Machine Gun Kelly recently joined the Howard Stern Show for an interview during which he talked about the struggles he faced while he was trying to rise in success.
Machine Gun Kelly departed from his hip hop sound and started to make pop-punk music following his fifth album ‘Tickets To My Downfall.’ He collaborated with Blink-182’s Travis Barker for this album, and Blink-182 was among his early influences.
MGK was known for mixing the elements of alternative and contemporary hip hop with rock music. However, especially with the release of his album, ‘Mainstream Sellout,’ some people have started to criticize Kelly for not belonging to the rock music scene and claimed he doesn’t deserve his success.
In a recent interview with Howard Stern, MGK addressed these criticisms and said he has always been in the rock music culture, and his name can be seen on the flyers of rock festivals that took place ten years ago. Saying he has been in the scene for so long, Kelly claimed he defied genres with his music.
Moreover, MGK said that these haters have been claiming that he knows nothing about no comfort or never paid his dues. Kelly then explained that he had been struggling financially even after releasing successful albums. According to the musician, he lived on a bean bag in his manager’s apartment even after Platinum albums.
During the conversation, Machine Gun Kelly said the following:
“It blows my mind, you can literally look back ten years ago at rock festivals, and my name is right there on the flyer. We’ve always been in the culture, and I’m super confused [upon hearing] ‘Oh, he’s new to the scene.’ F*ck you, we’ve been here for so long, defying boxes, genres, and odds.
I saw somebody quote the other day — Billboard came to do a piece, and they came to my house, they quoted me saying ”You know, you should give up your comfort for this lifestyle,’ as he sits in his mansion with an infinity pool,’ and dude, I was Platinum with two albums out, still living on a bean bag in my manager’s apartment. None of you had sh*t to say about the comfort of that, as if that didn’t exist.”
He then continued:
“This was after I had already had albums out. Do you know how much that mentally f*cks with you to have where you can’t walk down the street, take a piss in an airport, or go order a burger without people being like, ‘Aren’t you? Aren’t you? Aren’t you?’ Also, maybe sometimes testing you and being like, ‘You know what? I didn’t like that you said this or did this.’
I’m not even reaping financial benefits from it; all of my money is being taken [by] a puppet master who is convincing me like ‘Oh, I’m here for you,’ but I’m living in a f*cking apartment on a bean bag. Meanwhile, it’s like I’m about to put out a third album, but somehow, now that it worked out for me and I finally got my finances all right, they say, ‘Oh, man, he doesn’t know sh*t about no comfort.’
No comfort? Be happy for me because I’m happy for you. If I saw somebody really take ten years to finally get their moment, by the time that moment came, I’m clapping, and I’m like ‘Wow, I watched you.”
You can watch the interview below.
