An Italian tattoo artist has gone viral for serenading clients while inking them because it helps his artistic process — and it's even brought one man to tears

• "What would you do if your tattoo artist starts singing to you?" Alessandro Capozzi asked on TikTok.
• His videos have garnered millions of views, which he's hoping to foray into a pop career.

An Italian tattoo artist and aspiring musician has gone massively viral on TikTok for serenading his clients while inking them. Alessandro Capozzi, 28, explained that it's a way to help him concentrate as well as distract patrons from the pain.

And viewers are swooning, saying they want to be in his chair or sing along with him — though a smaller faction of commenters have dubbed the viral sessions "awkward."

Last month, Capozzi — whose tattoo shop called Aureo is located in Rome — began sharing clips captioned, "What would you do if your tattoo artist starts singing to you?" Capozzi, who has 402,000 Instagram followers, said he joined TikTok at the urging of an influencer client, Nurse John, who was awed by his singing.

Capozzi told Insider he subsequently gained 110,000 followers in seven days. "I was freaking out," he said, "because to be honest, this is my dream."

In his first video on August 23, Capozzi tattoos a woman's forearm while warbling "Stay" by Justin Bieber and The Kid Laroi, garnering 1.4 million views. "I would fall in love before starting to sing along too lol," the top commenter responded to the question in his caption.

But in another session posted days later with 7.3 million views, a commenter said the singing would've made them uncomfortable as a patron. "Feel AWKWARD LOL," a user wrote, receiving over 10,000 upvotes.

Capozzi told Insider he's "always" sung to clients since he started tattooing at age 19, and he tends to prefer emotionally charged pop ballads. On TikTok, he explained he sings throughout the entire duration of a tattooing session, which often takes clients by surprise.

"It helps me go through extremely long hours and always helped my concentration process," Capozzi told Insider. While the music helps him enter a flow state, he added, he stops to hold his breath while navigating finer details.

Despite some skepticism on TikTok, Capozzi added that he's never gotten any complaints in person: "It always helps them distract them from the pain."

And sometimes it can help deepen the experience. Earlier this week, Capozzi shared a video of a man getting a tattoo in honor of his cat. During their session, he sang Lewis Capaldi's "Someone You Loved." Suddenly, the man asks for a tissue and appears to wipe away tears.

"Your voice is amazing," the man tells Capozzi. "This is a very special moment."

Capozzi got his big break as a tattooer after Scooter Braun discovered him on Instagram, he told Insider. Soon after, he flew to Los Angeles to tattoo Demi Lovato. He wants to use his newfound virality to pursue a music career of his own, with an EP and single currently in the works.