Machine Gun Kelly has let his guard down in his pivot back to rap, opening up about the complex workings of his mind on new single “don’t let me go.”
On Wednesday (February 21), the Cleveland star shared a music video for the new track in which he elaborates on his vulnerabilities and weaknesses, addressing his emotional instability, childhood trauma, suicidal tendencies and substance abuse as well as succumbing to trust issues from being ignored despite publicly crying for help.
“Before my dad left to serve, he made sure I took on every quality I didn’t want/ I was supposed to die at birth, gave me another chance, I fucked it up, gave me another one/ I’ve been running from secrets I hid as a kid, I never confronted ’em,” he raps about his past, alluding to abandonment from both his parents from a young age, before saying he still forgave his mother.
About concealing his internal struggles, he spits: “Who am I when the music stops?/ And the character that I’ve been playing is really just broken and fuckin’ lost/ I swear I’ve been telling you over and over again in all of these songs/ But they don’t hear nothing I’m writing ’cause they’re too busy trying to write me off.”
Regardless of the concerning admissions throughout the song, it ends on an optimistic note as he asks fans and listeners to give him space to recover. Listen to his transparent confessions below:
The day prior to the song’s release, MGK revealing that he had covered up a large portion of his upper body with a new tattoo, which was already packed almost entirely with body art.
Though he claimed on social media the change in his appearance was “for spiritual purposes only,” he takes a different tone on “don’t let me go,” rapping: “I had a breakdown and tatted my entire body except one line.”
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This bar might be a reference to the “Locals Only” and “I Want Change” tats on his stomach as well as the anarchy symbol on his belly button that remain visible even after majority of the designs (at least on the front) were concealed.
The Cleveland native’s latest ink work is not at all like anything he’s ever had stamped on himself before. The pitch-black piece begins at his chest and extends all the way down to his wrist, with some portions revealing the layer underneath it.
Soon after he shared the update on social media, people online began dragging him for it.
Given the above developments, it is worth noting that the “play this when i’m gone” hitmaker took to Twitter/X last month to address how people react to his art in general.
“I’ll never explain my art, because true art is conversational and always up for interpretation, but i will say, most of you constantly interpret it wrong. and then blame me for your version of what you think my art is. ultimately im sad at how people perceive me in general. peace.”
