Rapper/rocker Machine Gun Kelly appeared last week on “The Howard Stern Show” to promote his latest album, “Mainstream Sellout,” which released Friday. On the show, he performed a cover of the System Of A Down song “Aerials,” and like most things MGK does, it was criticized by much of the metal community. The song originally appeared on System of a Down’s 2001 album, “Toxicity.” MGK responded to criticism from rock fans that he doesn’t deserve the success he’s achieved. “It blows my mind, even in the the genre that I’m in, when people act like this is like some new thing,” he told Stern. “It blows my mind. You can literally look back 10 years ago at rock festivals, and my name is right there on the flyer. Like, we’ve always been in the culture. I’m super confused where this, like, ‘Oh he’s new to the scene’. Like, f*ck you. We’ve been here so long, defying boxes and genres and odds.”
System Of A Down guitarist Daron Malakian said of the cover: “I don’t know much about @machinegunkelly, it’s always an honor when someone covers your song, so I can’t hate the guy for giving it a shot.” MGK also responded to criticism he’s faced for making the transition to rock music in an interview last month with Billboard. “I know it kills certain bands in that community that I got the success that I got. But I earned that shit,” he said. “Dude, I was fucking loading up the van with our drums and amps in 2010, driving to Indiana and Chicago, playing Warped Tour. I can tell you the f*cking Wi-Fi codes to venues in Blackfoot, Idaho. Can you say that shit as a band?” he asked.
MGK starred as Tommy Lee in the 2019 Mötley Crüe biopic “The Dirt,” and he executive-produced and stars in this year’s “Taurus,” a film about a rap-rocker approaching rock bottom. “I felt from the beginning, even in my household, like the kid who was just outcasted from birth,” MGK said. “I was always too tall for the kids at my school, or I didn’t have enough money to buy the outfits the other kids had — it was just always something. But the world isn’t looking at me like that. They’re like, ‘F*ck you, dude, you’re a rich rock star. How hard could it be?’”
Recently, MGK feuded with Corey Taylor. The Slipknot and Stone Sour frontman blasted the rapper/rocker after a proposed song collaboration went south. Earlier this year, MGK also helped shape the soundtrack for the WWE2K video game, and it was revealed he would be a playable character.
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