Jul 11

Jul 11 Machine Gun Kelly - mainstream sellout

Machine Gun Kelly
Mainstream Sellout
Release Date: March 25th, 2022
Label: Bad Boy Records/Interscope Records

Review by Jared Stossel

Two years have come and gone since Colson Baker, better known as Machine Gun Kelly, released Tickets to My Downfall, a pop-punk-infused record that catapulted the then-rapper into superstardom. Whether you love him or you absolutely fucking hate him, Baker has made a name for himself with sold out arena tours all over the country; the guy who was once despised for opening up for Fall Out Boy, is now headlining the same arenas the Chicago pop-punk act played back in 2018.

As I’ve stated before, Baker has many detractors both in and out of the pop-punk world. His newest effort, Mainstream Sellout, pokes fun at them while simultaneously interweaving moments from the past few years into a sixteen-track album. Last year, I reviewed Machine Gun Kelly’s first pop-punk effort dubbed Tickets to My Downfall. I noted how often I kept going back to the album, finding it to be an incredibly solid effort despite a few weaker tracks. On Mainstream Sellout, Baker (along with longtime collaborator Travis Barker), has managed to create an album that is far more cohesive and focused than its predecessor. There are still a few moments throughout Sellout that cause it to falter, but those moments are less frequent than on Downfall.

The first two tracks, “born with horns” and “god save me”, sounds like they could be B-sides from Blink-182’s Take Off Your Pants and Jacket. In fact, a lot of the tracks on Sellout are heavily reminiscent of latter Blink efforts, with the only difference coming in the form of Baker’s gravely vocals permeating the atmosphere. Baker’s vocal stylings are hit and miss, but the passion radiates through on every track. “maybe” finds Kelly collaborating with none other than metalcore hybrid Bring Me The Horizon for an undeniably catchy effort, one of the best moments on Mainstream Sellout. “drug dealer” brings us the first of two Lil Wayne collaborations, with both Weezy and MGK delivering lyrics about (what else?) drugs over a bounce-laden drum track.

A brief interlude featuring SNL alum Pete Davidson leads into the album’s title track, with Baker incorporating every cliched “you’re ruining the scene” statement in the book into lyrical fodder. The long-running joke in this genre is that every musician is writing about how they either hate their home town and want to leave, or how everyone is accusing of them of selling out. Baker takes the latter and manages to turn it into a powerful, fast-paced entry on Sellout. “make up sex” is the spiritual relative of Downfall’s “my ex’s best friend”, complete with blackbear collaboration. The melody is far more infectious than its predecessor, and I found it to be a better pop entry than the former, albeit with raunchier lyrics. “emo girl” delivers saccharinely-sweet lyrics, with a verse from WILLOW elevating it into something more memorable than a throwaway pop song.

“5150” feels like standard pop-punk fare before leading into “papercuts”, the standout moment on Mainstream Sellout. While there are great tracks on this album, “papercuts” feels like a song that is acutely Machine Gun Kelly, not Baker trying to sound like the spawn of late-90s pop-punk. Every style he’s incorporated throughout his career meshes together effectively in this song, leading into a rap verse where he confidently proclaims “I’m a genius/Could’ve made Donda’.

“WW4”, clocks in at barely a minute and a half, giving a shot of adrenaline before Sellout begins to peter out with “ay” and “die in california”. To me, these tracks felt out of place, and solely like Baker is still trying to prove that he’s still a rapper. I think moments like the aforementioned “papercuts” do a better of job of illustrating. While there’s nothing inherently wrong with “ay” and “die in california” structurally or sonically, I feel like they would have worked better as B-sides. Sandwiched between these songs is the stellar “fake over don’t last”, an iann dior collaboration with a chorus that feels heavily inspired by +44’s “155”.

The album closes with the melodically upbeat “sid and nancy” before concluding with “twin flame”, an acoustic-weighted track number that carries the weight of the last two years before exploding into a full-band fortissimo, the speakers finally fading out. On Mainstream Sellout, Baker has proven on Mainstream Sellout that his interest in the pop-punk genre isn’t a passing fad, with a release that is more focused and in several ways better than his previous efforts. Only time will tell if his next release will wade further into the depths of the genre, but one thing is for certain: Machine Gun Kelly will still be making music and selling out big rooms, haters be damned.

Note: the deluxe “life in pink” version of this album was recently, featuring four new tracks (“9 lives”, “more than life”, “why are you here”, and “last november”) along with a live recording of “papercuts” and an acoustic version of “maybe”. Available now.