“I Earned That S**T,” Machine Gun Kelly Says Of His Pop-Punk Triumph
Machine Gun Kelly has highlighted his success as a pop-punk musician, stating that he’s “earned that sh*t”. He had his first US Number One album with 2020’s ‘Tickets To My Downfall,’ and with his new album ‘Mainstream Sellout,’ out on 25th March, he’s been set to headline festivals like Lollapalooza as well as a prolonged arena tour of his own.
He has, however, long been castigated for his transition from rap to rock. Speaking about the backlash in a new interview with Billboard, Baker explains: “I know it kills certain bands in that community that I got the success that I got. But I earned that s**t.”
“Dude, I was f*****g loading up the van with our drums and amps in 2010, driving to Indiana and Chicago, playing Warped Tour. I can tell you the f*****g Wi-Fi codes to venues in Blackfoot, Idaho. Can you say that s**t as a band,” he added.
Speaking about his role in the pop-punk revival, Baker added: “The 2010s was great for singers and rappers, and I was part of that. But I think we needed something else: We needed an instrument. Kids come up to me like, ‘Dude, the first time I ever saw someone play guitar in concert was at your concert — and now I take guitar lessons.’ ”
“Never once was I like, ‘I need to be touted as the greatest guitar player,’” he continued. “[Rock] needed a defibrillator. Who cares who gives it, just as long as that m****rf****r doesn’t die?”
The remarks come as rapper Joyner Lucer has criticised MGK’s position as headliner, as well as his own place on the Lollapalooza lineup and the size of his name on the poster.
In a series of tweets, Lucer said that he turned down the festivals “weak ass offer” but claimed they “put me on the flier anyways”.
“Then you got this goofy ass n***** headlining? Smh how sway?” he wrote alongside a photo of Machine Gun Kelly. “Ain’t nobody worried bout a n**** who paints his nails.”
Earlier this week, Alice Glass asked Machine Gun Kelly to apologize for his “predatory behavior towards underage girls”, based on Kelly’s comments in old interview footage.
Glass provided video from a 2013 interview with Fuse in which Machine Gun Kelly, then 23 years old, admitted to having a celebrity crush on Kendall Jenner, then 17 years old. In the clip, the interviewer then asked “are you counting down the days until she’s 18?”
“I’m not waiting until she’s 18,” replied Machine Gun Kelly. “I’ll go now. I’m not a creepy age. I’m 23, she’s 17 and a celebrity – there is no limits.”
“Please address this @machinegunkelly,” wrote Glass. “Tell your fans this was a bad take. Tell them this was wrong.”
—Aditi Manjunath
