Machine Gun Kelly Changes Name of Upcoming Album to ‘Mainstream Sellout’

Best laid plans, eh MGK? For the past year, Machine Gun Kelly has been touting that his next studio album would be titled Born With Horns. He and producer Travis Barker even went so far as to have the title tattooed on their respective arms. But, as Barker and MGK revealed in an awkwardly funny new TikTok, the album has been renamed to .... Mainstream Sellout.

In the newly released video, Machine Gun Kelly turns to Barker and asks, "Okay, we're friends no matter what, right?" to which Barker responds in the affirmative. Then with a smile on his face, he recalls "Remember when we got the new album name tattooed on our arms?" before footage of that event airs onscreen. Then laughingly he tells Barker, "We're changing the album name." Once Barker asks what the new name is, a graphic comes up with Mainstream Sellout.

@machinegunkelly my bad @travisbarker ♬ original sound - Colson

The new album is the first of two albums the musician is reportedly working on for a 2022 release. Mainstream Sellout will be the first of the two to arrive, serving as the follow-up to his platinum-selling 2020 album Tickets to My Downfall. Last year, MGK released what is expected to be the first song off the album, "Papercuts."

Speaking last October, Kelly stated that the new album is going to contrast the light-hearted pop-punk sound of its predecessor.

"It feels more guitar-heavy for sure, lyrically it definitely goes deeper — but I never like to do anything the same," Kelly said. "Every album is a juxtaposition of the last album. So I went and studied Tickets, and I heard the bright sound that I had, and for this album I just turned the lights off."

"I'm not scared anymore, there's nothing holding me back from being my true self — and my true self can't be silenced, can't be restrained," he continued. "It's a force, it's like a hurricane. Can't stop that, it just goes until it feels like stopping, and I don't feel like stopping anytime soon."

An official release date has not been announced.