Machine Gun Kelly had a busy year in 2020. It’s hard to tell if people talked more about his new album, his relationship with Megan Fox or the opening of his coffee house, 27 Club Coffee, in Cleveland, Ohio, but all three had their fair share of the headlines.
Being from the Cleveland area, I was excited to write about all he’s done to make a name for himself and hear what my family had to say about Tickets to My Downfall.
Kelly, whose real name is Colson Baker, began rapping as a teenager and eventually released his first of four mixtapes in 2006. He gained enough traction to garner the attention of Bad Boy and Interscope Records and subsequently signed a recording contract. His first album as a signed artist, Lace Up, debuted at No. 4 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart and ended up selling over 178,000 copies.
In October 2015, Kelly released his second album, General Admission, preceded by the singles “Till I Die,” full of homages to “The Land” and “A Little More” featuring Victoria Monet. Like Lace Up, it also debuted at No. 4 in the U.S. A few months prior to the album coming out, Kelly released a mixtape called F**k It, consisting of 10 songs that didn’t make the final tracklist for General Admission.
May 2017 brought MGK fans his third album, Bloom, which features the hit single “Bad Things” with Camila Cabello. The song debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and was nominated for Top Rap Collaboration at the 2017 Billboard Music Awards. Before his fourth studio album hit streaming platforms, he released an EP called Binge that included his diss track “Rap Devil” in response to Eminem’s “Not Alike.” The song quickly climbed the iTunes charts to No. 1 but was dethroned a few days later when Eminem’s response track, “Killshot,” was released.
When Kelly’s fourth album, Hotel Diablo, was released on July 5, 2019, fans quickly noticed a more prominent rap-rock feel in comparison to his previous music. The album was still very well-received, debuting at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 chart. Furthermore, the single “I Think I’m OKAY” featuring both Yungblud and Travis Barker was an instant fan favorite and became a trend on TikTok. Yungblud announced on Nov. 30, 2020, that the trio had another song together called “acting like that,” which was available to stream a few days later upon the release of his new album, Weird! on Dec. 4.
The single Tickets to My Downfall was revealed Jan. 14, 2020. Before the album of the same name dropped on Sept. 25, 2020, he released the singles “Concert for Aliens,” “My Ex’s Best Friend” featuring blackbear and “Bloody Valentine,” the last of which has a music video that features Kelly’s now-girlfriend, Megan Fox, and sparked initial romance rumors between the two. It also won MGK the MTV Video Music Award for Best Alternative Video.
In addition to music, Kelly is also an actor and has been in movies such as Beyond the Lights (2014), Nerve (2016), Bird Box (2018) and The Dirt (2019).
Due to finally being on campus, I was unable to get my family’s live reactions to this album, but here’s what they said:
Mom: Not at all what I expected. A lot of it reminded me of mid-late ‘90s pre-boy band stuff like Eve 6 and Blink 182. I would give it an 8/10. I definitely liked it more than Ariana Grande.
Dad: Honestly, never listened to him before other than what I heard at a Cavaliers game once. That was not good. However, after a further listen a number of years later, I heard a lot of different influences and a few pretty deep stories being told, too. Of course, then it just went back to “let’s just get drunk” lyrics. Punk, pop, rap? 7.3/10. Play me some Green Day.
Brother: It’s all right. I probably wouldn’t listen to it a whole lot, but it's decent. 6/10.
Tate Raub is a freshman studying strategic communication at Ohio University. Please note that the views and opinions of the columnists do not reflect those of The Post. Want to talk to Tate? Tweet her @tatertot1310.
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