Machine Gun Kelly - bloom


Machine Gun Kelly
bloom
2017
Spotify

The thing about Machine Gun Kelly is that you have to make a choice if you are going to listen to him: You either need to buy what he is saying, or not. If you do, Kelly gives you a trap style look at drug use, gang banging and hood living on this his third studio record bloom however if you aren't buying it Machine Gun Kelly feels like another white rapper constantly chasing acceptance. 'The Gunner" sets the tone with Kelly boasting about well you know, having guns. You just have to wonder how a guy who is rumored to be dating a former member of Fifth Harmony has time to gang bang on the side. He is constantly trying to prove his street cred and it just gets so fucking exhausting. Then there are songs that sound almost Rap Rock-ish like "Go For Broke". Kelly's whining reaches an apex on "At My Best" as He continues to struggle with his metal health, but the song just feels like the thing you "should" say in 2017 not something He actually believes. I mean the formula is so clear here: uplifting beat, female sung chorus and some lyrics about how "hard" it is to be Machine Gun Kelly. It just feels so false, just like on "Kiss the Sky" when he says "Ate an eighth of shrooms and started trippin'/ Had some visions that were nonexistent/ I just left the solar system/ Doesn't matter, I still kept the rhythm" you just want to ask: Did you really or is that what you are supposed to say when you shove a fist full of fungus in your mouth?

Kelly tries a pretty pathetic Kanye impression on "Golden God" which if not for a pretty solid beat would be almost unlistenable. Kelly's lyrics just leave almost no impact popping in one ear and out the other. TY Dolla $ign and Quavo lend their services to 'Trap Paris" but even they can't breath life into the song. "Moonwalkers" is one of the more interesting beats on the record, and actually has some pretty great delivery, if it wasn't for the words coming out of Kelly's mouth it might even be likable, but fear not. It seems like there is a really distinct audience for this music, I just cannot for the life of me figure out who it is. A true hip hop fan can see right through all this yet it is not generic enough for a pop audience, so who is it for? If you take one thing from this record it will probably be that Machine Gun Kelly took some drugs and is now fucked up, You'll know this because he says it about 100 times. Perhaps you can find some meaning or a point to this record on your own, but for me it's a HARD PASS.

3.3 out of 10

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