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  1. Tracks
  2. mgk
  3. General Admission
  4. Spotlight

TRACK

mgk

Spotlight

Release date: 16th October 2015

From General Admission
Spotify
More on mgk

About This Track

Machine Gun Kelly opens his album with a portrait of survival under pressure. 'Spotlight' frames fame not as aspiration but as a kind of slow death, a corrosive force that hollows out friendship, family, and selfhood. The song moves between hypothetical questions about an alternate life free from celebrity and the brutal reality of the one he inhabits, where success arrives paired with isolation and regret. The track builds its argument through specificity. MGK anchors abstract anxieties about fame in concrete loss: a father who chose business over family, a cousin in prison, the casual violence of his neighbourhood. Against this weight, he positions himself as defiant, hardened, someone who turns up the volume to survive. Lzzy Hale's voice enters the chorus to amplify the central tension, asking why anyone should sacrifice themselves for the machinery of the spotlight. The song treats fame as a kind of death wish dressed in ambition, and refuses to pretend otherwise.

"Spotlight" is a track by mgk, from the album General Admission, released 16th October 2015. Full lyrics are available below. Dork has published 3 articles about mgk.

About the Artist

mgk

mgk

Lyrics

Spotlight

[Intro: Machine Gun Kelly]

A'ight

Feel this

For all that it's worth

To live in the spotlight

[Verse 1: Machine Gun Kelly]

Oh, what if life was simple as a hug?

What if my partner wasn't crippled from a drug?

What if my other homie never caught a slug? (Shit)

What if our parents actually gave a fuck?

Another black suit, another black suit

Police happy to see another black shoot

His mother's make up smearing on my arms

Crying 'cause I'm the only son that she's got now that he's gone

What if the ghetto never heard an instrumental?

And we didn't have this rap shit all we had was metal?

You telling me if we couldn't shoot a ball

Our lives still got shooting involved?

And what if I never left out of Denver that winter for new beginnings

My father started his business and traded family for riches?

You telling me that my auntie will still have a house to live in

And JoJo wouldn't be writing me from prison?

But fuck it, this is life, deal with it or get dealt with

I'm in my room smoking alone like I'm selfish

'Cause some days the sun's hard to face

Dad turns his son wears his face

But look closer, see the heart of a lion

Sticks and stones couldn't damage, my bones harder than iron

170 pounds with the walk of a giant

So defiant I pop a Valium, turn up the volume

[Pre-Chorus: Machine Gun Kelly]

Turn up the volume

Turn up the volume

Turn up the volume

Turn up the volume

[Chorus: Machine Gun Kelly & Jim Jonsin, Lzzy Hale]

For all that it's worth

To live in the spotlight

All of my demons come to life

And all that it was

And all that it could be

Is lost in the darkness of the night

Why should I die? (To live in the spotlight)

Why should I kill myself for you?

You'd let me die (To live in the spotlight)

You'd let me die inside for you

[Verse 2: Machine Gun Kelly]

Look, what if money wasn't part of success?

Would the people I used to be friends with never left?

What if making a name didn't come with regrets?

I think that fame's a pre-cursor to death:

Death of a friendship, death of a family, death of a man

The misunderstood are always dead before "they" understand

Staring at ceiling fans, chop up milligrams, draw a pentagram

Lucifer's not a rumor he's in the band (Damn)

Liquor and vomit on my Converse

Bright lights and packed concerts

And right next to the gun that's on my dresser are plastic orange bottles of peer pressure

And I'm ready to cave, I live in a cage

How can I be a hero when I'm the one needing saved?

48 hour days of this fast lane living

Me and my entourage no Jeremy Piven, listen

It's better to burn out than fade away is what Kurt said

I felt the same until I saw his daughter and thought as a father

What if tomorrow, the only way I could spoil her was dying?

Started crying, then popped a valium, turned up the volume

[Pre-Chorus: Machine Gun Kelly]

Turn up the volume

Turn up the volume

Turn up the volume

[Chorus: Machine Gun Kelly & Jim Jonsin, Lzzy Hale]

For all that it's worth

To live in the spotlight

All of my demons come to life

And all that it was

And all that it could be

Is lost in the darkness of the night

Why should I die? (To live in the spotlight)

Why should I kill myself for you?

You'd let me die (To live in the spotlight)

You'd let me die inside for you

[Outro: Machine Gun Kelly]

So what you do when the cop lights

Turn into a stage and a spotlight?

And everyone around you starts to hate 'cause you got right

And feel entitled like I'm supposed to stop living my life

Well this ain't 2Pac, this ain't Em's show

This ain't Jigga man, this that Kells flow

This that C-town 19-double-X rep so

Welcome to my life, here's a ticket to the next show (Spotlight)

Welcome to my life, here's a ticket to the next show

Lyrics provided by LRCLIB

View full lyrics page →

Track details

From General Admission

2015
Listen
Album
General Admission
General Admission
mgk
Release year
2015
  1. —Bad Mother F*cker
  2. —Eddie Cane
  3. —Merry Go Round
  4. —Spotlight
  5. —Alpha Omega
  6. —World Series
  7. —A Little More
  8. —Gone
  9. —All Night Long
  10. —Story of the Stairs
  11. —Oz.
  12. —Everyday

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2022
lockdown sessions - Single
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2022
Tickets To My Downfall (SOLD OUT Deluxe)
Tickets To My Downfall (SOLD OUT Deluxe)
2020

Explore

More tracks by mgk

  1. everything tatted
    3:26
  2. FIX UR FACE (with Fred Durst)
    3:19
  3. girl next door
    3:19
  4. “killing me softly” unreleased mgk & Wiz Khalifa from live
  5. “Someone keeps calling” mgk x Wiz Khalifa untitled song previewed in lifestream
  6. “with me” [with Wiz khalifa] unreleased demo played in live
  7. breaking news 2 [full original version]
  8. crawling [Hollywood Whore demo]
  9. Die in California (demo)
  10. eyes wide shut/let ‘em all die slowly

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Credits

Production & Engineering

Writer
Finatik, Jim Jonsin, mgk, Michael Burman, Zac
Producer
FNZ, Jim Jonsin
Guitar
mgk, Michael Burman
Keyboards
FNZ, Jim Jonsin
A&R Administrator
Alicia Graham, Shawn Suggs
A&R Coordinator
Chelsea Blythe
Additional Vocals
Jim Jonsin, SlimXX
Assistant Mixing Engineer
Mike Rachlin
Assistant Recording Engineer
Dana Richard, Nathan Burgess
Creative Director
Justine Massa
Executive Producer
Byron Kirkland, Diddy, Harve ‘Joe Hooker’ Pierre, James McMillan, mgk
Mastering Engineer
Tony Dawsey
Mixing Engineer
Steve “Rockstar” Dickey
Programmer
FNZ, Jim Jonsin
Recording Engineer
Niko Marzouca
Video Director
JR Saint
READ MORE ABOUT MACHINE GUN KELLYREAD MORE ABOUT MACHINE GUN KELLYREAD MORE ABOUT MACHINE GUN KELLYREAD MORE ABOUT MACHINE GUN KELLY
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