Machine Gun Kelly rebukes the duplicitousness of the mainstream music industry on his single “Hollywood Whore,” taken from his album Hotel Diablo. MGK recounts stories of being betrayed and used, intimating that it has changed his perspective of working in music and the pursuit of fame.
MGK opens the song by rapping about an unnamed individual who deceived Kelly and put him in a compromising position. The rapper blames the figure for delaying the release of his music, and MGK says the bars' subject even told Kelly’s daughter that he would be able to help them. He raps:
Yo, how could you look me in the face?
You sat at the table with my daughter promising you got us right after you finished saying grace
Why don’t you tell her what your hidin' in the bank?
It’s time to cut my lawn and see the snakes
It’s time to tell the truth to every fan who doesn’t understand that its because of you they had to wait
While you left me here to deal with all the hate
Though it’s unclear who MGK is referring to in those pointed lines, some online have speculated they are meant towards Diddy. Kelly signed to his label Bad Boy in 2011, and has released three albums and two EPs there, including September 2018’s BINGE, and it is slated to be the home of Hotel Diablo. In 2015, he expressed frustration to Billboard over repeated delays for his album General Admission.
On the “Hollywood Whore” hook, Kelly talks about people trying to take advantage of him, saying its made him see that reaching the top might not be worth it. He says:
Tryna play me like a Hollywood Whore
First place, isnt worth it when you see its all two faced
Trying to fit into a world with no new space
He could be alluding to attempts throughout his career to make him a more commercial artist, including teaming him with pop singers like Camila Cabello and Hailee Steinfeld on the songs “Bad Things” and “At My Best,” respectively. Those songs were successful on the Billboard Hot 100, but are a far cry from MGK’s more raucous musical origins.
At the beginning of the second verse, Kelly says his even his fans are frustrated that he has achieved commercial success, and talks about falling outs with former friends. He raps:
I woke up sweatin tryna forget I’m in a mansion
Because fans are mad at my expansion
And my friend I thought was family who’d always understand me got offended cuz he jealous we’re supposed to be at the Grammy’s
Kelly delayed the release of Hotel Diablo’s lead single to show respect in the wake of Nipsey Hussle’s death in April. The first track he released in May was “Breaking News 2,” but MGK clarified on Twitter it was not the single.
Genius examined MGK’s Eminem diss “RAP DEVIL” in the episode of Song Stories below.
Read the full lyrics to “Hollywood Whore” and the rest of Machine Gun Kelly’s discography on Genius now.
