Machine Gun Kelly earned his first number-one album on the Billboard 200 with 2020's Tickets to My Downfall, and he's aiming to do that again with his next record, Mainstream Sellout.
Speaking with Billboard about his sales hopes for the upcoming effort, the "Bloody Valentine" rocker says, "One thing about Machine Gun Kelly: He doesn't lose to the Encanto soundtrack."
That may be easier said then done, since the "We Don't Talk About Bruno"-spawning album ruled the Billboard 200 for eight straight frames before rapper Lil Durk dethroned it just this week. Billboard also notes that Kelly sounded "about 10% like he's joking" when he made his declaration.
Still, Kelly is certainly confident in the material of Mainstream Sellout. "I've waited for this," he says. "The confidence to hit 'play' and know that what's about to come out of the speakers is what I've wanted to say all along."
Like Tickets to My Downfall, Mainstream Sellout was recorded with Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker, and continues Kelly's pop-punk sound after spending his early career as a rapper. As Kelly tells Billboard, he originally planned to go back to rap for a Tickets follow-up, but he found he "love[s] playing guitar."
"The 2010s was great for singers and rappers, and I was part of that," Kelly says. "But I think we needed something else: We needed an instrument."
He adds, "Kids come up to me like, 'Dude, the first time I ever saw someone play guitar in concert was at your concert -- and now I take guitar lessons.'"
Mainstream Sellout arrives this Friday, March 25.