swim good

Frank Ocean Fans Are Very Unhappy With Machine Gun Kelly’s Cover Of ‘Swim Good’

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Machine Gun Kelly live performance 2015
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A new project from Frank Ocean has been on the horizon for years. Remember when he hinted at a new LP with his 2019 songs “DHL” and “In My Room“? Yeah, that never happened. Ocean’s fans were probably excited to see the musician’s name trending on Twitter Wednesday evening, presuming it be news about Ocean’s next release. So one can imagine their disappointment when they instead found a cover of “Swim Good” by none other than Megan Fox’s blood-drinking fiancé, Machine Gun Kelly.

Machine Gun Kelly has been very prolific when it comes to his own music, after having dropped his well-received Tickets To My Downfall and announcing yet another Travis Barker-produced album. But this week, the musician decided to take on Oceans’ Nostalgia, Ultra mixtape fan-favorite “Swim Good.” Machine Gun Kelly said it’s one of his “favorite” songs, and infused some of his now-signature pop-punk style into the cover. He also recorded a video to accompany the cover, which sees him wistfully singing the song against an ocean backdrop.

While Machine Gun Kelly was overjoyed to share the rendition, Ocean fans didn’t quite feel the same way. Sharing their disappointment about the cover on Twitter, people absolutely dunked on Machine Gun Kelly while taking it upon themselves to apologize to Ocean for his cover.

Listen to Machine Gun Kelly’s cover and see how Ocean fans reacted above.

Machine Gun Kelly Decided To Do A Pop-Punk Cover Of Frank Ocean’s ‘Swim Good’

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Machine Gun Kelly has been everywhere lately, whether it’s gracing magazine covers with his new romantic partner, Megan Fox, or getting engaged to her with some pretty weird rituals involved. Thorny engagement ring? Check. Anyway, after all the excitement around his personal life and relationship, MGK decided to get back to what he does best — helping his friend Pete Davidson talk about penis size.

Just kidding!

I meant music, and the pop-punk/rap star decided a cover was the way to get back into the game. He set himself up for a pretty big challenge, though, by deciding to cover Frank Ocean, who is such a beloved creative that he’s a very tough artist to do justice to. Tackling “Swim Good,” off Ocean’s Nostalgia, Ultra mixtape, which was the second single for the release, MGK gave the song a decidedly pop-punk twist. You know how every pop-punk album in the mid-2000s had to have at least one downtempo song with poignant lyrics and some barren acoustic strumming? That’s the direction Kelly went with this cover, departing from the lush production of the original.

Given the song’s fairly dark subject matter about failed love, it doesn’t totally make sense as a cover for a man who is madly in love with his new fiancé, but then again, little MGK does is logical in the first place. When he shared the cover today, Kelly called it “one of my favorite songs,” so clearly he has respect for Frank Ocean.

Check out the song above.