General Admission

***General Admission*** is the second studio album by American rapper and actor Machine Gun Kelly. It was released on October 16, 2015, by his indie record label EST 19XX, and distributed by Bad Boy and Interscope Records. It was preceded by the two singles "Till I Die" and "A Little More," alongside a free mixtape entitled *Black Flag*.

The album debuted at number 4 on the *Billboard* 200, with first-week sales of 56,000 equivalent album units; it sold 49,000 copies in its first week, with the remainder of its unit total reflecting the album's streaming activity and track sales.

## Synopsis

Machine Gun Kelly's second album is a raucous tour of his hometown—"Cleveland for life!"—that showcases the rapper's versatility. On rock-tinged tracks like "Gone" and "Merry Go Round," MGK floats through introspective rhymes with raw emotion, while uptempo tunes like "Alpha Omega" are driven by his light-speed delivery. Kelly's chemistry with guests is on-point throughout, particularly when Kid Rock shows up for a rowdy collaboration on "Bad Mother F\*cker."

## Cover artwork

On September 11, 2015, MGK revealed the official track listing and cover artwork. The artwork was designed by Tyler Nikkel, who explained, "Every little aspect added to the piece has to do with each song on the album. [...] One thing would be how dark the world is sometimes and stuff like that. That's kind of what I designed the main cover off of." He added that he began working on it in February 2015, where he discussed with MGK of the concept. This included, last-minute, Cleveland buildings. He recalled, "At first, there was probably four or five buildings. Then he wanted something to do with Cleveland and we made those buildings gold. The entire cover started with just a tiny little sketch, and then he would approve things until we got the masterpiece."

## Critical reception

*General Admission* received mixed reviews. David Jeffries of AllMusic remarked, "while it lacks that album's artistic weight, it's proud to be unattractive which, oddly enough, becomes this druggy downer's allure." *Sputnik* described it as a "experimental album," and praised the lyrics for being "emotional, serious, and blunt." *HipHopDX* wrote, "unflinchingly honest portrayal of a life lived successfully walking the tightrope between success, failure, life and death." *XXL*'s Chris Mench reported of "stronger footing musically" and felt it to be "calm and introspective" compared to his previous work.

## Track listing

* Johnson
* Eric Allen
* Diji Parq
* Brown

* Andre Lyon
* Marcello Valenzano
* McPerry
* Reyes-Ortiz
* Bartolomei
* Primous
* Byron McCane
* Charles Scruggs
* Steve Howse
* Anthony Henderson
* Stanley Howse
* Karim Kharbouch
* Mario Mims
* Wardell Cheeks
* McPerry
* J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League

## Charts

 Belgian Albums (*Ultratop Flanders*)
 Canadian Albums (*Billboard*)
 German Albums (*Offizielle Top 100*)
 New Zealand Albums (*RMNZ*)
 Norwegian Albums (*VG-lista*)
 Swiss Albums (*Schweizer Hitparade*)
 UK Albums (OCC)
 US *Billboard* 200
 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (*Billboard*)

## References

1. ↑ Smith, Troy (September 11, 2015). "Machine Gun Kelly's 'General Admission' Album Features Kid Rock, Arrives Oct. 16". *Cleveland*.
2. ↑ Caulfield, Keith (October 26, 2015). "Pentatonix Scores First No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 Chart". *Billboard*.
3. ↑ Smith, Troy (September 16, 2015). "The Story Behind Machine Gun Kelly's Cleveland-centric 'General Admission' Album Artwork". *Cleveland*.
4. ↑ "General Admission Review by David Jeffries". *AllMusic*. October 16, 2015.
5. ↑ "Machine Gun Kelly General Admission". *Sputnik*. February 23, 2016.
6. ↑ Dowling, Marcus (October 22, 2015). "Machine Gun Kelly - General Admission". *HipHopDX*.
7. ↑ Mench, Chris (October 21, 2015). "Machine Gun Kelly Finds His Footing on 'General Admission'". *XXL*.