He ended up bringing home the gold in 4 of them, including Best Mixtape Artist, Best Mixtape ("Lace Up"), Best Male Artist and Best Live Performance. In the fifth category, Single of the Year, his "Cleveland" (featuring Dubo), finished as runner up to Ray Jr's "Sloppy."
The song is released under the abbreviated MGK, and not Machine Gun Kelly, which makes you wonder if that will be his official stage name, so to speak, and the name that his music will be released under moving forward.
In an interview with Beats by Dr Dre's Beats TV, Machine Gun Kelly talks about the meaning of "lace up," why DMX would be the perfect artist for him to do a collaboration album with and how Bone Thugs-N-Harmony recently gave him the stamp of approval.
In May, Machine Gun Kelly headlined 8 Fest in Athens, OH. Earlier this month, they released a documentary, featuring behind the scenes footage taken before, during and after MGK's set. Watch below.
In an interview with AllHipHop.com, Machine Gun Kelly named a new collaborator for his upcoming debut album: veteran rapper Bun B. He also chats about signing with Bad Boy, his favorite rappers right now and more.
AllHipHop.com: I saw in another interview that you did recently, when speaking on Bad Boy, you said, �it didn�t make sense, that�s why it made perfect sense.� Can you elaborate a little on that quote?
Machine Gun Kelly: Well, when you look at it from the outside, you might say that Puff and MGK have nothing in common, their lifestyles are totally different, their actions are different, their music is different, you know, all that type of stuff. But on the inside, that was the one person that didn�t want to change the grassroots movement that we had, the �organicness� of what we worked so hard to build with each fan. That was the one person out of the multiple that we were in talks with, that was like �yo, keep this how it is. Let�s not change this.� It doesn�t make sense to people. It makes sense to me, and so, it�s just a weird f****** combo. We�re so underground and anti-formity, it just seems like it�s a weird combo, which just makes it beautiful.
According to Machine Gun Kelly's manager, Ashleigh, the rapper will be featured on the remix to Ray Jr's "Sloppy," which will debut tonight during DJ Steph Floss' show on Cleveland's Z 107.9 radio station. You can listen online on their website.
The pair previously collaborated on "I Know" from MGK's "Lace Up" mixtape.
In the clip below, Machine Gun Kelly shares a touching moment with a fan, in a wheel chair, inspired by MGK's journey. It closes with a message from the rapper, reflecting on the meaning of his fans.
Is it hard at all for you to show vulnerability in your music? Because you do that a lot. Is there ever a hesitation?
Not at all. Well, now, because I see people try to take advantage of it�to take advantage of the vulnerability and think that they can say and do whatever to you because they know you so well�which is my goal, but I see it taken advantage of a lot. That�s the price you pay I guess. I�m sure that�s why people like X and them fight all those demons. But that�s what makes the greats great.
Good Charlotte's Benji Madden told Rolling Stone that Machine Gun Kelly will appear on their upcoming mixtape, "Before The Fame: The Madden Brothers," which will be released on October 1.
"There's only one original Rager," he wrote. "And thats me. I started this 'rage' s***. The lifestyle, the term, the whole new meaning and definition of the word. Understand and be clear, I AM THE RAGER, I AM FOREVER. When you hear ANYONE talking 'bout 'rage' or 'raging,' know where that s*** originated. Guess I'ma have to do some trademarkin'. ACCEPT NO SUBSTITUTES. WE LIVE THIS S***!"
Various outlets picked this up, along with what seemed to be a vague response from MGK, and reported that the two rappers were beefing over the term. KarenCivil.com spoke with MGK about the issue.
"There's no issue on my end, man," MGK said. "I'm just talking about a [inaudible] f****** word. Like it shows me I'm doing something. It actually shows me other motherf****** aren't doing something. If you got time to sit there and be mad about a motherf***** using a word that everyone uses. You can come to my shows and see who wakes people the f*** up. It's me and that's what raging is. Raging is being yourself and turning all that negative energy into a positive party and that's what I do."
