Machine Gun Kelly - Mainstream Sellout Album
Genre: Pop Punk, Rap Rock
Score: 2/10
This is the SIXTH studio album from Hollywood via Cleveland Rapper turned Alleged Prince of Pop Punk, Machine Gun Kelly. What to Expect: :
Pop Punk Hell, and for all of the wrong reasons. At best, MGK the Punk Rocker sounds like a worse version of the bands he is influenced by and collaborating with. At worst, his music is completely unlistenable. Pray for me.
Overall:
Listening to it critically, the album is bad. However, the album is not as unenjoyable as I thought it was going to be. It has one really good song on it, but a lot of incredibly horrible songs on it. However, some of these songs are so horrible, that it actually goes full circle and they become great listens ironically. I am also convinced that MGK and his label is very conscious of this as the album is literally called Mainstream Sellout. In the grander scheme of rock music, this album is terrible, but I would throw it on in the background if I just want to troll the people around me.
Play by Play:
Born With Horns - Travis Barker’s drumming is sick. Lmao his singing is trash. Lyrics are trash. It’s super cliched about death and suicidal thoughts. It copies Lil Peep too, which is kinda sad. Instrumental is super cliche. The same chord progressions are very dime a dozen. Overall a very focused grouped effort. Omg his scream in the bridge sounded like Tom from Tom & Jerry. His performance doesn’t even sell this alienating personality he is trying to portray himself on this song.
God Save Me - I can’t believe that I am actually reaching this conclusion, but he’s actually ripping off Xxxtentacion. And X was already copying everyone when he was dropping music when he made emo songs. The instrumental is overcompressed and grating on the ears. It sounds like he recorded this in a cramped room. His fake posturing is even inferior to his own rap posturing. At least in his rap tracks back then he would actually talk about real situations he was in. In this song, it just sounds like a pro drug anthem with an awful performance. This hook is so bad, Jesus. It is a “yuck” for me.
Maybe - The intro sounds like a Bring Me the Horizon ripoff, so at least he’s switching things up. I hope they got a fat check from this collaboration. I am not convinced that MGK is ready to let whoever he is thinking about go. He has completely failed to make the case for himself, especially with that awful breakdown.
Drug dealer (feat. Lil Wayne) - Oh god, not guitar Lil Wayne. No no no, please stop MGK. Oh this verse sounds ominous on first listen and for all of the wrong reasons. Good lord, this hook is really bad. There are better anthems to trap to ladies, especially with that horrendous duet with Mr Carter. This album is a very masochistic listning experience.
Wall of fame (interlude) - i don’t remember who is on this skit but I’m sure it’s popular and cliche’d.
Mainstream sellout - Ah, this was what I was looking for. Feed this awfulness to me MGK. Inject it into my veins. Feed the overdriven drums into my ear drums. Give me tinnitus and the ensuing engagement that will evidently follow. Follow all of the cliches! Love him or hate him, he know what he is doing with this record. You can hear him saying it when he says “give them what they want now”. Feeding into the hype when people are absolutely begging you to stop embodies a punk ethos in a way never portrayed in the past. Selling out is not always the worst idea or artists, especially if they are very self aware of what they are doing.
Make up sex - The right formula for MGK. He realizes this, you now understand this. You would have already jumped ship the second you pressed play if you truly hate this music at this point. He knows his lane. To hate on him at this point is to either hate on what he has already done, or his performances.
Emo girl - This song is one of the worst songs of the entire year. It’s hilariously bad. It’s a meme at this point. I just bump it for my own ironic enjoyment. MGK knows this. You now understand this. Willow’s singing is absolutely gut busting. She sounds like Haley Williams making fun of herself sing. There is no chance that this song is not an intentional joke.
5150 - Same chord progression again. The instrumental is mixed like a 5 year old jar of natural peanut butter. MGK’s hook “leave, save yourself” is hilariously on the nose. Travis is drumming like he has drummed the entire album in one take and he’s getting tired by now. Pace yourself, buddy. You have been putting in a heck of a job this past decade.
Papercuts (album edit) - This song is an unironically good song from MGK. He copies a Blink 182 style which works perfectly for him since Travis is drumming. His anger translates authentically on the hook. The guitars don’t completely overdrive and take over the drums. He is actually spitting a great verse about his career, embodying an authentically hip hop rock crossover spirit that an album like Kids See Ghosts does. If Kanye and Kid Cudi were on the song, then everyone would be praising it to high heaven, but because it’s a gas station Monster energy drinking weirdo like MGK, it is trash? That’s not a fair criticism for me on this track personally. MGK is aware of the commercial stake he has in rock music and his unpopular position in music. While I would not meet him personally, I do not truly begrudge the man’s successes and smart business decision making. I have been listening to his music since he came out of Cleveland and he won over the entire Apollo Theater after all. Selling out and dropping major deals has been a thing he has always been doing ever since he signed to Def Jam and dropped Lace Up. MGK was not going to win any mainstream sellout criticisms. However, my issue with him, especially since he is now selling out again (lowkey thanks to Eminem bodying him so hard that he had to switch genres) doing rock music, is that he has not up until this point created his own style of rock music that is uniquely authentically his. Every style of rock music that I have heard him do up until this point has been the rock music styles of his influences. However, while that is still the case on this track, his performances are authentically pleasant to listen to, and he sounds uniquely him thanks to his background as a rapper. That breakdown at the end is hilarious too because it actually sounds like garbage. Well played, MGK.
WW4 - Oh cool an American Idiot ripoff. At least he’s keeping up on the mic. The units that he is moving do not lie. However, do not listen to his advice kids. Go to school, and develop critical thinking skills for yourself. It is still very much peacetime.
Ay! - Oh god, no please. No more Lil Wayne guitar features. Please spare me, Rebirth is an absolute abomination, and this song sounds like if MGK had a feature on it. The lyrics are awful, the hook is cliche’d, and the F for Weezy F Baby stands for Fenomenal on this feature.
Fake love don’t last - Oh cool, another Paramore ripoff. These executives are making him work for this bag. Make sure that you talk to them about benefits and any insurance reimbursements you might be qualified for. If you’re going to sell out, make sure that you are still in good shape and that you are able to keep expenses in check. Fake love does not last, but debt is pretty real, and not at all fake.
Die in california (feat Gunna, Young Thug Landon Barker) - Ooh, a Thugger rap crossover. He will carry this track like Atlas. MGK is showing his flow skills however. You have to give him that. He can keep up on the mic. He has earned his talents. Landon’s hook sounds great too. I hope we hear more from future talent with platforms as big as MGK’s. Gunna sounds as lost as ever, but he’s hitting the notes so I like his contributions. That is the appeal about him, after all. Thugger bodies his feature with excellent vibes and a fun flow that reminds of Beautiful Thugger Girls.
Sid & nancy - A positive I can say about the flow of this album is that MGK paid enough attention to the flow of the record and to provide a little bit of everything. It is not really good, but it is not all bad either. This song reminds me a bit like Linkin Park. It’s not Hybrid Theory era Linkin Park, but it’s not the worst of them either. This song is okay. The lyrics are edgy and silly, but I am also a grown man so it does not appeal to me.
Twin flame - Cliche guitar ballad outro. Same chord progression again. I think he is trying to sound like Green Day’s “Have the Time of Your Life” turned Black Parade towards the outro, which will definitely bring the numbers in. The lyrics are awful, but the lyrics were also awful for Have the Time of Your Life. Ladies, do not cry to this song. Guys do not cover this song unless you are actually as physically attractive as MGK, which is unlikely. It will not work for you, unfortunately. The production is carrying quite a bit for him. Try woodworking instead.
Score: 2/10
Favorite Track in Bold
Just my opinion