Machine Gun Kelly is back to rapping, kinda, on his new song, “Ay!,” featuring a guest verse from Lil Wayne.
The track blends a brooding but dreamy guitar loop with crisp hip-hop production as MGK raps about everything from his preference for sad playlists, skipping meetings, and sleeping until 7 p.m. There’s even a Britney Spears reference as he rhymes, “I cut my hair off like I’m Britney/Sparkle dust like a pixie.”
“Ay!” also arrives with a music video in which MGK and some friends bop along to the song in a dressing room, their outfits changing with quick cuts, as some goofy visual effects turn MGK’s eyes into mouths. Lil Wayne also makes a “cameo” of sorts, appearing on a table in the form of a tiny paper cutout during his verse.
“Ay!” marks the second offering from Machine Gun Kelly’s sixth studio album, Mainstream Sellout, following “Emo Girl,” featuring Willow. Mainstream Sellout, which will arrive March 25, was originally set to be called Born With Horns, a name both MGK and his frequent collaborator Travis Barker ostensibly settled on when they got matching tattoos of the title. MGK broke the news to Barker that he’d changed the LP’s name in a TikTok video shared back in January.
As he preps for the release of his new album, however, MGK is also facing a lawsuit filed against him by a disabled parking lot attendant, who’s accused the musician of pushing and threatening him during an encounter last August.
Smashing Pumpkins are hoping to bring their A Night of Mellon Collie and Infinite Sadness production to the Las Vegas Sphere for a one of a kind performance centered around the legendary 1995 album.
Billy Corgan is stepping away from traditional rock venues and leaning into the world of opera with his large scale A Night of Mellon Collie and Infinite Sadness tour, which transforms the band’s iconic record into a full orchestral and operatic experience.
Even though the group has not officially been invited to perform at the cutting edge venue in Las Vegas, Corgan admitted he would immediately embrace the opportunity.
Speaking with KROQ, he explained: “It’s a no-doubter for us. We just haven’t been asked yet.
“See, if the Sphere came to us and said, ‘We’d love you to do all of Mellon Collie with that production.’ Now, that makes sense to me to do something like that, to build the show around the album.
"Then you have a chance to recast the songs and the music in a different dynamic.”
The performance sees Corgan joined by acclaimed solo vocalists and complete orchestras, reshaping some of Smashing Pumpkins’ most beloved songs into expansive classical arrangements.
The project first premiered in Chicago and received overwhelming praise, with audiences and reviewers applauding the powerful reinterpretations of songs such as 1979 and Tonight, Tonight.
Corgan shared that the experience has become one of the most meaningful achievements of his artistic journey.
He said: “The success of translating Mellon Collie into operatic and classical form has been one of the most satisfying experiences of my life. Where on each of the 7 sold out nights in Chicago, we’d finish within the raucous wave of a standing ovation. So to now take it on the road, and to Europe, too says this magical dream doesn’t have to end.”
The production was developed by Corgan alongside Grammy nominated conductor James Lowe, who added: "It has been so gratifying to discover how the nuances and layers of Mellon Collie reveal themselves in fresh new ways in these symphonic, choral and operatic settings. To now have the opportunity to perform this work in Europe with world class musicians in such important venues is nothing short of thrilling."
The lineup features vocalists Ed Parks, Sydney Mancasola, Zoie Reams, Dominick Valdes Chenes and Dean Murphy. The wardrobe for the production was created by House of Gilles designers Gilles Mendel and Chloé Mendel Corgan.
The upcoming run will include several September performances throughout the UK, Belgium, France and Spain, highlighted by two special evenings at London’s Royal Festival Hall.
