We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Akeem Long a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Akeem, appreciate you joining us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

I wanted to be a tattoo artist when I was in high school but it was just a thought at the time.

This was 2010 of my senior year. After graduation, I did try a tattoo trade school called A.R.T. But I couldn’t afford the payments so I couldn’t attend anymore classes.

Stuck with literally no other option because information on tattooing was so secretive back then I just went on YouTube and searched.

I didn’t take it serious until 2020 right before Covid. I had signed up for a tattoo boot camp which went over the basics of tattooing, sanitation, client prep,etc.

The journey from then til now has been an emotional one. There has been many nights I wanted to pack it up and stop. This was because I did free tattoos for my first 3 months of tattooing to build a clientele. Some clients wouldn’t show up or would be very hard to deal with. Mix that in with the regular day to day life of fatherhood it will stress anyone out. But in the end it was worth the crying, the late nights, and the heavy stress. I went from tattooing in my apartment to now tattooing in a tattoo shop to now being apart of a dope and beautiful team called 1Up Ink located in Dallas Texas.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Hey everyone my name is Akeem Long. I go by Uncle Frecks or Frecks in the tattoo industry.

I got started by honestly just that “GET IT STARTED”

I got my first tattoo kit on Amazon about 10-11 years ago and the first person I tattooed was my self with one hand. Ive been tattooing for 3 years but the amount of growth I gained from being disciplined and understanding that the climb never stops is what helped pushed me more.

The solutions I bring to the table for the clients is the style in which I do my tattoos it’s mainly stipple style tattoo work mixed with black and grey shading. This is a plus because some clients want a super detailed tattoo and with those techniques it allows me to grab those fine details even more.

My style and growth is all organic. This is a funk I can not fake. I’m proof of hard and dedication will open doors for you and propel you to where you need to be in life.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The best part is seeing those expressions from clients when they finally see the vision come to life and they are blown away.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

The goal is to be able to be booked up months in advance so I can quit my job

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/inkbyfrecks?igsh=c2kycmlhdzNvaXli&utm_source=qr
• Twitter: @inkbyfrecks

Image Credits

@toochillshots for the photo of me. All photos of the tattoos were done by me