"There is a subconscious stigma around that" — Machine Gun Kelly says white people criticize him the most for being a white hip-hop artist

Machine Gun Kelly, born Colson Baker, sat down to speak on Logan Paul's IMPAULSIVE podcast on August 27, 2024. The Cleveland-born stated that much of his criticism comes from the subsect of people he shares the same skin tone with, as opposed to his African American peers.

In the interview, when co-host Mike Majlack brought up the issue, Machine Gun Kelly shared his feelings, saying,

"I won’t deny that there is a subconscious stigma around that, being white in Hip Hop. To me, it’s so funny because the streets f**k with me so tough. It’s honestly from other white people that give me the most sh**."

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Machine Gun Kelly's struggles of being a white rapper: Says it's because he doesn't dress "normal"

While Machine Gun Kelly has had a notoriously rocky relationship with Slim Shady in the past, he did commend one of, if not arguably the, best white rapper in history. He described him as the only white artist to have ever been accepted by all, and MGK wants to replicate that.

“The crazy thing is, there’s only been one who’s done it. There’s only been one who’s done it and crossed that line of ‘we accept.' That’s the goal. And to me, I crossed that," he said.

Mike Maljak joked around throughout the interview, even suggesting that Vanilla Ice was another rapper who broke the barriers like Eminem, but MGK made it clear that it's just him.

MGK also recanted the backlash he was subjected to when he dropped his El Pistolero freestyle on Instagram. Yet again, he noticed the criticism coming from only one subsect: the white listeners.

This isn't the first time Machine Gun Kelly himself has said such things though, as in a September 2022 interview with HNHH, he said that because he's white, and doesn't "dress like a normal hip-hop person," his lyrical prowess is always doubted.

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Near violent backlash

Machine Gun Kelly's backlash borders on perilous now and then, when in August 2023, Ryan Christopher Palmeter threatened his life. The white supremacist, who killed three black people in Jacksonville, Florida that same month, named MGK and Eminem as potential targets who need to be "killed on sight." In his writings, Palmeter dubbed MGK an "honorary ni***," saying,

“Colson Baker (aka Machine Gun Kelly): Honorable ni–er. To be killed on sight like Eminem because I didn’t get a shot at him up in Ohio.”

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In the interview, Machine Gun Kelly also touched on his decision to step foot in the world of punk rock and country music, much like fellow white-rapper Post Malone. He noted that with Lonely Road, he was afraid that people would think he was imitating Post. He said that he'd been working on the song for the past two years, but instead of focusing on that, he's "gonna have to fight against" these claims.

MGK and Jelly Roll came out with Lonely Road in July 2024, and it was produced by Travis Barker, Charlie Handsome, BazeXX, and Slim XX. The music video features MGK's on-again-off-again girlfriend, Megan Fox, his ex-fiance, and Roll's wife, Bunnie XO.