Without Freddy Negrete, tattooing wouldn't be where it is today. Black and gray tattooing might still only be found in prisons, and it definitely wouldn't be at the level of popularity it is now.

For the last four decades, Negrete's been at the forefront of his preferred style of tattooing. He's a legend in the tattoo world, but he's not concerned with building a huge Instagram following or inking rock stars. Instead, Negrete is focused on becoming the best tattooer he can be and keeping up with all of the current stars of the black and gray tattooing world.

Negrete recently released his life story in the form of a book, Smile Now, Cry Later: Guns, Gangs, and Tattoos - My Life in Black and Gray, and sat down to talk with Myspace about the autobiography and tattooing.

Why did you decide to finally sit down and write out your story?

That's a good question because everybody wants to know why I wanted to write a book and who's going to read the book. We had a difficult time getting an agent and getting a publisher, but it all came to pass. One reason is that people are interested in the Chicano subculture that went on in East LA. They're interested in this whole style of dress and tattoos and lowrider cars and art and the subject matter of the art and what we found important to us. That was me. I was raised in that culture, and having art ability like my father's, I had a great deal to do with the development of that style or art. That brings me to the next reason, which is that people are interested in prison life. The California penal system is so unique with the racial divides and alliances, and the development of the Chicano style black and gray tattoos that all developed within the California prisons, which is another part of my story. It's about all of the things that encompasses, from the violence to the art, the prisons and the tattoo history.

The most important reason I wanted to tell this story is that it's a story of redemption and recovery. It's a story of change and making your life better. I lost my youngest son to gang violence after he joined the same gang that I was a member of. He was following my footsteps, and it nearly destroyed me. I'd always partied and got high and used different things, but I plunged into a drug addiction so deep that I was suicidal and it ruined my health. Then the real story of recovery and refocusing my art happened. I went back to prison and nearly died when I had three heart attacks, and when I did make the big changes in my life, I made a change in my art too. All of that time that I was wasting my life, the tattoo world was taking tattooing to another level. The Chicano art went up another level, and there were all these great young artists like Nikko Hurtado, Carlos Torres, Tommy Montoya and Steve Soto. There were people I saw who were young at the time and were raising the bar, and I didn't want to get left behind. Older tattoo artists tend to do things the way they've always done it, like "Grandma taught it and I bought it." My new focus was to become teachable and learn what those guys added that made a difference so I could learn from them and keep myself relevant as an artist.

You were one of the first people to start doing Chicano style tattooing. What's it like to see that style in so many places now?

It's really weird, because I never had a high outlook on myself. I learned to tattoo in prison, and I was in prison as a result of being a gangster and hurting people and doing bad. It was a tremendous blessing that something that I had a part of and was so small has become so big. Everybody always says I'm humble about it because I guess a lot of artists who really try real hard and are successful, they have a sense of pride and maybe too much ego, but rightfully so. I never had that kind of outlook on myself, but it's definitely fun to see what's taking place. Of course it's nice for people to show respect. I'll take that much just for being an older guy who's been in it since the '70s.

Even before the recent boom in tattooing popularity, how had you seen the tattoo world change over the last four decades?

It's definitely changed a lot. It's become more popular with the people that get it, and there are certain places and events that took place that really changed tattooing. When I went to work for Ed Hardy, Ed Hardy was busy introducing the new style of Japanese art to the world. Ed Hardy was a true innovator, because he's the one that classified tattooing as "traditional" or "Japanese" or "black and gray." There was only one kind of tattooing for Ed Hardy, but there were innovative people in that traditional tattooing as well. Then we introduced the black and gray.

Another huge part is guys like Mark Mahoney and Bob Roberts, and even Ed Hardy as well, who made tattooing relevant for rock stars. It added to their persona on stage, and it made tattoos almost a part of being a rock star. Those artists made tattoos relevant for the rock and roll scene, and MTV was putting their videos out to the world. That was a huge change for the tattoo world because people looked up to these artists no matter what their lifestyle was. They could've been crazy partiers or on drugs or whatever, but when they got up on stage people looked up to them and loved their tattoos. When people look up to people who have tattoos, it becomes OK to get them.