Jhené Aiko’s collection includes a lotus on her side, a Dharma wheel on her shoulder and a large back piece with a dragon, phoenix, flowers and crystals. Some tattoos honor family; others came during difficult periods, and a few have changed or been covered.

She has said that getting tattooed during painful periods helped her turn those feelings into something lasting. Her collection includes spiritual symbols, family tributes and cover-ups from different points in her life.

Public accounts document more than 20 tattoos on Jhené. This guide sticks to pieces that are clearly visible or have a reported story, and separates what she has explained herself from what can be confirmed in photos.

Jhené Aiko’s first tattoo was a lotus

Jhené has said her first tattoo was a large lotus on her side. She connected it with Buddha and researched the symbol before getting it. The lotus became an early reference point for later pieces, many of which return to flowers or spiritual imagery.

The lotus runs along the side of her torso and into a hand design. The flower, leaves and fingers cover a good stretch of skin, in soft color rather than a black outline. Its warm, traditional palette also appears in some of her earlier tattoos.

The hand gives the piece a calm, almost storybook quality. The flower is easy to spot, but the hand makes it look different from a standard lotus tattoo.

A second lotus design sits along her ribs. A hand reaches through the leaves to hold the flower, with pink and orange petals, green leaves and a long stem running down her side.

The Dharma wheel on her shoulder

One of Jhené’s easiest tattoos to identify is the Dharma wheel on her shoulder. It has a clear round outline, spokes and smaller details around it. The wheel sits high enough to show when she wears a bare-shoulder top.

The Dharma wheel is associated with Buddhist teaching and the path toward understanding. Jhené has spoken about her interest in spiritual ideas. She wears it close to her head and heart, off the center of her chest.

Her shoulder and back tattoos sit close together, and some have been changed or covered. That makes the full count hard to pin down. The wheel itself is easy to recognize, even in older photos.

The red script on her collarbone

A red script tattoo across Jhené’s collarbone reads “Miyagi Hasani Ayo Chilombo.” Miyagi was her younger brother, who died in 2012 after a battle with cancer. It’s a direct tribute, and the red ink looks softer than the black lettering used in many name tattoos.

The script follows her collarbone and shows in low-cut tops and red-carpet photos. Because the name is readable in close-ups, it’s one of the tattoos with a clear connection to a person and a specific event.

She has added a small sun and other marks around her upper chest and shoulder. The collarbone script remains the main focus. Beside the large back piece, it’s simple, but the name makes its meaning clear.

Her old back tattoos and the Chilombo cover-up

Older photos show Japanese lettering, moon phases, a Buddha seated on a lotus and an infinity symbol across Jhené’s upper and middle back. The pieces cover much of the area, with open skin between them.

The older tattoos sit as separate pieces: moon phases curve around her back, the Buddha sits near the middle, and the lettering runs down from her neck.

She later started covering the old tattoos with a much larger piece. In a Refinery29 interview, Jhené described it as a dragon wrapping around a flower and crystals. She said she was drawn to mystical creatures and noted that she was born in 1988, the Year of the Dragon.

The newer back piece is colorful: a dragon fills one side, a phoenix spreads across the other, and flowers sit between them. Jewel-like shapes and crystals give it the look of a fantasy illustration.

The color reaches around her shoulder and upper arm. Red rays from the old rising sun still show in some photos; other parts are under the newer work. That overlap can make the tattoo count look different from one year’s photos to the next.

A full outfit shot can hide much of the tattoo. Close-ups show the fingers and petals, though some colors have faded. The main image is still clear.

A lotus links the back piece to Jhené’s first tattoo, though the designs are different. Both put a flower at the center and have a spiritual feel. The rib tattoo is also easier to keep private than the work on her shoulder, back or wrists.

Wrist tattoos, the penny, and Pisces

Jhené has several smaller tattoos around her wrists and forearms. One wrist has a tribute phrase reported as “Why aren’t u smiling?”, in memory of her brother. She also has a penny tattoo and a Pisces symbol for her zodiac sign.

The fine lettering takes a close-up to read, and the small coin-like image is easy to miss. Neither tattoo is flashy, but both connect to personal details.

Her Pisces tattoo is easier to make out: two fish in blue ink on her wrist. Bracelets cover part of it in some photos, but the shape shows when she raises her hand.

There are other small marks on her forearms and hands. Some are hard to identify in quick phone photos, and tattoos can fade or be covered, so it’s safer to stick to marks that can be seen than to assign a meaning to each one.

The scarab on her forearm

A scarab on Jhené’s forearm has a round body, wings and decorative lines around it. The surrounding shapes give it an Egyptian feel without making it look like a plain symbol copied from a flash sheet.

The forearm gives the scarab space for its details, and the tattoo appears in casual selfies unlike the pieces on her back and ribs. It sits between the large color work and her smaller black-and-gray designs.

The Big Sean portrait and the galaxy cover-up

Jhené once had a detailed portrait of Big Sean on her arm, which she got while they were together. The image was recognizable as him, making it a direct tattoo about their relationship.

After they broke up, she covered the portrait with a colorful galaxy of planets, stars and a small rocket, shaded in deep blue and purple. The portrait focused on one person; the cover-up reads as a small universe of its own.

There’s enough detail here to reward a close look: tiny stars, round planets and a small rocket sit inside the darker shading. The galaxy covers the portrait completely, giving the arm a different subject.

The Bushido principles on her leg

Japanese lettering on Jhené’s leg is connected with the seven principles of Bushido. It runs vertically beside a small samurai. Bushido is often translated as “the way of the warrior,” another Japanese reference alongside the lettering on her back.

The lettering looks pale in photos, so it’s hard to read from a distance. Up close, the vertical lines and small warrior near the bottom are easier to see. She also has small mushrooms around one ankle, though the photos don’t show them clearly.

The small neck tattoo

A small tattoo at the back of Jhené’s neck appears in close-up selfies. It consists of stacked dark marks, much less prominent than the back piece or galaxy cover-up.

There’s no reliable public explanation for the neck tattoo. The stacked marks are visible, but there’s no need to give them a larger story.

Why Jhené Aiko’s tattoos feel so personal

Jhené’s tattoos include family names, spiritual symbols and designs she has reworked over time. The lotus recurs, the dragon-and-phoenix back piece grew over an older collection, and the galaxy replaced a portrait tied to a past relationship.

She has said tattoo sessions helped her turn emotional pain into something beautiful. The back piece and galaxy cover-up both replaced earlier tattoos, so her collection reflects more than one stage of her life.

Jhené’s larger, colorful pieces contrast with the smaller, more delicate designs in our guide to Julia Michaels’ tattoos.

Watch Jhené explain the Big Sean tattoo

In a short Capital XTRA interview, Jhené talks about the Big Sean portrait tattoo and the story behind it: