Machine Gun Kelly on Why He Thinks Eminem Beef Affected Public's Perception of 'Hotel Diablo'

MGK's latest, the Travis Barker-backed pop-punk project 'Tickets to My Downfall,' opened at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart earlier this year.

December 1, 2020

Machine Gun Kelly will soon launch the next chapter of the Tickets to My Downfall era with the release of his and Mod Sun's Downfalls High musical, featuring narration from Travis Barker. But first, MGK is continuing his recent press run with an in-depth conversation with his 2016 Nerve co-star Dave Franco.

In it, MGK was asked if he's ever had moments where he wanted to give up because he was putting so much of himself into his work while still feeling he was "misunderstood" by many.

"Yes," MGK told Franco, pointing to his "I Think I'm Okay"-featuring 2019 album as an example. "Hotel Diablo is that for me, because that was the first time I really expressed my true self with no outside influence, meaning the label. As a hip-hop album, it's flawless front to back, and also a hint at the evolution of how I went into a pop-punk album. But it was coming off the tail-end of that infamous beef [with Eminem]. So no one wanted to give it the time of day."

MGK went on to compare the (still successful) album's release to an actor who releases an acclaimed film immediately after a "shitty" one, specifically highlighting the obsession some have with constantly bringing up their hate for a previous project.

"What I did in the beef was exactly what it should be, but that project wasn't welcomed," MGK added. "The next album came from already feeling like I'd counted out, so I didn't even care what the public was going to think. That's why the project was ironically my best received one, because it was the most effortless, with the least outside influence."

Elsewhere, MGK dove into detailed takes on a number of other topics, including the issues he has with how some critics have responded to the success of TTMD (which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200). He was also asked to shout out the albums he's personally listened to the most this year. For MGK, the 2020 rotation has consisted mostly of Lil Peep's Everybody's Everything and blink-182's Take Off Your Pants and Jacket, as well as his own songs.

Peep MGK and Franco's full conversation here.

Downfalls High is due in January. In the meantime, Machine Gun Kelly fans have another new song with Travis Barker and Yungblud to look forward to. "Acting Like That" will be out at midnight.