Complex Lists "Ways To Self-Destruct Your Rap Career"

                                            

by ANDRES TARDIO

"Get A Facial Tattoo of an Ice Cream Cone" tops the list.

Complex has created its "Ways To Self-Destruct Your Rap Career" list. 

"Get A Facial Tattoo of an Ice Cream Cone" tops thisComplex list, a nod to Gucci Mane. The rapper's ice-cream cone tattoo, which lies on his right cheek, is one of his most prominent facial features. 

"This one sounds like a joke but it's actually pretty serious," Complex writes about the tattoo. "I've been a Gucci fan since the beginning, and it hurt me to my heart to see him go through—well, a number of the items on this list. Drugs, non-music nonsense, and recidivism have all laid their claims to Gucci's career at various points. He's, metaphorically and literally, 'tweeted through it,' but perhaps the real moment that it became apparent he did not have Lil Wayne-level crossover success in his future was the infamous ice-cream cone tattoo incident."

In 2011, Gucci Mane spoke about the tattoo's significance. “Everybody wants to know why I got the tattoo, did it hurt...what it means,” Gucci said at the time. “I jut tell them it’s my trademark. It represents being the coldest in the game.”

Another list point, "Beef With Someone Much More Talented Than Yourself," has an image of Ja Rule to accompany it. 

"If you find yourself getting just a bit too successful, a possible solution is to beef with someone who is much more talented and secure in their position than you are," Complex says. "For example: two bubbling newcomers—let's call them Lil Clip and B.I.—were arriving on a mainstream stage around the same time in the early 2000s. Lil Clip was from Texas, and had a funny punchline Rap style; B.I. was from Atlanta, and was a scrappy livewire/dopeboy. Clip dissed B.I., B.I. spit back, and Clip never recovered. Around the same time, something similar happened with two rappers who were even bigger—at the peak of their respective fields. Let's just say that things were never the same for Da Rule after 60 Cent had his way with him." 

"Get Addicted To Drugs," "Spend More Than You Earn On All Of Your Friends," "Ignore Your Core Audience" and "Become Known For Non-Music Nonsense" are among the list's other points.