Machine Gun Kelly ft blackbear, my ex’s best friend
Bad Boy Records

Ok rock/emo/pop-punk fans, it’s time to be honest: Machine Gun Kelly is ours now, and we love him. As emo-rap is surging in popularity, MGK’s turned his ten years of hip-hop clout into an explosion of emo excellence, collaborating with artists from across the scene including Yungblud and Travis Barker, and generally turning his emo appeal up to max. Bloody Valentine is nothing short of a total banger, and his latest release my ex’s best friend is one of the same.

my ex’s best friend definitely draws more on MGK’s past work than Bloody Valentine did, but it merges the catchiness of the pop-punk-esque hooks with the laidback emotion of the rap verses to make for a tune on every level. The instrumentation is pretty lowkey, consisting of electro beats and a sweeping mist of synths in the verses as MGK and blackbear deliver a narrative so familiar to pop-punk fans (girl trouble? Don’t we know it). But the verses lead in to a chorus that’s pure mid 2010s rock-scene gold, featuring lyrical gems like “I swear to God, I never fall in love” that would fit so perfectly on a classic emo-pop-punk record we can hardly believe we’re hearing them from MGK.

blackbear has been garnering popularity with the hardcore scene for years now, and he and MGK have teamed up to make something that’s definitely packed with appeal to the whole scene. Maybe there won’t quite be moshpits to it, but my ex’s best friend is definitely more than ready to be jumped around to as you shout along every word.

my ex’s best friend is out now.