Machine Gun Kelly And WILLOW Have The Same Type On New Song “Emo Girl”
The song was produced by Travis Barker.
Since dropping her 2021 album lately I feel EVERYTHING, WILLOW has become one of the hottest artists on the pop-punk scene. And following the massive success of Machine Gun Kelly’s 2020 album Tickets To My Downfall, fans have been eagerly waiting for the rapper to dive even further into the punk world. So when the duo’s first-ever collaboration, “Emo Girl,” arrived today, it was no surprise that it immediately shot into the Top 10 on Genius’ Top Songs chart.
Produced by blink-182’s Travis Barker, “Emo Girl” is an ode to pop-punk of the early 2000s. It opens with the voice of MGK’s soon-to-be-wife Megan Fox claiming, “I am a God”—a line from her cult classic 2009 film Jennifer’s Body. From there, the track—originally titled “Emo Prom”—finds both MGK and WILLOW hung up on girls with penchants for dark makeup, piercings, and good music.
Machine Gun Kelly paints an image of his emo girl on the first verse. She does her makeup in her bedroom, wears fishnets and black boots, and sports a nose piercing. By the end of the verse, the girl also starts to take on some traits of Megan Fox’s titular character in Jennifer’s Body, who wears red lipstick and—spoiler alert—is a half-dead monster for most of the movie.
Half dead but she still looks so cute
She is a monster in disguise
And she knows all the words to the trap songs
Takes pics with a cherry-red lipstick
MGK uses the hook to confirm his feelings for his emo girl in as many ways as he can.
I’m in love with an emo girl
I fell in love with an emo girl
All I want is an emo girl
WILLOW takes the second verse, which she rewrote after Barker and MGK sent her the original demo. She told Barker in an interview with Rolling Stone that the original verse simply didn’t feel authentic to who she is. “Honestly, to be a Black woman and be able to come on that song and write my verse with my outlook on life…those are the kinds of things that are going to make more people feel seen,” she explained.
On her verse, WILLOW describes the emo girl she’s fallen for. She’s coincidentally a big fan of the track’s producer and is dealing with some internal issues that WILLOW can relate to.
Kiss me, holy fuck I’m bleeding on your Blink tee
So, so, so, many regrets you tell me
You’re depressed, baby girl, that makes two of us
Barker and MGK were far from offended when WILLOW sent back her new verse. Barker told Willow in an interview with Rolling Stone, “Your verse was insane compared to ours. It’s high-risk, high-reward with what you’re doing—or even what we’re doing.”
You can check out all the lyrics to “Emo Girl” on Genius now.
