In a recent Q&A session, Slipknot’s Corey Taylor gave a detailed explanation of what started his feud with Machine Gun Kelly.
The feud between the white boy rapper-come-pop-punker, Machine Gun Kelly, and nu-metal stayers, Slipknot, was one of the weirder news stories of 2021. It became publicly apparent when the two acts played overlapping sets at Chicago’s Riot Fest.
Kelly asked for the house lights to be turned on so that he could see “who chose to be here instead of with all the old weird dudes with masks.” He went on: “Hey, you wanna know what I’m really happy that I’m not doing? Being 50 years old wearing a fucking weird mask on a fucking stage.”
Corey Taylor was reportedly asked to appear on Kelly’s 2020 album, Tickets to My Downfall, but didn’t agree with the requests of Kelly and his producer, Blink 182’s Travis Barker. Taylor then took a thinly-veiled swipe at Kelly on Cutter’s Rockcast in February. “I hate the artist who failed in one genre and decided to go rock,” he said. “And I think he knows who he is, but that’s another story.”
In the Q&A, which occurred as part of the ShipRocked cruise, the Slipknot singer denied he was responsible for starting the beef.
“The truth is he started it. Now, I will explain to you why,” he said (via Blabbermouth). Taylor said the trigger for his disdain was a comment Kelly made during an Instagram Live interview with “Allie from Spotify.”
“He goes off on this fucking rant about rock stars and comfortable shoes,” said Taylor. “It sounds as smart as you think it is. I mean, spit was coming out of his face. And I’m watching it and I’m going, ‘You fuck. You’ve been here for five minutes, basically, and you’re gonna fucking run your mouth about bands that have been doing this for 20 fucking years, like in the mud, in the dirt?
“They’re gonna wear whatever the fuck they want. You’re gonna walk in here with your fucking black tongue and try to talk some shit on some bands that would fucking circle your arse? Fuck you.'”
