Ex-mixtape rapper turned pop-punk revivalist MGK aka Colson Baker burst onto the pop-punk scene with the nostalgic 2020 record Tickets To My DownFall, an album that introduced the genre to a new generation. With Baker’s recent effort, mainstream sellout, he’s perhaps leaning on formulaic punk instrumental but is being vulnerable in a different way: the musician is singing about his pain in an unabashedly honest manner, letting all parts of his story take a star turn. Through this process, he shows listeners that all the parts of their story are worthy of telling and that there’s nothing to be ashamed of in the struggle to confront various difficult issues. (Photo by MEENO)
A vulnerable, complex record, mainstream sellout, lets Baker shed the exoskeleton of arrogance and hubris that colored the early part of his career and expose his softer inner essence over the course of thirteen tracks. Through being comfortable with the uncomfortable task of confronting his own demons, he’s teaching his listeners to own all parts of their story without shame. Moments of searing honesty on tough subjects such as parental abandonment, drug addiction, loss, mental health, and the juxtaposition of being famous yet wanting to retreat from the intense attention, color this album, which is darker than his previous release while lacking its novelty. The record features a plethora of artists from frequent collaborator and pop-punk legend Travis Barker to artists Willow Smith, Gunna, and Oli Skyes.
At its start, we see Baker wrestling with his demons on the opening track “Born With Horns.” a song that has the artist painting himself as an outcast. A child of divorced missionaries, Baker lived in various places globally— he stated that he spent part of his childhood in Kenya in an interview with Billboard—, an experience that perhaps engendered feelings of loneliness and isolation. In its anger, the track lets listeners relate to the pain of being the survivor of parental abandonment and the loneliness of having to carve out one’s own path in life. “God Save Me” delves into this topic further, frankly discussing attempted suicide, parental loss (I wanna talk to my dad / May he Rest in Peace), and therapy. Continuing to tackle difficult subjects with candor, Baker is forthright in examining the things that brought him to believe in wanting something to save him from what he was experiencing.
The reworked “Paper cuts” keeps the egotism of the original track and inserts vulnerability with the line “This song is for my damn father.” Speaking of the wounds that life gives us over time, with each nick adding up to a cut that can be difficult to heal quickly, the peroxide is given in as shown through. With its slower tempo, the new version, Continuing on this path of expressing pain, “Die In California ” explores the discontent that can be felt when famous. Despite having celebrity, money, and fame, depression, and anxiety do not abate; unlike what the adage promises, money doesn’t buy happiness. The lyric “Miserable even though I made it / Have a house in the hills and I fucking hate it” illustrates this concept.
The experience of celebrity shapes the title track track “mainstream sellout” heavily, with the song really leaning into it while trying to make a joke about himself. Lyrics and the chorus of “Leave the scene / You’re ruining it” show mocking one’s self while understanding genre gatekeeping and how the scene is still resistant to newcomers who do not have a previous place in the categorization.
“5150”, the term for a section in the California Welfare and Institutions code allowing an individual to be involuntarily detained for 72-hour psychiatric hospitalization, delves into self-hatred and how it plays into self-image. In the tune, he states that he feels like he’s going crazy, with the lyric “Bruises don’t heal overnight / I’m a few sips from pulling the trigger”, pointing to the trauma that can make one feel “damaged.” as well as the overanalyzing that occurs when one is suffering and how it can make someone second guess everything they’re thinking.
However, the totality of the record is not littered with introspection— it also embraces the fun side of pop-punk with the tracks “Maybe” and “Emo Girl”. Reaching back into the early 2000’s punk sound, “Maybe” features Bring Me The Horizon frontman Oli Skyes for a duet while “Emo Girl” and “Ay!” featuring Lil’ Wayne give off a joyful vibe. Fun can be had along with the hard process of looking at oneself, and these tracks fill that gap. “WW4” taps into the artist’s rebellious spirit that had marked his persona long ago. Referencing geopolitics and apocalyptic situations, Baker takes on a grim, futuristic view of his fame over an instrumental that makes you want to forget about your worries and mosh along. “Makeup Sex” featuring Black bear adds to the fun, recapturing the feel of the pair’s previous duet track, “My Ex’s Best Friend” while establishing that both artists enjoy the act of make-up sex.
The closing track “Twin Flame” serves as a sweet ode to his fiancee, actress Megan Fox, harks back to the vulnerability of “Bloody Valentine” with sentimentality injected into it via an intimate phone exchange between the celebrity couple. With lyrics such as “, it dives into not feeling good enough to be loved by one’s paramour. The touching ballad discusses the pair’s meeting and feeling like someone is a match from the moment you see them. Following a pattern of Baker mentioning those he loves on albums — 2020’s emotional Play This When I’m Gone was dedicated to his daughter, Casie— the song capitalizes on the mushy feelings that one has for their significant other.
Through showcasing his own vulnerability, Baker simultaneously makes pop-punk a place to be unabashedly honest about mental health, something that’s necessary during a time when so many are struggling due to pandemic-induced anxiety and social isolation. Additionally, Baker illustrates that processing his demons— even if it’s over thundering drums and guitar riffs— can be therapeutic, illuminating, and helpful in moving forward from experiences that are painful to look back on.
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