Machine Gun Kelly Slams Critics Who Bash His Music Career Expansion
On an episode of The Hollywood Reporter's "Awards Chatter" podcast, musician Machine Gun Kelly shared his thoughts about how people view his decision to expand the genre in which he performs from only rap to include pop-punk music, too. The podcast episode was recorded live at the SCAD Savannah Film Festival, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The outlet noted that the musician — whose real name is Colson Baker — was at the film festival because of his role in the film "Taurus."
MGK has received criticism from many for switching up genres, with Tone Deaf gathering tweets from musicians to gauge what their thoughts were on the subject. The critics were vocal about their dislike for MGK's new pop-punk albums — including a number of expletives to make their points — while others were more complimentary. Scott Eckel of Makeout wrote on his Twitter account, "no one thought MGK was about to drop the best pop punk record of 2020."
The complaints about his pivot to a new genre have been following the "Tickets to My Downfall" singer for nearly two years, and now, he's clapping back at all that haters.
Machine Gun Kelly has corrected views of his career
When The Hollywood Reporter stated how Machine Gun Kelly apparently quit rap music, the "Bird Box" actor interjected immediately, saying, "I got to stop you. I never 'departed' from rap." He then explained his pop-punk releases in detail: "This is what is so mind-blowing to me is this is what happened. I'm talented as f*** and I added on to my catalog of four great rap albums. So what I did was I added on, never departed, left or switched."
MGK went on to express his disappointment in the fact that his interviewer had not acknowledged the lockdown sessions he posted to YouTube at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, which featured him rapping. He also expressed frustration that the extent of the views those videos had received went similarly unmentioned. In no uncertain terms, he added, "So when they say 'departed' or when they say, 'Oh, man, you switched.' M**********r, are you dumb?! That's literally telling you two plus two doesn't equal four. It's on paper, it's black and white, it's right there in front of you."
Journalists and casual listeners, take note: Machine Gun Kelly might have begun his career as a rapper, but he hasn't left it, by any means — he's merely branching out.