Machine Gun Kelly Is 100000% On Board With The Emo Renaissance

May 23, 2017 @ 5:00 pm By Ashley Uzer

If you’re reading this, the first time you heard Machine Gun Kelly was probably at a rager back in 2012.

“Yeah bitch, yeah bitch, call me Steve-O,” he yelled through the speakers while you took shots of shitty tequila.

But when you hear MGK on the radio today, it’s not strictly basement beer pong music. His two top tracks right now feature female songstresses and are the type of shit that won’t totally make your dad angrily switch radio stations in the car.

But the thing is, MGK has been collab-ing with cool female artists, and making way more than just party music for a while now. It just took the mainstream airwaves some time to catch on. If you became a MGK fan shortly after his first hit and followed him along to Warped Tour that summer, you might know that.

Because Machine Gun Kelly isn’t your average rapper, he’s a “punk-rapper.” And along with the resurgence of emo nostalgia, Machine Gun Kelly is coming into his renaissance. With his latest album, “bloom” released earlier this month, and a bunch of movies and festival performances on the way, we have a feeling he’s going to stick around.

We talked to him about why he’s the best sex you’ll ever have and how he’s bringing emo back.

You’ve been acting and modeling lately, is that ever something you’d thought you’d be doing?

I was one of those kids that was always who always had a video camera in his hand and was always documenting his life for some reason that I don’t think I ever knew why but I always had that urge to be in front of the camera

Do you think if you had been raised in this time you would’ve have a YouTube channel?

I think I would’ve been the biggest online star of this generation for sure. Even if you go back to musicians blogging their personal lives, I would say me and Wiz Khalifa were the first to do that in our generation and I think that still resonates with influencers now.

You have songs being played on the radio featuring pop stars, but you also recently graced the cover of Alternative Press and have played Warped Tour, in your own words, how would you describe your music?

Genre-less. I remember people used to call me a punk-rapper which I thought was interesting. I still think that puts me in a box, but I’m not mad at that expression.

The other day you tweeted saying that 95% of your exes fucked up. Have a lot of your exes reached out to you since you became famous?

Most definitely.

How do you respond to that?

Usually they suck me back in for one more hookup and then I realize it was a mistake again and just gotta go. Leave her with a quick taste of the lifestyle and shoulder shrug and say this could’ve been us, but you playin’.

What about the other 5%? The ones that got away?

The other 5% I’m going to always hold down and always write songs about. Every time I smell someone else wearing their perfume or something I’m always going to think about them. I’m going to thank them forever for the songs I was able to write because I get to stunt on 95% of the other ones because of them.

What do you think is your most romantic song?

On my new album there’s a song called “Let You Go” and it’s essentially a song I wrote with just me and a guitar and it’s literally written off of quotes of the ex that I wrote most of the album about. It’s basically all the words she said to me on her way out the door and I remember everything she was saying was so poetic and I picked up a notebook and was just jotting shit down without her noticing. It’s one of those things that when she hears she’s going to be like, “wow.”

If we asked your ex about you, what do you think she’d say?

Depends which one.

Your last ex.

I’m not going to lie, I’m actually just a pretty solid guy all around. I think if anything it’s just a lot of them didn’t want to deal with the lifestyle and I didn’t want to change my lifestyle. I think I’m pretty solid in everyone’s book to be honest. But it’s a fact that I’m definitely the best sex they’ll ever have, so I know that if anything they’ll regret not being able to have that.

Yeah? So why is your sex game so good?

When you know, you just know.

You can tell by the look on their faces?

No comment.

While we’re on the topic, what bad things do you like done to you?

Anything messy.

How has dating changed since you were thrust into the spotlight?

I didn’t start dating until I was in the spotlight.

So do you feel like you would’ve had a different experience if you were dating before you were in the spotlight since you know every girl you meet already knows who you are?

A lot of the girls I’ve had those crushes on and known before, they’re still around me, so I’ll always have the thoughts in the back of my head like, “would’ve, should’ve, could’ve.” I’ll always be attracted to them unconditionally because they’ve always been there. It’s like being with a boxer while he’s an underdog and watching him become a champion. Those relationships I know will never actually happen.

What are your thoughts on girls who have sex on the first date?

I don’t think that there should be a pedestal or time limit. It’s just a chemistry thing. You could literally meet your wife that you don’t even know at a gas station and hook-up on the spot because the connection is just that strong. Maybe that’s a little extreme, but if the chemistry is there that’s all that matters. I think we’re in 2017 and if you want to do something, just do it.

We saw that you DJed Emo Nite LA the other night. Do you think emo’s having a comeback in 2017?

100,000% I actually have an announcement that is relevant that will happen in the summer that you’ll be stoked on for sure. I’m going to DJ the New York Emo Nite with the same guys on May 4th. I’m definitely part of trying to pioneer that movement. In the concerts we always try to cover “All The Small Things” by Blink or something from that genre whether it’s The Killers or whatever. Emo Nite never left me, but I definitely see it making a resurgence.

As somebody with a shitload of tattoos, what’s the most annoying thing people say about your tats?

I’m just not really into it when 70-year-old people love my tattoos. I’m like, “fuck, you’re not supposed to like them! When did these become acceptable?”

What’s a clothing item that girls are wearing these days that you don’t like?

I love a proper choker, but you have to be a certain caliber to do the choker. You have to have a certain confidence scale.

Ivanka Trump wore one in the white house!

See? Absolutely not. We just need to not do that one.

What’s the craziest thing you’ve experienced from fame?

Definitely not the craziest thing, but we were at an airport and there was like a four hour line through customs and a guy recognized me and just allowed me to cut the whole thing. There are just perks that you don’t get when you’re working at Chipotle, which I also used to do.

How do you keep yourself grounded?

Because this shit can be all over tomorrow. There’s absolutely no point in buying into the hype. Vine thought it was on top of the world and Vine just disappeared.

Especially now with social media, everyone’s onto the next thing so quickly.

I’m just around trying to connect and make songs and videos that will stay in people’s lives and spark nostalgia the same way Emo Nite sparks nostalgia for us. I want to be a part of that for this generation.

What else are you getting up to in the near future?

I just finished filming a movie called Captive State. It was the first sci-fi movie I’ve ever done. The director is Rubert Wyatt, he does amazing work. Ashton Sanders, who’s also in Moonlight, is my co-star and plays my best friend in the movie. So I’m stoked on that. This is my first season of doing all the big festivals. We just booked Lollapalooza, etc.