Following the success of his gold-certified third album
Bloom, Cleveland rapper
Machine Gun Kelly got an unexpected boost in 2018 from an unlikely source: major influence
Eminem, who resurrected a 2012 beef stemming from off-hand comments about the Detroit emcee's daughter. On
Eminem's
Kamikaze attack "Not Alike," he lobbed a direct shot at
MGK, who quickly responded with the biting diss track "Rap Devil." As tabloid headlines swirled, the latter song entered the U.S. R&B/Hip-Hop chart Top 10, jumping to number 13 on the Hot 100. Capitalizing on the surprise boost in exposure,
MGK issued short album
Binge, an aggressively dark, trap-beaten set. Showcasing
MGK's hungry flow and sly wordplay, the effort is one of his most focused, unencumbered by the star-studded distractions of the pop-friendly
Bloom (rapper
24hrs is the only feature here). In addition to slinging zinger after zinger on "Rap Devil,"
MGK also delivers on "GTS" ("going through shit"), "Loco," and "Livefastdieyoung."
Binge debuted at number 24 on the Billboard 200, also charting in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. ~ Neil Z. Yeung