Machine Gun Kelly has never been shy about genre-hopping, but his latest musical venture might be his most personal in years.
In a stripped-back, emotionally raw tribute to Juice WRLD, MGK tackles Empty Out Your Pockets with a blend of respect, reinterpretation, and reckless honesty that has left both fans and critics in two minds—and that’s kind of the point.
Why This Cover Feels Like a Crossroads
What sets MGK’s take apart from a straightforward tribute is how he folds himself into it. This isn’t karaoke. It’s confession.
Lyrically, Juice WRLD’s original track talks about materialism, fame’s fake friends, and mental chaos—all topics MGK’s been orbiting since Hotel Diablo.
Lines like “they be chameleons, they’ll change for some change” feel like they could’ve been scribbled in his own notebook.
There’s no genre dress-up here. This is MGK returning to his rapper roots while borrowing the best of his pop-punk toolkit.
And then there’s the moment no one saw coming: a segue into Green Day’s Boulevard of Broken Dreams.
It shouldn’t work. It really shouldn’t work. But in the way only someone like MGK can manage, it lands—not as a gimmick but as an emotional bridge between Juice’s lyrical despair and MGK’s own artistic evolution.
A Lockdown Throwback… With Fangs?
Sonically, the cover echoes his Lockdown Sessions era—lo-fi, raw, and intimate, with just piano, pads, and eventually, electric guitar.
It’s got the same DIY studio vibe, the kind that makes you feel like you’re eavesdropping rather than listening.
And if you noticed something… different about MGK himself, you’re not alone.
Let’s just say the internet had thoughts about his freshly sharpened vampire fangs.
Whether it’s part of his aesthetic arc or just a chaotic MGK move, it added fuel to the Reddit fire.
A Legacy Moment—Not Just Juice’s
This isn’t just a Juice WRLD tribute. It’s MGK putting a stamp on a moment that feels bigger than either artist alone.
As one Reddit user put it, “you don’t even have to like it to acknowledge the fact that it’s cool someone like MGK is helping keep Juice’s legacy alive.”
It’s a crossover of grief, nostalgia, and artistic identity—and yeah, it’s messy. But so was Juice. So is MGK. That’s why it works.
Standout Lines That Hit Hard
- “I rock like electric guitars” — a one-liner that nods to his pop-punk pivot while tying back to Juice’s vibe.
- “Sometimes I ain’t safe from myself when I stay up at night” — one of MGK’s additions, and possibly the most vulnerable moment in the entire performance.
- “I started smoking squares, they getting in my circle” — pure wordplay that hits like a punchline and a gut punch at once.
The Reception? A Digital Tug of War
Over on Reddit, the response has been… let’s say passionate. Some fans praised the emotional rawness and genre-blending.
Others thought the Green Day outro felt like a genre-jumping stunt. But even those who weren’t sold on the cover agreed on one thing: it got them talking.
Whether you call it a tribute, a transformation, or just MGK doing MGK things, Empty Out Your Pockets has cemented itself as a cultural moment.
It’s more than a cover. It’s a mirror—and MGK’s not afraid to look into it.
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mgk Empty Out Your Pockets Lyrics
Chorus
Empty out your pockets, I need all that
I get the millions, then I fall back
They be chameleons, they’ll change for some change
Days ain’t the same, ain’t be switchin’ for the fame
Louis Vuitton, I’m in my bag
Get high, my memory’s gone, I’ve been hurtin’
Rock like electric guitars, I be ragin’
Big knots, look like Yellow Pages
Verse 1
Run it like a race
Get in the way, brodie got the aim to blow you away
The next day, you in the newspaper on the front page
Prayin’ for forgivenеss ’cause it happened on a Sunday
Lifе’s been gettin’ to me, I just started smoking squares
They ain’t gettin’ in my circle, though, we still prepared
I’m still dealin’ with some demons that ain’t really there
Grew up a weirdo, twenty piercings and some bleached hair
In seventh grade, I didn’t have a bed, I had to share
The fuck you think I go so hard for? I got outta there
Have you ever had somebody try to take your life?
Sometimes, I ain’t safe from myself when I stay up at night, ugh
Interlude
Ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah
Ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah
Verse 2
I walk a lonely road
The only one that I have ever known
Don’t know where it goes
But it’s home to me, and I walk alone
I walk alone, I walk alone
I walk alone, I walk a—