Gucci Mane and his Ice Cream Tattoo

2011 got off to an interesting start in the world of tattooing. Rapper Gucci Mane, for reasons still unclear to most of us, decided to get a very large face tattoo. This one makes boxer Mike Tyson's face tattoo seem almost tasteful.

Stretching from the edge of his right eyebrow and extending down almost to the corner of his mouth is a tattoo of an ice cream cone. It's got three scoops, some lightning bolts coming out of the top and sides, and says "Brrr" along the top edge of the cone. The rapper recently just got out of being in lockdown in a mental health facility, to which he was admitted due to his own wishes.

You can't really get a more definite confirmation of impaired mental judgement than that. Kali Bowyer, described as a representative for the rapper, told Rolling Stone magazine that the tattoo is a statement of how the musician lives his life, saying "Cool as ice. As in 'I'm so icy, I'll make ya say Brr." Does that sound like a statement of life, or a publicist scrambling to stop the negative press that has exploded in the wake of the pictures hitting the Internet?

But who's really responsible for such tattoos coming to life? One the one hand you have Gucci Mane, who thought of it, but on the other you have a tattoo artist who agreed to do it. In this case, that person is Shane Willoughby of Tenth Street Tattoo in Atlanta, Georgia. There have always been lawmakers who have tried to make law making facial tattoos illegal, but face tattooing still made appearances despite these. There are some tattoo artists who have chosen to decline to tattoo necks, faces and hands, regardless of who is asking or how much they say they are willing to pay. And there have always been tattooists who chose to tattoo whatever the client asked for as long as they could pay.

Should such decisions be legislated? Do people really have the right to do whatever they want with their bodies? Even if the majority considers such decisions un-aesthetic?

Just days after doing the work, Willoughby has issued statements saying he's reconsidering whether he ought to have done this tattoo. Still no word from Gucci Mane on how he feels about all the responses.

If you haven't seen this tattoo yet, a simple image search can take of that.