What’s the beef between Machine Gun Kelly and the members of Slipknot?

The Hatfields & The McCoys. The Earps & The Clantons. Tupac & Biggie. Machine Gun Kelly & Slipknot? 

The latest celebrity feud is proof that 2021 is as confoundingly bizarre as 2020. Rapper-turned-pop rocker Machine Gun Kelly took aim at the legendary heavy metal band Slipknot on the last day of Chicago’s RiotFest.

Wait and Bleed

On Sunday 19, at Chicago’s RiotFest, Machine Gun Kelly took a swing at the band Slipknot, a band with which he shared top billing on the festival’s last day. While introducing a song from his album Tickets to my Downfall, MGK told the audience, “Hey you wanna know what I am really happy that I am not doing? Being 50 years old wearing a fucking weird mask on a fucking stage.”

Kelly, a man who wears shiny clothes on just about every red carpet & once dyed his tongue black, seems to take umbrage with Slipknot’s attention-grabbing trademark masks. Later in his performance, which occurred at the same time as Slipknot’s, he demanded, “turn the lights up. Let me see who chose to be here instead of with all the old weird dudes in masks.”

Slipknot meanwhile took a very different tact on stage. Founding Slipknot member Corey Taylor used the performance to reminisce about signing the band’s first record contract in Chicago in 1998. The band also paid homage to former member Joey Jordison, who passed away earlier this year.

Duality

Machine Gun Kelly’s shots were not the first fired in what might be the strangest celebrity beef of 2021. Back in February, Slipknot member Corey Taylor mourned the state of rock music on Cutter’s Rockcast.

“I hate everything,” the Slipknot member said on the podcast. “I hate all new rock for the most part. I [hate] artists who failed in one genre and decided to go rock – and I think he knows who he is.” It is safe to assume that the “he” that Taylor was talking about was in fact MGK.

I don’t like people airing private shit like a child. So this is all I’ll say: I didn’t do the track because I don’t like when people try to ‘write’ for me. I said NO to THEM. So without further ado…. #receipts
This is all I’m going to say about it. pic.twitter.com/pkhweg1Ptn

— SHRED DJENT REDEMPTION (@CoreyTaylorRock) September 20, 2021

Machine Gun Kelly claims the beef started when Corey Taylor did a “terrible” verse for a song on his album Tickets to my Downfall. On Twitter, Taylor refuted Kelly’s story, even going as far as posting receipts. Email correspondence between Taylor & Kelly collaborator Travis Barker revealed that Kelly claimed to love Taylor’s verse but gave him a grocery list of notes.

Taylor responds by respectfully saying he might not be the right person for the song. He even compliments Kelly & wishes them luck on the project. Kelly responded to Taylor’s tweet by saying his verse was really bad.

Psychosocial

Taylor is known for speaking his mind, even when he doesn’t have anything nice to say. In 2002, Slipknot & Taylor’s other band Stone Sour were signed to the same record label as Nickelback. In an interview, Taylor revealed that he thought the label’s public relations team supported Nickelback more than his bands.

While Nickelback frontman Chad Kroeger tried to diss Taylor’s music, Taylor called Kroeger ugly. In an interview, Taylor said, “Chad Kroeger is to rock what KFC is to chicken.”

Taylor has also dissed the likes of Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst & nu-metal pioneers Korn. He appeared to bury the hatchet with Korn in 2006, when frontman Jonathan Davis was hospitalized, Taylor filled in. The two bands would continue to collaborate including a joint tour.

@machinegunkelly original Tweet about @Eminem's daughter back in 2012. pic.twitter.com/kwL58VlJog

— LordTreeSap (@LordTreeSap) September 3, 2018

Machine Gun Kelly is no stranger to beef himself, however, his track record is not exactly spotless. Kelly once tweeted that Eminem’s sixteen-year-old daughter was “hot as fuck”, which led to Eminem apparently blacklisting MGK from several radio stations. 

The two traded diss tracks for years, with Eminem calling MGK “Stan” in a 2017 track entitled Killshot. Suspect tweets about underage girls aside, some believe the beef was staged as MGK & Eminem are signed to the same label & are believed to share a producer.

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What do you think of this bizarre beef? Which side are you on? Fire away in the comments below!