mainstream sellout

AlbumMar 25 / 202216 songs, 40m 25s
Pop Punk Alternative Rock
Popular

Originally, Machine Gun Kelly wanted to name his sixth LP *born with horns*, as a nod to the way he’s felt his entire life—like an outsider, whether he’s rapping or holding a guitar. Instead, he made the song *mainstream sellout*’s opening statement: a concussive, cathartic, two-and-a-half-minute rush of early-2000s pop punk whose chorus comes like a freight train, framed by a scream. “Alienate me, I\'m not the one you want,” he roars. “I feel so alienated, like I’m the devil’s spawn.” In the wake of 2020’s *Tickets to my Downfall*, the Cleveland native stays close to blink-182’s Travis Barker, who resumes his role here as executive producer and destroyer of snare drums. (The two now also share a “born with horns” tattoo.) What follows is an open-hearted, period-specific pop-punk record as envisioned by an artist with a rapper’s sensibility, from its many guest features (see: blackbear, WILLOW, Gunna, Young Thug, noted rap-rock enthusiast Lil Wayne) to the seemingly natural ways in which MGK makes the heightened, nursery-rhyme-like melodies of vintage blink (or Green Day) sound as though they’ve been a perfect home for raps all along. “Sleepin’ in, faked sick/Smoked a blunt, had a kid,” he sings on “paper cuts,” a song he dedicates to his late father, amid keening clusters of “Brain Stew”-like power chords. “Don’t belong, I’m a punk/Hello, world, you fuckin’ suck.”

5.8 / 10

The enfant terrible of the pop-rock revival wades deeper into the genre, coming back with even less than before.

1 / 10

Colson Baker has gone from underrated rapper to bonafide rock star, but his sequel to 2020's 'Tickets To My Downfall' is no victory lap

3 / 5

MGK continues his pop-punk dalliance and addresses the haters, but it’s unlikely to convince anyone to join the cause…

Review: Machine Gun Kelly's 'Mainstream Sellout'

This is Colson Baker’s sixth album as Machine Gun Kelly and, in a sketchy way, follows the arc of his life to date

Machine Gun Kelly's transition from rapper with pop sensibilities to pop-punk revivalist that began in earnest on his 2020 album Tickets to My Downfall continues enthusiastically with sixth album Mainstream Sellout.

6 / 10

Music Review: Machine Gun Kelly - Mainstream Sellout

A tabloid-baiting relationship with Megan Fox and heightened celebrity are influences on an entertaining but cliched album

1.0 / 5

Machine Gun Kelly - Mainstream Sellout review: A Bad Singer, In Terrible Lyrics, Marketing Teams

David Ford is the best songwriter you've never heard of, Placebo make their grand return, and reggae sensation Koffee brings the sunshine