Machine Gun Kelly - Mainstream Sellout ALBUM REVIEW

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Why is there no blur on the tomatoes? Aren’t they being thrown at him?


I’m not gonna get into the Machine Gun Kelly discourse because if I’m being honest, I really don’t care about it. MGK’s time as a musician has been genuinely weird. From pop-rapper to pop-punk rocker who claims to have brought guitar-driven music back, it’s certainly been an interesting timeline for him. When it comes to his last album, Tickets to My Downfall, I’m actually in the minority in the music-nerd space when I say I kind of liked it. Sure, it’s not perfect, but it seems like MGK tried to justify this new direction. He’s now giving it another go with Mainstream Sellout, so let’s get into what I thought about it.

This might be considered a hot take, but I don’t think this is all that good. Then again, I really don’t know what I expected either. Even if Tickets to My Downfall seemed somewhat genuine to me, this just all seems fake. Even if some people can’t accept it, MGK is the biggest rock musician in the world right now. Is this all he can really do? I honestly think this is where the talent stops for him now. The production just seems… off. I’m not sure how to explain that. I don’t think his writing is up to snuff, and even that is better than his pretty grating voice. I don’t think he can play guitar that well either. Not that I can play guitar well, but I’ve at least heard better. What stings most of all is that the industry is trying to label him as the new face of punk, which simply doesn’t work. Even if he’s actually feeling these things in life, it’s not coming off as genuine at all. That’s the biggest issue with Mainstream Sellout. I mean, it’s in the title.


2/10


Listen here

YouTube Music




Mainstream Sellout is an Interscope Records / Bad Boy release.

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