Album Review: General Admission- Machine Gun Kelly

general-admission-deluxeReleased on October 16th, 2015, General Admission is the sophomore album from Cleveland rapper Machine Gun Kelly.  The album features the two singles, “Till I Die” and “A Little Bit More”.   A video was released to accompany each track and have been very well received.  General Admission features 16 songs and the main themes of the album revolve around MGK opening up to his fans on an even more personal note. This album features a ton of emotion and truth from the eyes of a growing man who is constantly battling with fame in a life that seems impossible to slow down.

The album starts with “Spotlight”, a somber look back at the hardships and triumphs associated with the rise to stardom. The production is heavy and spacey, as MGK delivers three emotional verses in between the sad depressive state in which the  Chorus repeats “Pop a Valium turn up the Volume.”  “Alpha Omega” follows it, which gives MGK a platform to be a bit more braggadocios and talk a little crap to the rest of the industry.  The album’s single, “Till I Die”, fits in well after the confidence displayed in “Alpha Omega.”  The hard aggressive beats continue with “Eddie Cane”, a story of a young man hustling in the city for respect.  After the first quarter of the album is filled with bass-heavy aggressive raps, it takes a sudden turn at the Kid Rock-assisted “Bad MotherFucker”.  This production features an electric guitar and the sound takes a small rock style detour.

The next songs include “World Series”, “OZ”, and “Everyday, which all  share the same similar mellow type of production that matches well with MGK’s tough and aggressive flows.  The second half of the  album really continues the theme of opening up to fans and touching on some concepts that were very close to him not only as an artist but as a normal person. “Gone” speaks on the troubles of being away from his daughter and the stress that touring life puts him through. “Story of The Stairs” places a young MGK reminiscing on a list of childhood memories and family stories as he prepares to meet his mother for the first time ever.  Just after the tension reaches a peak the story ends and on comes “Merry Go Round”, the tragic story of a young couple that experiments wit heroin and ends with both them and their expected child dead on the floor of their house.  Just as the tears are about to flow, the beautifully soothing Voice of Victoria Monet on “A Little More” comes on and helps bring the light out of the darkness.   This is probably the best part of the album and all 4 of these songs have the ability to give the listener chills from the sheer emotion and strong storytelling abilities.

The album finishes strong with a few inspirational tracks that help reflect back on the many life events that have led up to MGK being signed to Bad Boy Records and a huge success in the rap industry.  This was a very well put together follow-up album to Lace Up, and definitely lived up to the expectations of the thousands of die hard EST fans.  There is a reason that MGK has one of the strongest and most loyal fan bases in all of music, and that is because he puts his all into his projects and makes music that can touch the hearts of his fans and relate on a deeper level than most critics will ever be able to understand.

You can Purchase The album on Itunes and check out the amazing video for ” A Little Bit More” below.

Machine Gun Kelly - A Little More (Explicit) ft. Victoria Monet