As we recall, Machine Gun Kelly started off a new series last month, which he called “The Cypher,” and it was kicked off with a dope freestyle where he collaborated with Cordae over Central Cee “Doja.” As we recall, this past Saturday was the day when MGK decided to host an extra verse over the Eminem-produced instrumental from “Renegade,” a prominent track from JAY-Z’s sixth studio album, The Blueprint. Thus, the Cleveland emcee took this iconic beat and used it to send shots at all of his competition, including a relative newcomer from Louisville who had much to learn from him. “There’s a reason people call you Jackman, you have jacked man’s swag, give Drake back the flow he enjoyed, man, I eat rap like Pac-Man,’ he rhymes.
In the past few years, fans of Machine Gun Kelly have seen the artist flourish from a hip-hop artist to a full-fledged rock star. In 2022’s mainstream sellout, which is perhaps his most recent assemblage of music, we find an infusion of pop and punk sounds with contributions from Young Thug, WILLOW, Lil Wayne, iann dior, blackbear, and more. In addition to that, Tickets to My Downfall, which was also equally experimental, kept with the same guitar-driven aesthetic as the album before it. It is no secret that both albums made it to number one on the Billboard 200 upon their respective releases, with 2020’s Tickets becoming MGK’s first platinum release.
As mainstream sellout made its way to the music scene shortly after its arrival, Machine Gun Kelly took the podium after being named Favorite Rock Artist during the 2022 American Music Awards, as seen here (above). There was no doubt in his acceptance speech that he wasn’t bound to one genre at all and that he was not attached to just one.
“Some people in the rock community have referred to me as a tourist, but to them I say they’re wrong, I am truly a rocket man,” he added. “We didn’t grow up on the moon, but we looked at it with interest, then we got curious about it, and when we went there, supposedly, these two rock albums were me going to the moon, in that sense. But I have not yet exhausted my exploration of the universe, and I am into all genres.”
