Shawntae “Da Brat” Harris was just released from prison last month after serving three years for assault after smashing a nightclub hostess over the head with a bottle of rum, and the first thing she did was rush down to the tattoo parlor to pay homage to the King of Pop himself, Michael Jackson!
Da Brat got da tat on the outside of her lower right leg and it features a full-length MJ doing one of his patented on-point dance moves:
These photos were posted by Shawntae on Twitter along with the caption, “Michael Jackson is ALIVE! On ME!! Psycho Tattoo 3 Miamiburgess@ bellsouth.net!” (Miami Burgess is a tattoo artist for Psycho Tattoo’s location in Douglasville – you can check out their Facebook page HERE)
Needless to say the photo drew a lot of comments from fans and bloggers to which Da Brat responded with a series of tweets explaining her choice of skin art:
@lifeoflakisha I love him. He has been my inspiration since I was a kid. I had all da jackets, did the dances, had the glove and got a curl!
My sister told me that media take-out said my tattoo is dated and y did I get it????I got it cuz I LOVE him.
MJ has inspired me since I was younger. I had all the jackets, the glove, and I got a curl! He passed when I was locked up
I was so devastated. I have ALWAYS wanted an MJ tatoo and I finally got it and my tattoo artist is sick widdit! I am so blessed.
Miamiburgess@bellsouth.net, Psycho Tattoo 3. Hit him up and let him know how much u fucs widdit! I so love yawl for still loving me!
Thank yawl from the bottom of my toes. Yawl really make me feel special. Dats wassup. MJ lives on ME! XOXOXOXO
Sadra Rose reported that Da Brat was having a difficult time after getting out of prison. The first female rap star to sell one million copies of an album was shut out by most everyone in the industry and was under house arrest in her home. things are reportedly looking up for the star though, as she has already done a So So Def remix of Chris Brown’s “Look At Me Now” with Jermaine Dupri that is currently tearing up youtube:
And you can see her hanging with Jermaine Dupri in the studio in this next clip – Da Brat makes her appearance at right around the 45 second mark. (Warning – there is a bit of profanity as you might expect)
And just in case you were curious about the incident that got Da Brat thrown in prison, here’s the low-down from the Atlanta Journal and Constitution:
On the night of Oct. 31, 2007, Harris went to a private Halloween party at Studio 72, a Lawrenceville Highway nightclub owned by rap mogul Jermaine Dupri. At some point she bumped into Shayla Stevens, an Atlanta Falcons cheerleader working as a hostess at the event.
Moments later, Harris struck Stevens in the head with a nearly full bottle of rum, prosecutors said. Stevens fell down some stairs to a cement floor and suffered a severe facial cut. Stevens has a permanent scar, the judge said Friday in noting the severity of the attack.
I believe Dave Chappelle would call that “keeping it real.”
Shayla Stevens (You can see a photo of her cheerleading HERE) reportedly filed a civil suit seeking monetary compensation for the damage inflicted by Da Brat, but I couldn’t find any information on what became of that. Here are the infamous Da Brat mug shots taken when Shawntae Harris was arrested and then when she was booked after her conviction:
