News : Machine Gun Kelly 'aware of the chatter' surrounding his return to rap

Machine Gun Kelly is determined that his next rap album will be the strongest of his career, explaining that he is “hyper aware” of the doubt surrounding his move back into the genre.

The 35-year-old first made his name as a rapper before shifting into pop punk, and after releasing three rock-focused records, he has now decided to reconnect with his rap beginnings.

The artist, widely known as MGK, told Complex that he is “aware of the chatter” about his style changes, but insisted that criticism only drives him to deliver his best rap project yet.

“I’m aware of how loud that conversation will be when I drop it, which makes me hyper aware of how great it has to be,” he explained. “If they choose to be loud about it, know that it makes me better. That makes me hungrier. And a hungry MGK is a dangerous MGK.

“All that’s going to do is make my bars sharper and the production colder. I won’t settle for anything less than my greatest rap record with this one.”

Although it has been eight years since his last rap-driven release, Bloom, MGK pushed back against the idea that he abandoned the genre entirely.

“I’ve been so present during this entire time of these three albums that people can choose to acknowledge it or look away from it,” he said. “Undeniably, in the fine print on the internet, my freestyles, my features, my constant glorification of hip-hop have always been there.”

The musician, whose real name is Colson Baker, added that he feels unstoppable after releasing his latest rock project, Lost Americana, which he believes contains some of his strongest writing and guitar playing yet.

“I can’t be messed with right now. I’m too tapped in and I’m too hungry,” he said.

MGK began his rock era with the 2020 record Tickets to My Downfall, then followed it up with 2022’s Mainstream Sellout and, most recently, this year’s Lost Americana, which arrived earlier this month.