Next month, Machine Gun Kelly releases his debut album, Lace Up. Judging by the immense variety in sound between singles "Wild Boy", "Invincible" and "Hold On (Shut Up)," one would assume that MGK has a very diverse taste in music. Now we can confirm that.
MGK stopped by the Complex offices last week to chop it up and talk about his 30 favorite albums. He told us about his punk influences, the album he ran away from home with, and the music that he falls asleep to every night.
Next month, Machine Gun Kelly releases his debut album, Lace Up. Judging by the immense variety in sound between singles "Wild Boy", "Invincible" and "Hold On (Shut Up)," one would assume that MGK has a very diverse taste in music. Now we can confirm that.
MGK stopped by the Complex offices last week to chop it up and talk about his 30 favorite albums. He told us about his punk influences, the album he ran away from home with, and the music that he falls asleep to every night.
Guns & Roses, Appetite for Destruction (1987)
Label: Geffen
Machine Gun Kelly: "Every song on there was fucking great.”
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, E. 1999 Eternal (1995)
Label: Relativity, Ruthless
Machine Gun Kelly: “Self explanatory. I’m a Cleveland boy, they’re Cleveland boys. That CD has a lot of Cleveland pride in it.”
2Pac, All Eyez On Me (1996)
Label: Interscope, Death Row
Machine Gun Kelly: “That was the album he had the most singles off of. Fire, every song was good. ‘Can’t C Me’ was my favorite: ‘You made a mistake/You should've never put my rhymes with Dre/Them thugs have arrived and it's Judgement Day.’ He was spitting. That was some crazy shit.”
Jay-Z, Reasonable Doubt (1996)
Label: Roc-A-Fella, Priority
Machine Gun Kelly: “I like that album because the rest of the world doesn’t really appreciate that one. ‘Feelin It’ was just a beautiful sunny day one. ‘Can I Live’ was great. He said one of the greatest lines ever, ‘I keep one eye open like C-B-S.’”
DMX, It's Dark and Hell Is Hot (1998)
Label: Def Jam, Ruff Ryders
Machine Gun Kelly: "Every track on there is beautiful. I remember I ran away from home one time and the only song I would listen to on repeat was ‘I Can Feel It.’ It samples a Phil Collins hook. I used to listen to that just back to back.”
Blink 182, Enema of the State (1999)
Label: MCA
Machine Gun Kelly: “They spoke for exactly what was going on in a teenage person’s life. Even ‘Adams Song,’ when you start getting old enough to have dark thoughts. They spoke on that so well. It was almost a graduation song too. It’s a good song to reflect on life. They had a great balance of music between mood-lifters and songs that you can just vibe out to. That’s my fucking shit.”
Dr. Dre, 2001 (1999)
Label: Interscope, Aftermath
Machine Gun Kelly: “2001 was better than the first The Chronic, in my opinion. I thought it was an all-around genius album. I love ‘Murder Ink.’ That shit was sick.”
Rage Against the Machine, The Battle Of Los Angeles (1999)
Label: Epic
Machine Gun Kelly: "It sounds like the voice of a revolution.”
Radiohead, Kid A (2000)
Label: Capitol, Parlophone
Machine Gun Kelly: “I fall asleep to it almost every night. At this point in my life I’m pretty heavy into psychedelics, so it’s a very mind-opening album.”
Limp Bizkit, Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water (2000)
Label: Interscope, Flip
Machine Gun Kelly: “One of the first guitar riffs that I learned how to do was ‘Take A Look Around, it’s the Mission Impossible theme. ‘Rollin’ with the DMX remix, ‘My Generation.’ ‘Hot Dog,’ I might cover that shit.”
Tech N9ne, Anghellic (2001)
Label: JCOR Entertainment
Machine Gun Kelly: "The cover was mad edgy.”
Ludacris, Word of Mouf (2001)
Label: Def Jam South, DTP
Machine Gun Kelly: “He had a really animated flow and he rapped fast, so from the Midwest it suited my ear. ‘Roll Out’ was the first rap song I ever heard.”
Eminem, The Eminem Show (2002)
Label: Interscope, Aftermath, Shady
Machine Gun Kelly: “You can cry to that album, you can laugh to that album, and you can fight to that album.”
Obie Trice, Cheers (2003)
Label: Interscope, Shady
Machine Gun Kelly: “This was one of my favorite albums growing up as a kid. Every track on there I can recite word-for-word. ‘Don’t Come Down’ really gave me a lot of backup when I would get into it with my pops. It was just a sick song, gave you some shit to cry to. He was really lyrical about his shit. He was really dark and I was in a dark period in my life. And he had the underdog feel because he was from Detroit.”
Red Hot Chili Peppers, Greatest Hits (2003)
Label: Warner Bros.
Machine Gun Kelly: “I got them tattooed on my body. I like their story and their funk. He (Anthony Kiedis) raps but he also sings. They have one of the best performances that I’ve seen, a lot of energy. The story is sick, being a heroin addict. ‘Under The Bridge’ was one of the most well-written songs ever.”
50 Cent, Get Rich or Die Tryin' (2003)
Label: Interscope, Aftermath, Shady
Machine Gun Kelly: “The best album of all fucking time. That shit was fucking crazy. His story was the best story. He got shot nine fucking times, he was a real crack dealer, he was a gangster, he really beat people up. His credibility was all the way there and his sound was something we’ve never heard. He laced a West Coast producer’s beats with all East Coast shit. I couldn’t even understand how crazy that was. That shit changed the rap game.”
Avenged Sevenfold, Waking the Fallen (2003)
Label: Hopeless
Machine Gun Kelly: '"Unholy Confessions’ is a standard guitar riff that you have to know.”
Twista, Kamikaze (2004)
Label: Atlantic
Machine Gun Kelly: "One of my favorites. ‘Kill Us All’ really inspired me. It really inspired me to rap real fast.”
Lyfe Jennings, Lyfe 268-192 (2004)
Label: Columbia
Machine Gun Kelly: “I believe ‘Must Be Nice’ is one of the best singles ever. He’s from Ohio, so hometown love. And his story’s sick. He was really about that life.”
Lil Wayne, Tha Carter (2004)
Label: Universal, Cash Money
Machine Gun Kelly: “My favorite track off that is ‘BM J.R.,’ because it’s four minutes of him just spitting, no hook. ‘I play the corner like Ripken/With the forty cal ripping.’ Yeah, he ate that shit. My second favorite off that is ‘I Miss My Dawgs.’ I thought it was really cool how he let us into his personal life with Juvenile situational, the B.G. situation, and the Lil’ Turk situation.”
Young Jeezy, Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101 (2005)
Label: Island Def Jam, CTE
Machine Gun Kelly: "No one’s ever heard no shit like that. It’s the dope boys anthem. That was the first crossover into really heavy 808s and synths and that whole Atlanta scene. That really started to suck us in.”
Disturbed, Ten Thousand Fists (2005)
Label: Reprise, Intoxication
Machine Gun Kelly: "The way he (David Drainman) says his cadences I thought was really unique because it sounds like he’s almost rapping. But he’s singing and screaming. He has very sharp syllables. So even a person who’s not into metal could like it.”
System of a Down, Mezmerize (2005)
Label: American
Machine Gun Kelly: “Insane CD. ‘BYOB’ was so crazy. How fast he (Serj Tankian) could scream and sing. They said so much crazy shit on that album, and they just didn’t give a fuck. That was the best part of that album how much they didn’t give a fuck with the songwriting.”
John Mayer, Continuum (2006)
Label: Columbia
Machine Gun Kelly: “‘Gravity’ is a beautiful song. It’s really well-written and really relaxing. I saw a little bit of him perform it live and it’s just so simple. Sometimes it’s not even a band, it’s just a guitar. He’s just very, very talented.”
Rise Against, The Sufferer & the Witness (2006)
Label: Geffen
Machine Gun Kelly: “Yeah, The Sufferer & the Witness is crazy. They had their political views on the album, which is sick. They had ‘Prayer of the Refugee,’ ‘The Good Left Undone.’ That was a great album.”
Ray Cash, Cash on Delivery (2006)
Label: Columbia, Ghet-O-Vision
Machine Gun Kelly: “C.O.D. was my shit. It was critically acclaimed too but it just didn’t do well. C.O.D. was huge for me. ‘Dope Game.’ ‘Better Way’ with Beanie Sigel is crazy. When that came out in Cleveland, I remember I was listening to the radio and it was a big fucking deal. Because ‘‘One of our own, he just had an album come out today, yada yada.’ It was a good day in the city.”
Waka Flocka Flame, Flockaveli (2010)
Label: Warner Bros., Asylum, 1017 Brick Squad
Machine Gun Kelly: “He had that one song on there, ‘Bustin’ At Em’. ‘Bow, bow, bow, bow/Bitch I’m bustin’ at em.’ He makes everyone feel like a G. I like it because it was just so different.”
Bon Iver, Bon Iver, Bon Iver (2011)
Label: Jagjaguwar
Machine Gun Kelly: “I fall asleep to it a lot. So, I don’t know if I really like it or it just helps me fall asleep. I think the fact that he (Justin Vernon) went crazy and went to a fucking cabin in the woods and recorded the whole thing, and played all the instruments and did all the shit himself is pretty fucking gnarly. And he used to be a football player and his girlfriend broke up with him. I thought that shit was nuts. I don’t even know what he’s saying, but I fuck with it.”
Asking Alexandria, Reckless & Relentless (2011)
Label: Sumerian
Machine Gun Kelly: "It suped me up to do Warped Tour this year.”
The Casualties
Label: N/A
Machine Gun Kelly: “Any Casualties album. Simply because they kept the message consistent. To be completely honest, a lot of people like Jorge (Herrera), he’s the lead singer. Though, a lot of people probably can’t understand what the fuck he’s saying. Any Casualties album is a banger.”