Celebrity Ink

La Coka Nostra includes the members of House of Pain, the ‘90s-era Los Angeles hip hop group famous for their gargantuan hit, “Jump Around.” Coka features emcee Everlast, graphic designer/ hype man Danny Boy and producer DJ Lethal—all from House of Pain—as well as two new rappers, Ill Bill and Slaine. Since releasing their well-received 2009 album, A Brand You Can Trust, the group has toured the world. Urban Ink spoke with Everlast about Coka, his passions for rock and blues and the group’s tattoos. 

URBAN INK: After House of Pain, you had a lot of success as a singer/songwriter. What does La Coka Nostra allow you to do that you couldn’t do as a solo artist?
Everlast: One reason I wanted to be involved was the camaraderie factor. These are my friends. Also, I hear Vh1’s top fifty greatest rap songs of the ‘90s, and “Jump Around” is number 50, which is bullsh*t. I’m like, “Really?” I’m not saying I’m the best rapper that ever lived, but I’m top five hip hop artist of all time, as far as music is concerned, because I can play all these instruments. I sometimes think that the rap community doesn’t give me credit. Forming Coka, it’s like, “F*ck you. You guys didn’t run me out of rap. You didn’t run me out of sh*t.”

Tell me about the name of La Coka Nostra. It comes from La Cosa Nostra, obviously.
It’s kind of tongue-in-cheek. It’s sort of a play on how everybody in the rap world wants to be a mob guy, be a drug player. We wanted to take it over the top. If anyone takes it seriously, that’s laughable. It’s not like we’re trying to be tough. Everybody in this game is an entertainer. Tough doesn’t get decided in the studio. Take 50 Cent. That dude’s in the gym every morning at 7 a.m., he’s not smoking weed, he’s not at the club every night. A dude who smokes weed like that would not be built like that. Even if he did [the stuff he raps about] when he was a teenager; that was twenty years ago. I look at our music like a Quentin Tarantino movie—it’s there to entertain.

House of Pain has pretty much reunited as well, right?
I’m not opposed to doing it once in a while. We did six shows for St. Patty’s week. We always get tons of offers around then, and it always seems fitting. We basically did a House of Pain-heavy Coka Nostra show.

Who does your tattoo work?
It was first done by a guy called Bob Vessels at the old Shamrock studios. Also, Kevin Quinn at Hanky Panky Tattoos in Amsterdam (www.hankypankysthehangout.nl), Mark Mahoney at Shamrock Social Club on Sunset Boulevard (www.shamrocktattoo.com) and Baba from Vintage Tattoo in Highland Park (www.myspace.com/vintagetattoo).

How old were you when you got your first tat?
I was probably 19. It was my name and a girl’s name. I broke the cardinal rule the first time out. It’s been covered up since then.

What’s your favorite piece?
A scared heart Baba did on my forearm that says, “Bismillah.” It means, “In the Name of Allah.”

Does anyone else in the group have tattoos you really dig?
Me and Danny are heaviest with the ink. Slaine started off getting bad pieces, so he’s been getting them fixed. Probably my favorite, that isn’t mine, is Danny Boy’s Al Capone. I’m pretty sure Mark Mahoney did that one.

Last question. Do you feel more passionate about your blues and rock stuff, or about your hip hop?
It depends on what mood I’m in, but I would say at this stage in my life, I’m way more intellectually and emotionally satisfied when I’m playing with my band. I love doing Coka, but artistically speaking, I feel more expressive in the other realm. With the band, I feel like I could do anything I want. It’s a living, breathing creature. I heard the Grateful Dead say they would play those five-hour shows just to get to that one minute, where everyone is playing the exact same thing, where everyone goes the same way. That’s something I’ve only recently discovered, so I’m hungry for it.