After signing with Bad Boy Records, Machine Gun Kelly collaborated with the likes of Wiz Khalifa and French Montana for another mixtape. More collaborations followed, including the single “Bad Things” with Camila Cabello in 2016, which was his first song to crack the Top Ten on Billboard (via All Music). Finally, in 2020, Machine Gun Kelly’s album “Tickets to My Downfall” became his first No.1 on the Billboard 200. This album also marked a genre change from hip-hop and rap to pop-punk and led to his award for favorite rock artist at the American Music Awards.
Apart from collaborations in his music, feuds with others in the music industry boosted Machine Gun Kelly’s fame as well. After referring to Eminem‘s daughter as hot, Kelly has been in a public feud with the rapper. The song “Rap Devil” is essentially a diss track directed at Eminem. In 2018, Metro cited Machine Gun Kelly and Eminem’s contempt for each other as “the most talked about feud in music.”
The beef with Eminem and a string of high profile romances have made Machine Gun Kelly famous for more than just his music, films, and products. Nevertheless, Machine Gun Kelly does not forget his fans or his roots. When speaking of his success after the release of “Tickets to My Downfall,” he thanked the fans who “made it happen the way we talked about 10 years ago” (via NME).
