Machine Gun Kelly Says He Never Stopped Being a Rapper: ‘Never Departed, Left or Switched’

Machine Gun Kelly is misunderstood and he knows it.

The “Papercuts” singer sat down with The Hollywood Reporter at the SCAD Savannah Film Festival, and while talking about his new movie Taurus, he clarified that unlike some believe, he never took a break from rap music in favor of his more pop-punk-leaning albums Tickets to My Downfall and Mainstream Sellout.

“I’m talented as f— and I added on to my catalog of four great rap albums. So what I did was I added on — 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,” the 32-year-old explained.

MGK further explained that outlets often try to discredit his achievements in rap music and stated that he worked incredibly hard at writing his songs. “When you conveniently leave that out, that when quarantine happened and everyone was stuck in the house with no new entertainment, and I picked up my cell phone and put this thing on and wrote my a– off and rapped my a– off weekly … then you watch it and you’re like, ‘Damn, he’s actually saying some sh–.’ I was rapping,” he added. “And then later on we dropped a [Billboard 200] No. 1 album that was a pop-punk album. So when they say ‘departed’ or when they say, ‘Oh, man, you switched.’ Mother—-er, are you dumb?!”

Kelly further added that assumptions about his art often discourages him from doing interviews.

“I stopped doing interviews because I’m so sick of being asked questions that don’t make me think or that don’t make me feel. I’ve just sat there and heard this, ‘Oh, he departed, oh, he switched, oh, he’ — Do you know how long? How much that kills me every day? That if I died tomorrow, I know every single person would be like, ‘Legend, dude, this mother—-er did this and did this.’ And while I’m alive my flowers can’t be brought to me. … I don’t give a f— about actual money. I’ve never once in my life looked at my bank account. I could care less. I care about real human interaction. That’s the sh– to me.”

Taurus will be released Nov. 18. Listen to Machine Gun Kelly’s entire conversation with The Hollywood Reporter here.