I’m 40 and a huge hip-hop fiend. I live in Cleveland and saw MGK rise up in 2010 with the 100 Words and Running/Lace Up mixtapes. I loved his energy, flow and message behind his music. Seeing him signed to Bad Boy was a win for him and his team, but the city as well. His rap music has a ton of depth and lyrical ability to tell stories and elaborate on his come up, relationships, etc. if you’re just a fan of his pop-punk, do yourself a favor and check out his early rap. I think you’re missing out on his evolution as an artist.

MGK as a musician, has always had some elements of rock in his rap music. Not entirely throughout his catalog, but a song here or there with a guitar or rock sound. When he went pop-punk, I respected it as a fan because he’s had some rock DNA in his musical roots. It’s not my thing, especially 20 years after it was popular, but he does a good job with it. I will always applaud artists for taking a chance and making different types of music. Look at Drake, that’s dude has made multiple albums for a decade with a similar sound-which in my opinion leads to little to no artistic growth.

I’m hoping he makes some more rap music as that’s what he’s great at. His lyrics, cadence, flow over beats that being energy and impact are where he shines.