Here’s why MGK is changing the ‘Tickets To My Downfall’ album art
Well, the weeks leading up to the Tickets To My Downfall release aren’t going as smoothly as Machine Gun Kelly may have hoped.
Just days after unveiling the tracklisting and album artwork for the forthcoming album, MGK has now been forced to change the album cover. This is due to various claims that the artist who created the artwork “essentially copied” the design from another artist.
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Last week, Machine Gun Kelly unveiled the official tracklisting for Tickets To My Downfall by sending fans on a scavenger hunt around Los Angeles. Shortly following this, he released the official album artwork that he originally teased in the “concert for aliens” video. Terry Urban, a Los Angeles-based artist, created the album artwork.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CEuX9cOJVgM/
After the album artwork unveiling, however, MGK was informed that Terry Urban’s design is strikingly similar to a photograph taken by a different artist.
How are you about to copy someone’s work as an artist for a big name musical artist like @machinegunkelly?
Y’all are that fucking dumb?
It’s an insult to fellow artists…??♂️?
I feel like Kells wasn’t aware of this, but the “artist” that created it definitely was… pic.twitter.com/QZI6UOA0p2— Kyle King ❌❌ (@King_EST19XX) September 7, 2020
Now, Machine Gun Kelly has announced that the Tickets To My Downfall album artwork is changing. He shares that he didn’t know the artwork was plagiarised and apologizes to the original artist.
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“Found out that the album cover I released was essentially copied from a photo we do not own. I didn’t make this design so I apologize to the original artist. I’m in the process of replacing it right now.”
found out that the album cover i released was essentially copied from a photo we do not own.
i didn’t make this design so i apologize to the original artist.
i’m in the process of replacing it right now.
— Blonde Don (@machinegunkelly) September 8, 2020
Along with the album artwork controversy, MGK has also had some issues with the album’s tracklising. The fan scavenger hunt revealed that the last track on Tickets To My Downfall is “play this when i’m gone.” However, the Target edition of the album originally had the song “times of my life” listed as the final track. This mix-up confused fans and led to MGK addressing the issue.
After being asked about the tracklisting differences, MGK revealed that “times of my life” was originally supposed to be on the album. Tom Petty, however, didn’t clear a “similarity” on the track so MGK wasn’t allowed to use it. Instead, “play this when i’m gone” is now the closing track on Tickets To My Downfall.
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“tom petty didn’t clear a ‘similarity’ in the hook of Time’s of my Life so…had to make a last-minute switch. that’s be awesome though if they mistakenly put that song on the target version.”
tom petty didn’t clear a “similarity” in the hook of Time’s of my Life so…
had to make a last minute switch.
that’s be awesome though if they mistakenly put that song on the target version ??? https://t.co/KtoePjxXrK— Blonde Don (@machinegunkelly) September 4, 2020
Tickets To My Downfall has 15 tracks and includes collaborations with Halsey, Trippie Redd, iann dior and, of course, blackbear on “my ex’s best friend.”
Halsey appears on track 5 of Tickets To My Downfall called “forget me too.” This collaboration was first speculated back in June when the song was registered to Halsey’s BMI page. According to the song’s registration, “forget me too” was written by MGK, Halsey and blink-182‘s Travis Barker who produced Tickets To My Downfall.
Along with the tracklist unveiling, MGK revealed that the Target edition of the album includes four bonus tracks. His cover of Paramore’s “misery business” with Barker, “roll the windows up,” “in these walls (my house)” featuring PVRIS and “love on the brain” are all included in the Target edition of Tickets To My Downfall.
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As well, Machine Gun Kelly previously revealed that his collabs with the Used‘s Bert McCracken and YUNGBLUD don’t appear on the new album.
MGK first teased a collab with McCracken back in January. He also previously confirmed that he was working on new music with YUNGBLUD. Although MGK still plans to release these collaborations in the future, they are not included on Tickets To My Downfall.
“The songs with me and @yungblud and the song with The Used aren’t on this release because they are for something special coming after,” he tweets. “Trust the process on that decision.”
the songs with me and @yungblud and the song with The Used aren’t on this release because they are for something special coming after
trust the process on that decision
???— Blonde Don (@machinegunkelly) September 3, 2020
Tickets To My Downfall tracklisting:
- “tickets to my downfall”
- “kiss kiss”
- “drunk face”
- “bloody valentine”
- “forget me too” featuring Halsey
- “all i know” featuring Trippie Redd
- “lonely”
- “WWIII”
- “kevin and barracuda interlude”
- “concert for aliens”
- “my ex’s best friend”
- “jawbreaker”
- “nothing inside” featuring iann dior
- “banyan tree interlude”
- “play this when i’m gone”
- “misery business” (Target bonus track)
- “roll the windows up” (Target bonus track)
- “in these walls (my house)” featuring PVRIS (Target bonus track)
- “love on the brain” (Target bonus track)
Pre-orders for Tickets To My Downfall are available here.
Are you ready for Tickets To My Downfall to arrive? Let us know in the comments below.
