Make no mistake about it, Machine Gun Kelly -- currently in the throes of a Punk-soundtracked hill climb with his last two releases, Tickets To My Downfall and Mainstream Sellout -- certainly has no plans to put the brakes on his steady rise to the top.
Listen to Machine Gun Kelly Radio and more on the free Audacy app
No, the singer and actor hasn’t left the rap game he first became known for behind, he explained to The Hollywood Reporter while at the SCAD Savannah Film Festival promoting his latest movie, Taurus. "I’m talented as f***,” says Kelly, “and I added on to my catalog of four great rap albums.” Kelly contends he, "never departed, left or switched. Because in the same year I was the most-viewed YouTube video putter-outer with all rap, which was my lockdown sessions, which gained more views than almost any of my other videos. And it was hundreds of millions of views of me rapping."
That’s going to come as a wonderful affirmation for fans following him through whatever venture he sees fit, now that he’s established himself in the realms of multiple musical genres, as well as on big and small screens with over a dozen film roles and a growing list of TV appearances under his belt already.
Now 32 years old and firmly in the spotlight, Kelly (real name Colson Baker) also admits in the interview that, just like his character in Taurus, he has found that there can be good and bad sides to celebrity life. "When I was a kid and I was watching them, I was like, 'Go f**k yourself. I'm broke and I have no life and I want what you have,'" he says. "'And I would do whatever it takes to have what you have. And your problems, I would do whatever to have that.' And to an extent, that kid is right, because this life is beautiful--the highs are the highest highs. But I will not front that--the lows are the lowest lows."
"I can't explain what it is like every day when you wake up, there's screams for you," Kelly continues. "And then I've lived those years when the screams stopped. And you're like, ‘Nah, I need my drug,'" he adds. "And then you've lost it and you feel like, ‘Oh, my God, will I never hear those screams again?' And then the screams come back and then now what am I doing? Scared like a motherf***er that I won't hear those screams again one day when I wake up."
Like his character Cole in Taurus, Kelly says his view of when “you can't get that drug anymore… it really is over because you're old and you're not hot to people anymore and there's the next person who's coming up with their s**t.” He then asks, "What do you do? Probably want to blow your f***ing brains out because there's no way to achieve that again."
But it’s not just superstardom on his mind all day for MGK. "What I want to be is a great friend and a great father and a great man to my lady and still be able to find some way where I can have this dream," he says. "I don't want to be the most successful man and be lonely and look like a certain motherf--ker does right now. And then I also don't want to lose the screams."
Keep up the hard work, Colson... We’ll be right here screaming along.
Related
Don't miss your chance to see Machine Gun Kelly at Audacy Beach Festival 2022, returning to Fort Lauderdale Beach, Florida on December 3 and 4, taking over the sun and sand with performances from some of the best and brightest in Alternative music.
Listen to even more of your favorite music on Audacy's all-new Machine Gun Kelly Radio, Punk In the Sun, Punk Party, Emo Kids, Alt Now, Rockternative, Alterna 00s, and ALT Roots stations -- plus check out our talent-hosted Kevan Kenney's Music Discovery, Megan Holiday's My So Called '90s Playlist, and Scott Lowe on the Go's Post Modern Music Box!
LISTEN on the Audacy App
Sign Up and Follow Audacy
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram