Today we’d like to introduce you to Rafael Arriaga.
Hi Rafael, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
My story really begins between Guadalajara, Mexico, and Houston, Texas. I’m originally from Miravalle in Guadalajara, and I moved to Houston when I was 17 years old. Houston became a major part of who I am—not only as a person, but as an artist and entrepreneur.
I’ve always been creative. Tattooing, drawing, lettering, music and street culture were never separate worlds to me; they were different ways of expressing the same vision. Around 2000, I began developing myself seriously as a tattoo artist, specializing over time in black-and-gray work. In 2004, I opened my own tattoo shop in Houston, Aztec Ink. That same period was also the beginning of my journey in music.
By 2006, I expanded the vision and added a recording studio. I was tattooing, making music, learning the business and building something of my own. I didn’t have a major company behind me or a blueprint showing me exactly what to do. A lot of it was learned through experience, mistakes, long hours and simply refusing to stop creating.
Life eventually changed the direction of everything. Around 2011, personal circumstances caused me to step away from actively recording and releasing music. But I never really stopped being an artist. I continued writing, developing ideas and sharpening my style even when people weren’t hearing the music.
The following years brought some of the hardest chapters of my life, including major personal and legal struggles. There were moments when things I had spent years building seemed like they had disappeared. But those experiences also changed the way I look at ownership, business, music and life.
Eventually, I was able to recover my music masters and start rebuilding. I returned to recording around 2022, and by 2026 I made the decision to seriously release music again as XTC$ (Xtasys / Exo One).
Today, I’m building Aztec Ink Music as an independent music and creative brand while continuing my work as a tattoo artist and designer. My sound combines hip-hop and trap with influences from both Houston and Mexico, along with Latin urban music and some of the newer sounds I’ve been experimenting with.
Coming back to Guadalajara after spending so many years in Houston has also given me a different perspective. I carry both places with me. Houston taught me a lot about hustle, hip-hop culture and independence; Guadalajara and Miravalle are my roots.
At this stage, I’m not interested in simply returning to where I was. I’m interested in building something bigger from everything I learned along the way.
For me, this chapter is about reinvention, ownership and proving that there is no expiration date on creativity. Sometimes what looks like starting over is really starting again with experience.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It definitely hasn’t been a smooth road. There have been a lot of rewarding moments, but also setbacks, uncertainty, and periods when I had to question whether everything I had built was still possible.
One of my biggest struggles was building a career without a clear blueprint or major support behind me. I was learning tattooing, running a shop, developing my music, managing a recording studio, and trying to understand the business side all at the same time. That meant long hours, financial pressure, mistakes, and learning many lessons the hard way.
Around 2011, personal circumstances forced me to step away from actively recording and releasing music. That was difficult because music had become such an important part of my identity. But even when I wasn’t releasing anything, I never stopped writing, creating, or thinking about what I would do when I got another opportunity.
The years that followed brought serious personal and legal struggles. There were times when it felt like I had lost control of things I had spent years building. I dealt with disappointment, lost momentum, and the reality of having to start over. Recovering my music masters became an important turning point because it gave me back a piece of my history and the opportunity to rebuild on my own terms.
Coming back to music after so many years presented another challenge. The industry had changed. Technology had changed. Social media had changed the way artists build audiences, and I had to learn a new game. But I didn’t come back empty-handed—I came back with years of life experience, a much stronger understanding of ownership, and a clearer vision of the artist and businessman I wanted to become.
Probably the biggest lesson I’ve learned is that setbacks can change your direction without determining your destination. I’m still building, still learning, and still turning everything I’ve experienced—the good and the bad—into something meaningful through my music, tattooing, and creative businesses.
For me, the comeback isn’t about trying to become the person I was before. It’s about becoming something bigger with everything I’ve learned since.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
My work has always been built around creativity, but today it mainly comes together through two worlds: tattoo art and music.
As a tattoo artist, I specialize in black-and-gray work, particularly realistic pieces, custom lettering, portraits, religious imagery and designs that are created specifically for the person wearing them. I’ve been tattooing for more than two decades, and Aztec Ink became the name behind that part of my career. My approach has always been to create work with depth, contrast and character rather than simply copying what everybody else is doing.
Music is the other major part of my creative life. I record and release music as XTC$, also known as Xtasys and Exo One. My foundation is hip-hop and trap, heavily influenced by the years I spent in Houston, but my Mexican roots are equally important to my identity. Today I’m experimenting with those worlds together—trap, hip-hop, R&B, Latin urban sounds and even elements of corridos tumbados.
I’m also developing Aztec Ink Music as an independent record label and creative platform. Independence is very important to me. I want to own my masters, control my creative direction and understand the business behind what I create instead of only being the artist at the end of the process.
What sets me apart is that I don’t really see tattooing, music, design and business as separate careers. They feed each other. I can create the music, develop the concept and visual identity behind it, design artwork, create promotional ideas and build a brand around it. That comes from more than 20 years of being forced to figure things out myself.
What I’m most proud of isn’t one tattoo, one song or one business accomplishment. I’m proud that after everything that interrupted my journey, I’m creating again.
At 48, I’m approaching this chapter differently. I’m not trying to compete with my 20-year-old self or pretend the years in between didn’t happen. Those years are actually part of what I bring to the table now. I have Houston in my sound, Guadalajara in my roots, tattoo ink in my hands and more than two decades of stories to put into the music.
I’m building Aztec Ink and Aztec Ink Music around that idea: experience doesn’t make creativity old—it gives it a history.
So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
What matters most to me today is family, ownership, and legacy.
When I was younger, a lot of my focus was on surviving, working, creating, and trying to build something. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized that success means more than money or recognition. Those things matter, especially when you’re building a business, but what matters more is what you leave behind and what the people closest to you learn from watching your journey.
One thing that is especially important to me is showing my son that difficult chapters don’t have to become the end of your story. I’ve had years where things didn’t go according to plan, where I lost momentum and had to rebuild. I want him to be able to look at my life and see that you can come out of the shadows, start again, and still create something meaningful.
Ownership matters to me for the same reason. Recovering my music masters changed the way I think about my work. A song, a tattoo design, a brand or any other creation represents hours and sometimes years of your life. I’ve learned that creating the art is only half of the equation—you also need to understand and protect the business behind it.
And then there’s legacy.
I want Aztec Ink and Aztec Ink Music to represent more than businesses with my name attached to them. I want them to represent independence, creativity, resilience and the idea that your age or your past doesn’t determine what you’re still capable of building.
Of course I want my businesses and music to become financially successful. I have big ambitions. But ultimately, I want to be able to say that I took everything life gave me—the victories, mistakes, losses and second chances—and turned it into something my family can be proud of.
That’s what matters most to me now: not just making a living from what I create, but building something that can live beyond me.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: http://instagram.com/xtasys_tattoos
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aztecinkhouston
- Youtube: http://YouTube.com/@aztecinktv
- Other: https://TikTok.com/@snoopsone
