Holy grossness. I have heard some weird things in my day, but this absolutely takes the cake. N.E.R.D singer/rapper/producer Pharrell Williams has told the Mirror that he doesn’t like his old tattoos. Nearly every inch of his body is covered, and he seems to find some of it juvenile. Not tattoos as a concept, but the art he’s chosen. So what’s a guy to do? Have major laser tattoo removal? Why do that when you can have someone GROW SOME NEW SKIN for you. Yes I had to write it in caps, because that’s the hysterical/freaked out tone in which I say it.

Laser tattoo removal? That’s so yesterday, according to Pharrell Williams. The hotshot rapper and producer has decided to have new skin grown in a test tube just so that he can change his tats. Williams says he’s prepared to drop hundreds of thousands of dollars on the space age technology to get rid of his current crop of tattoos.

“There’s an institute called the Wake Forest Institute in North Carolina for Regenerative Skin Treatment,” he told Britain’s Daily Mirror newspaper. “It’s going to be pricey, but … it’s worth it. I got fire on my arms, I don’t need fire on my arms! I’m a grown man.”

Explaining how the icky-sounding process works, Williams said, “It’s basically like getting a skin graft, but you’re not taking skin from your a– or legs – these guys actually grow the skin for you.” Contemplating his new blank canvas, he added, “When it has healed you can go get whatever tattoo you want.”

[From the Daily News]

Raise your hand if you’re totally and completely freaked out. Oh good, I see it’s all of you. I cannot even put words to this. It’s not offensive or anything, but I have this really gross mental image of a Petri dish with a hunk of skin growing on it. And somehow the thought of skin that’s not attached to a body is just too much for me to wrap my brain around.

Pharrell is clearly willing to go to some pretty extreme measures to start fresh. I can sorta understand why this idea might be appealing, as laser tattoo removal still leaves a visible scar. I don’t know much about it, but I can imagine it’d be a huge pain to do for someone who’s as heavily tattooed as Pharrell says he is. But I can’t imagine having new skin put on would feel a whole lot better. I thought about looking it up to find out, but I am way, way, way too afraid there might be pictures. So I’ll assume it’s safe to say Pharrell is really serious if he’s willing to go through all this.

Here’s Pharrell Williams with N.E.R.D with performing live at Roter Salon in Berlin on June 27th. I don’t think he’s all that tattooed – personally I’d move on to the chest before I’d start slapping on new skin. Images thanks to WENN.