Multi-platinum rapper turned pop-punker Machine Gun Kelly has announced that he will be shifting his focus back to rap for his next release. Kelly‘s alliance with Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker saw him dip his toes into the rock work world, release chart-topping records in 2020’s “Tickets To My Downfall” and 2022’s “Mainstream Sellout“.
However, while Kelly himself saw his pop-punk turn as a a boon for the rock genre, a well-publicized beef with Slipknot and their singer Corey Taylor effectively made him persona non grata amid a sizable chunk of the heavy music scene.
Speaking recently with Kevan Kenney of Audacy (see below,) MGK had the following to say of his next career move:
“I’m going to make a rap album for myself. For no other reason, no point to prove, no chip on my shoulder… If I keep doing things to prove things to people, I’m going to, one, drive myself crazy and, two, not make a good product.
I made ‘Tickets‘ and ‘Mainstream Sellout‘ because I wanted to make them. I need to now also make people miss that sound because ‘Tickets‘ and ‘Mainstream Sellout‘ are companion albums, I don’t think making a third that’s so [similar to those] is going to be exciting unless it’s missed.”
He later added:
“So I’m going to do this tour and I’m gonna step into where I left [off with 2019’s] ‘Hotel Diablo‘ and expand on my storytelling as a rapper and find a new innovative sound for the hip-hop Machine Gun Kelly. That’s where my excitement is and where me as a music archaeologist wants to explore.”
If you missed it, footage of MGK recently covering System Of A Down‘s “Aerials” live in the studio can be found here.
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