Brooklyn Tattoo Artist To Compete On 'Ink Masters' TV Show

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK — When asked what it would be like to watch himself in the first episode of tattooing competition show "Ink Masters" next week, Brooklyn artist Big Jaz couldn't help but break out into song.

"I'm so excited, and I just can't hide it," Jaz sang with a laugh. "It's going to be awesome."

The tattoo artist, who owns a shop in Bushwick, said that musical flare will be on full display when the Paramount Network's competition reality series premieres next Tuesday. Audiences should be on the look out for his catch phrase, "Oh baby," Jaz said, which even makes an appearance in one of the Ink Master season 12 sneak peaks.

Jaz will be one of 18 contestants competing for a $100,000 prize on the new season, where tattoo artists come up with and create original tattoos on "human canvases" in timed challenges. This year, a team of male artists will compete against an all-female group in a "Battle of the Sexes" theme.

Big Jaz said the pressure-filled challenges on Ink Masters were different from anything he's done in his 24-year career. Coming up with tattoos in one to three hours rather than over longer periods of time was difficult, he said, but ultimately a lot of fun.

"I think my mind was kind of in a different place because its not really a relaxing environment," he said. "You have to be really focused. (But) I would do it again in a heartbeat — I loved it."

In the trailer, the Brooklynite said he wanted to prove that the "older guys still have it."

His start tattooing in New York City began back in 1995, when he opened his first shop. But really, Jaz said, his career began years earlier than that when he growing up in Providence, R.I.

Jaz said back then he would hang out with older guys in the neighborhood and lived down the street from a tattoo parlor. He grew to love the art form so much that he drew his first tattoo on a friend when he was just 13 years old.

"I've always been artistic," he said. "At that time, I was doing something different from everyone else. It was a lot more mysterious back then and I was maybe the only guy that was into it in my age group."

Since then, Jaz has tattooed in Virginia, Germany, California and, of course, Brooklyn. He has owned shops in Williamsburg, Clinton Hill, Crown Heights and most recently his Electric Gorilla Tattoo spot on Suydam Street in Bushwick.

Jaz said his tattooing style has evolved over the years, but that he's best known for creating American traditional tattoos and more recently, the "black and grey" style.

Both styles let him be "a lot more creative than just finding things off of Google," Jaz said, and let him create custom works of art.

Viewers can watch Jaz compete in Ink Masters starting Tuesday, June 11 at 10 p.m. on the Paramount Network. The premiere will kick off a 16-episode run with a panel of judges including musician Dave Navarro and fellow tattooers Chris Nunez and Oliver Peck.

As far as how well he does on the show, Jaz couldn't reveal too much, except to say that in his eyes the experience was successful.

"I think it was worth my while," he said. "All I can say is, everything was awesome."