Crossfade Reviews: Machine Gun Kelly "Mainstream Sellout"

 by Karl W.

Machine Gun Kelly "Mainstream Sellout"
[Bad Boy/Interscope]
Pop Punk/Alternative Rock

    If you told me five years ago that the bearer of pop punk in the 2020s would be Machine Gun Kelly, a rapper known for one moderately big hip hop crossover hit with a handful of mostly underperforming rap albums, I would've called you crazy. Yet, here we are, with MGK's 2020 break into the pop punk genre "Tickets to My Downfall" becoming platinum upon release and signaling a newfound resurgence of the subgenre. Some would say MGK became the pioneer of the new pop punk revival. If you ask me, MGK just got a lucky break. Plenty of rappers that crept up in the last few years, including late Soundcloud artists such as Lil Peep or Juice Wrld, have dabbled in the genre in their material in the past, yet MGK got the acclaim for the pivot? Doesn't help that MGK also ran his mouth about being a pioneer of rock music, including starting beefs with other rock stars like Corey Taylor of Slipknot (not the first time he ran his mouth against an already established act). Plenty of pop punk purists have called MGK a poser or a phony, given his previous rap career and his tendencies to put his foot in his mouth. It's something that I've also accused MGK of, though compared to a handful of other artists switching genres, MGK's attempt on "Tickets to My Downfall" did seem at least a little more genuine than most, regardless of quality. The album also had Travis Barker of Blink-182 on production and drums giving that album some credence (plus a few songs that are admittedly pretty damn catchy). Hey, it doesn't take a lot for me to like some good pop punk, as someone who has begun to truly love the genre (as well as most people in my generation as of recently).

    Well, we are here now with "Mainstream Sellout", MGK's second album with this pop punk pivot and...well, let's just say lightning isn't going to strike twice with this album. Though I am not a big fan of "Tickets to My Downfall", the album had it's fair share of standout moments on it, which I just cannot argue for with this album. Now, like I said before, I am a fan of pop punk, and there really isn't a lot for me to like some good pop punk. Great pop punk music always feels authentic and raw; punk music with the anthemic choruses and raw appeal of pop music. MGK's brand of pop punk feels more sterile than ever before on "Mainstream Sellout", almost feeling like a parody of itself at points. To put it another way, if "Tickets to My Downfall" was Blink-182, "Mainstream Sellout" is Simple Plan. The first two tracks are good examples of that, with "devils with horns" and "god save me" having a lot of the overly emo sentiments of hating life and being an outcast (the latter song with some ugly mixing choices near the back half). The immaturity continues on songs like "make up sex", which is about as low-brow and eye-rolling as you'd imagine with that title, and "WW4" with it's "school sucks, the world sucks" sentiments that are groan inducing.

    The lyrics are just awful throughout the entire album. The lyrics either fall in one of two camps, either emo posturing that wouldn't feel out of place in a late 2000s MySpace post, the biggest example being "emo girl", which does little to describe the emo girl in question asides from "she wears fishnets and black boots" or "she knows the words to the trap songs", which doesn't really narrow things down. The other camp is extremely whiny calling out towards those who called him a sellout for his pop punk pivot, most apparent on "mainstream sellout" and "papercuts". The most telling line here is how "he's a genius, he could've made [Kanye West's] Donda", which feels a lot more like rap posturing than anything that would come out of an authentic pop punk album. It's only been two albums into his pop punk pivot, and MGK is falling back into his bad rap habits, especially if songs like "ay!" ft. Lil Wayne or "die in california" ft. Young Thug, Gunna, and Landon Barker are anything to go off of. Both of these songs are basically rap songs that would've been mid-tier Juice Wrld songs at best.

    The album isn't all obnoxious, though, as there are a few shining moments on this album. Once again, Travis Barker does a great job on drums, definitely the saving grace on this album overall. "maybe" ft. Bring Me the Horizon was the closest moment on this album to some really good pop punk, with a fantastic chorus and the best production on the album by a considerable margin. I also could give a tentative pass to "5150" for a solid chorus and "drug dealer" for being moderately catchy even despite the embarrassing lyrics. The album does end in a somewhat sweet note as well with "twin flame", a nod to his fiancé Megan Fox that ends in a solid, if over-produced, instrumental solo.

    The issue with Machine Gun Kelly was never that he was bad at rock or pop punk. He might not be a top tier rock star by any sense, but I can name a handful of artists in this subgenre who were worse. The issue with MGK's pop punk music is that his attempts at pop punk are bog standard even in the lane of pop punk. "Tickets to My Downfall" wasn't top notch by any stretch, but at least I could say it was a passable attempt at pop punk, but on "Mainstream Sellout", it almost feels like MGK is trying to live up to that album name. It's telling when one of the last songs on this album is "sid and nancy", which is a nod to the infamous love story of the past few decades that has in and of itself become overdrawn and cliché. If this is what the future of pop punk looks like, well then that's a depressing statement if there's ever been one.

Best Songs: "maybe" ft. Bring Me the Horizon, "5150", "twin flame"

Worst Songs: "god save me", "mainstream sellout", "papercuts", "WW4"

Solid 3/10 (Awful)