"Papercuts" (stylized in all lowercase) is a song by American musician

Machine Gun Kelly George Kelly Barnes (July 18, 1895 – July 18, 1954), better known by his pseudonym "Machine Gun Kelly", was an American gangster from Memphis, Tennessee, active during the Prohibition era. His nickname came from his favorite weapon, a Thomp ...

, released on August 11, 2021, as the first single from his sixth studio album ''

Mainstream Sellout ''Mainstream Sellout'' is the sixth studio album by American musician Machine Gun Kelly, released on March 25, 2022, through Bad Boy Records and Interscope Records. It is his second collaborative project with drummer and producer Travis Barke ...

'' (2022). The song features drumming and

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

from collaborator

Travis Barker Travis Landon Barker (born November 14, 1975) is an American musician who serves as the drummer for the rock band Blink-182. He has also performed as a frequent collaborator with hip hop artists, is a member of the rap rock group Tran ...

Background

"Papercuts" is the lead single for

's sixth studio album ''

'', originally planned to be named ''Born With Horns'' at the time of the single's release. Much like Kelly's prior album, ''

Tickets to My Downfall ''Tickets to My Downfall'' is the fifth studio album by American musician Machine Gun Kelly. A departure from his established rap sound, the album is a more guitar-driven pop-punk album. It was released through Bad Boy Records and Interscope Reco ...

'', the song features

on drums and as a

music producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure. Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

. The song was first released on August 11, 2021, though Kelly had released a small teaser of the track in the week prior to the song and album's reveal. A

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing devi ...

, directed by

Cole Bennett Cole Michael Bennett (born May 14, 1996) is an American business executive, videographer, and music video director. His multimedia company, Lyrical Lemonade, started in 2013 as an internet blog while he was in high school. Early life Cole Ben ...

, was released concurrently with the full track. The video was the first Bennett has ever directed for a

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

music video, and was the culmination of himself and Kelly planning on working together over the course of a three-year period. Both Kelly and Bennett were very happy with the process and end product, despite that fact the shooting had initially been shut down by the police due the bizarre imagery catching the attention of the police, who in turn shut it down due to the

traffic violation A moving violation is any violation of the law committed by the driver of a vehicle while it is in motion. The term "motion" distinguishes it from other motor vehicle violations, such as paperwork violations (which include violations involving a ...

s involved, including driving a motorcycle without a helmet, and driving cars without seatbelts. The video contains alternating shots of Kelly and Barker performing the song, and surrealist imagery such as Kelly walking around in a bald cap and revealing outfit, having black-dyed eggs thrown at him, and playing an oversized guitar. During a live televised performance at the 2021 VMA awards, Kelly including a rap verse towards the end of the song, the alternate rendition became a favorite amongst fans, as of July 2022, the performance has over 2.6 million views and 69k likes. A studio recorded version including the alternate rap verse was included in the main release of the ''Mainstream Sellout'' album, under the name "papercuts - album edit". A live version of the song was featured in the ''Life in Pink'' deluxe version of the ''Mainstream Sellout'' album, titled "papercuts - live from redrocks". The song was recorded live throughout the duration of the songs performance at the

Mainstream Sellout Tour The Mainstream Sellout Tour was a concert tour by American musician Machine Gun Kelly. The tour supported his sixth studio album ''Mainstream Sellout'' (2022), and visited North America and Europe. The tour began on June 8, 2022 at the newly-bu ...

in the

Red Rocks Amphitheatre Red Rocks Amphitheatre (also colloquially as simply Red Rocks) is an open-air amphitheatre built into a rock structure in the western United States, near Morrison, Colorado, west of Denver. There is a large, tilted, disc-shaped rock behind ...

Themes and composition

Multiple publications noted that "Papercuts" sounded to move even further into the rock sound than the material from his 2020

pop punk Pop punk (or punk pop) is a rock music genre that combines elements of punk rock with power pop or pop. It is defined for its emphasis on classic pop songcraft, as well as adolescent and anti- suburbia themes, and is distinguished from other p ...

album ''

''.

Loudwire ''Loudwire'' is an American online media magazine that covers news of hard rock and heavy metal artists. It is owned by media and entertainment business Townsquare Media. Since its launch in August of 2011, ''Loudwire'' has secured exclusive ...

noted that the song had more of a grunge sound to it, mixed with the material that

Green Day Green Day is an American rock band formed in the East Bay of California in 1987 by lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, together with bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt. For most of the band's career, they have been a ...

and

Weezer Weezer is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1992. Since 2001, the band has consisted of Rivers Cuomo (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Patrick Wilson (drums, backing vocals), Scott Shriner (bass guitar, keyboards, backin ...

released in the 1990s.

Vulture A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North a ...

described it as "straight up

" with "90's inspired

guitar riff A riff is a repeated chord progression or refrain in music (also known as an ostinato figure in classical music); it is a pattern, or melody, often played by the rhythm section instruments or solo instrument, that forms the basis or accompani ...

s".

Guitar World ''Guitar World'' is a monthly music magazine for guitarists – and fans of guitar-based music and trends – that has been published since July 1980. ''Guitar World'', the best-selling guitar magazine in the United States, contains original arti ...

likened the sound of the track to

emo Emo is a rock music genre characterized by emotional, often confessional lyrics. It emerged as a style of and hardcore punk from the Washington D.C. hardcore punk scene, where it was known as emotional hardcore or emocore and pioneered b ...

. The song opens with an

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

intro, before intensifying into distorted

power chord A power chord (also fifth chord) is a colloquial name for a chord in guitar music, especially electric guitar, that consists of the root note and the fifth, as well as possibly octaves of those notes. Power chords are commonly played on ...

s into the chorus. The track also ends with a

guitar solo A guitar solo is a melodic passage, instrumental section, or entire piece of music, pre-written (or improvised) to be played on a classical guitar, electric guitar or an acoustic guitar. In 20th and 21st century traditional music and popular ...

using a

Digitech Whammy The DigiTech Whammy is a pitch shifter pedal manufactured by DigiTech. It was the first widely used effects pedal that could do foot-controlled pitch shifting effects. The pedal emulates sounds that a guitarist normally makes using the vibrato ...

pedal as well. Lyrically, publications interpreted it to be about Kelly exploring his personal struggles with fame and bad habits such as drug use. "Papercuts" has been described as

, punk rock,

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

, grunge-

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' (G ...

and grunge.

Reception

Music website ''

Stereogum ''Stereogum'' is a daily Internet publication that focuses on music news, reviews, interviews, and commentary. The site was created in January 2002 by Scott Lapatine. ''Stereogum'' was one of the first MP3 blogs and has received several awa ...

'' praised the track for being "pretty good", concluding that while they were surprised by Baker's move into

alt-rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s wi ...

, that ultimately "a good song is a good song". ''Wall of Sound'' called it Baker's most mature song to date. Other publications were more critical of the track; ''

BrooklynVegan ''BrooklynVegan'' is an American online music magazine founded in 2004 by David Levine. The company is headquartered in Brooklyn, New York, United States and originally focused on vegan food and the music community in and around New York City, ...

'' felt it ripped off "

Where Is My Mind? "Where Is My Mind?" is a song by the American alternative rock band Pixies, and it is the seventh track on the band's 1988 debut album '' Surfer Rosa''. It is one of the band's signature songs, and has inspired a multitude of covers. The song ...

" by

Pixies A pixie (also pisky, pixy, pixi, pizkie, and piskie in Cornwall and Devon, and pigsie or puggsy in the New Forest) is a mythical creature of British folklore. Pixies are considered to be particularly concentrated in the high moorland areas ar ...

, while both ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...

'' and ''

Sputnikmusic Sputnikmusic is an American music community website offering music criticism and music news alongside features commonly associated with wiki-style websites. The format of the website is unusual in that it includes both professional and amateur c ...

'' felt it was too similar to

, specifically their song "

Brain Stew "Brain Stew" and "Jaded" are two songs released as a joint single by American rock band Green Day. They appear as the tenth and eleventh tracks and third single from the group's fourth studio album, ''Insomniac''. The song was also included on '' G ...

Personnel

– vocals, guitars, songwriting *

– drums, production, songwriting * Nick Long - guitar, songwriting

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{Machine Gun Kelly 2021 singles 2021 songs Grunge songs Machine Gun Kelly (musician) songs Songs written by Machine Gun Kelly (musician)