N-DUBZ rapper Dappy will be spending a lot of time in Derby soon – after signing up for a weekly tattoo session at a city centre studio.
The city's "tattooist to the stars", Kevin Paul, was visited by the star at his studio in Great Northern Road.
Dappy – the cousin of former X Factor judge Tulisa – had his first session on Monday to begin work on a pin-up girl tattoo on his ribs, which will take six months of weekly sessions.
Dappy found fame with hip hop group N-Dubz in 2009 and has also had solo success with a number one single, No Regrets.
Mr Paul said it had been hoped the appointment could be kept quiet – but that was blown out of the water when the musician became the centre of attention after he went for dinner in town.
He said: "I wanted to keep it quiet that he was in town but then Dappy decided to go and have dinner in Westfield and it got out on Twitter that he was in the city. The rest of the day it went mad. People were coming in and asking if he was around all night.
"I was up until midnight finishing this part of the piece and he will be spending quite a lot of time in Derby getting it done."
As well as meeting fans in Westfield, Dappy also helped judge a dance contest at NJ Dance Studios, which is in the same building as Mr Paul's studio.
Dappy is just one of Mr Paul's lengthy list of celebrity clients which includes Harry Styles from One Direction, Aston from JLS, singer Ed Sheeran and X Factor winner James Arthur.
Mr Paul said that, during his visit, Dappy also backed his campaign for tighter regulation on tattooists in the city. The campaign began after Mr Paul's studio had to re-do a tattoo which looked like a "scratchy mark".
Mr Paul said: "She had an infection and was told if it was left any longer she could risk losing her foot.
"I told Dappy all about my campaign, Tattoo Regulation 2013, and he supported it.
"When I was telling Dappy about the campaign he was interested because he said his fans go to unprofessional tattooists to try to copy his tattoos."
On Monday evening, the star tweeted: "I'll be back in Derby asap seen as @Kev inp666 is my new best friend!!!!"
