Justin Bieber covered his abs with an elaborate tattoo and the internet is still processing

Image: Pablo Cuadra/Getty Images

By Adam Rosenberg2017-10-22 17:42:39 UTC

Take it easy, internet. It's Justin's body. Let him make his choices.

Justin Bieber set off a fan firestorm on Saturday when he shared a look at his new ink. It's not a subtle tattoo, with shaded black ink now covering the majority of the pop star's front torso.

He showed off the freshly completed body art in an Instagram post of his own, while tattoo artist to the stars Keith "Bang Bang" McCurdy shared additional looks.

Moments in battle

A post shared by Bang Bang Tattoo (@bangbangnyc) on Oct 21, 2017 at 10:35am PDT

Predictably, the internet reacted with a mixture of support, horror, hate, and love. Bieber's own post has amassed 3.1 million likes since he shared it on Saturday, along with more than 156,000 comments that run through a full spectrum of emotions.

The scene on Twitter is no different. Everyone has an opinion on Bieber's new tattoo.

me: everyone is allowed to get whatever they want as a tattoo! don't comment on another's body!!
also me on justin bieber's tattoo: pic.twitter.com/77qBEttmmE

— Kyle Hardy (@TheKyleHardy) October 21, 2017

Bang Bang said the tattoo took three days to complete in an interview with E! News. He also explained some of the meaning behind the imagery.

"We added two angels, one on each side," he said. "Below each one, they're dominating the evil. Whenever I do an epic piece, there needs to be the positive and negative. There needs to be a balance...visually there needs to be contrast. Below each of the angels, there is a demon that needs to be defeated. The skeleton on one side and the serpent on the other."

"It's symbolic of Gothic art and the struggle between the light and dark, the good and the evil, Yin and Yang," Bang Bang added. "I wanted to make sure we had contrast in subject matter and imagery. The thing that made the most sense to me was a tattoo describing his spirituality. The animals he has, his spirit animals as well as the angels, his guardians. I was trying to make it super meaningful and not scattered."

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