Love him or hate him, Machine Gun Kelly has been dominating headlines of late. Since dissing Slipknot last month and subsequently beefing with frontman Corey Taylor online, MGK has been at the receiving end of some serious ire, not only from disgruntled Maggots but from metal fans and musicians everywhere.
Last month, after his very public dissing of Slipknot at Riot Fest the week before, MGK was relentlessly booed by the audience at Louder Than Life festival in Kentucky, and was seen getting into a physical altercation with a fan during the performance. At Aftershock festival this weekend in Sacramento, California, the anti-MGK sentiment continued, as fans pelted the rapper-turned-pop-punk rocker with bottles and tree branches.
As punters gathered around the stage and hoisted their middle fingers in the air for the musician to see, MGK declared he would carry on the performance for the fans who had turned up to support him. Sat on a tent, the rap-rocker opened up about how he felt in regards to playing the event, acknowledging that the last festival crowd he played in front of (Louder Than Life) hadn't been thrilled to see him. “How the fuck you feelin’ Aftershock?" he began, while introducing the set. "Mixed opinions. I love you so much. This morning I was like, ‘Do we get on the plane and go to this?’"
However, MGK went on to reveal that it was a young fan that motivated him to attend and perform at the event. "I was sitting there thinking about the last festival we did where this 10-year-old got her poster ripped up just for liking me," he said. "I’m doing this show for her and everyone who came to see us.”
For those out of the MGK vs metal loop, it all started when Slipknot leader Corey Taylor informally insulted the musician on the Cutter’s Rockcast in February, declaring "I hate all new rock for the most part. I [hate] the artists who failed in one genre and decided to go rock – and I think he knows who he is.”
The ill-feeling then sky-rocketed when MGK described Slipknot as a bunch of "50 years old, wearing a fucking weird mask on a fucking stage" during his Riot Fest set, before announcing on Twitter that Taylor had only ever insulted him as he was "bitter" about his guest spot on MGK's latest Tickets To My Downfall album being scrapped.
Shortly after, Taylor took to the platform to show his side of the story, and provided "receipts", in the form of a series of screenshots. The images showed MGK showering praise on Taylor's vocal part before Taylor backed out of the project due to creative differences.
Watch fan footage of his Aftershock performance below:
