows. After he got his hair braided, some fans noticed a red ink tattoo adorning the scalp behind his right ear, and some of them think it reads “Alyssa,” which is notable because of another Atlanta rapper, Latto, has a similar tattoo reading Sheyaa — and Alyssa is Latto’s real name. Shéyaa is, of course, Savage’s real name.
Fans in the comments of a Shade Room post reporting the coincidence are torn; while some struggle to see the “Alyssa” in Savage’s tattoo, others are adamant that this confirms the two rappers have been dating for a while, despite both denying the rumors separately within the past couple of years. The rumors have persisted, though, since they first collaborated on “Wheelie” in early 2022.
In December 2022, Savage said in a Clubhouse chat, “I don’t do all the antics and sh*t. don’t got a celebrity girlfriend. I’m not fittna be out everywhere. I’m not dropping music every other week. I’m not going on [Instagram] Live talking about n****s every other week.”
Meanwhile, two months later, in February 2023, Latto denied the supposed relationship in the comments on a TikTok, writing, “I’ve said I’m not plenty times.”
However, she’s never addressed why she has a tattoo of the other rapper’s name directly, although some fans cite a lyric in her hit “Put It On Da Floor” is about 21. “If he put you in that Lambo, you would get the tattoo,” she raps on the song. Meanwhile, in an interview with Cosmopolitan, Latto explained why she plays her love life so close to her chest. “If something is special to me, I’m going to keep it close to me because everything else has to be front and center about my life,” she said. “I can’t have people putting two and two together. This is the longest relationship I’ve ever been in.”