Machine Gun Kelly has once again enraged metalheads. This week, the rapper turned pop-punk singer played his own rendition of System of a Down’s Aerials on The Howard Stern Show. Netizens were not impressed with the singer’s performance, much to the singer’s chagrin. Machine Gun explains why they decided to cover the band. The metal band, according to Kelly, “blew [his] mind every night.” Prior to this, the vocalist traveled with the band on a European festival tour. Before beginning to perform the song’s cover, he said:
“I’m simply here to jam and see what happens.” Serj’s [Tankian] voice is indescribably beautiful. “I’m simply here to jam and have a good time.”
Despite the applause for his backing band, the Bloody Valentine singer seemed to be straining with the opening note of Aerials. SOAD bassist Shavo Odadjian was drawn to the cover. He shared the video on Instagram and asked his followers what they thought of MGK’s cover. The comment section was not kind to the newly-minted rock singer. Daron Malakian, the band’s guitarist, and vocalist, also uploaded the performance on his Instagram account, delicately stating that he appreciated the attempt to cover the song. His caption was as follows:
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The internet is reacting to Machine Gun Kelly’s Aerials cover.
The Howard Stern Show’s official YouTube website posted MGK’s cover on their channel. The comments under the video were not kind to the 31-year-old artist. Many SOAD fans pushed for the band to return from its lengthy sabbatical and release new songs. Netizens ridiculed MGK’s effort at covering the song, saying he “ruined” it.
MGK’s most recent tour begins in June of this year, and he has already sold out Madison Square Garden. The singer also disclosed on the podcast episode that he spent time with Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins just two days before he died. MGK and the band were scheduled to perform at the Asunciónico music festival in Paraguay. However, the event was postponed due to inclement weather.
“I stepped up, and we all got out of the elevator, all 20 of us [in my crew], and Taylor, Dave, the whole Foo Fighters staff, but especially Taylor, he went over to each and every one of us and gave us our time.” Every single one of us, all the way down to my assistant. ‘Are you from Topanga? ‘Oh, I’m from Topanga,’ she says. Dude, you have such a great spirit.”
Machine Gun received a reaction from SOAD fans before getting the backlash. Kelly was also targeted by Slipknot fans when he publicly feuded with the metal band’s vocalist, Corey Taylor. MGK defined Taylor as an artist who “failed in one genre and wanted to become rock” in an interview on Cutter’s RockCast.
