Lace Up
2012 studio album by Machine Gun Kelly
Lace Up is the debut studio album by American rapper Machine Gun Kelly. It was released on October 9, 2012, by Bad Boy Records and Interscope Records. Puff Daddy, who served as the executive producer on the album, enlisted the guest appearances from Cassie, DMX, Planet VI and Avenged Sevenfold; as well as the production that was provided by Alex da Kid, JP Did This 1 and J.R. Rotem, among others. The album was supported by four singles: "Wild Boy" featuring Waka Flocka Flame, "Invincible" featuring Ester Dean, and "Hold On (Shut Up)" featuring Young Jeezy, along with a promotional single, "Stereo" featuring Alex Fitts.
Reviews for the record were generally positive, but critics felt that it was a disappointment, compared to his previous mixtapes. Lace Up debuted at number four on the Billboard 200, with first-week sales of 57,000 copies in the United States. It was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), denoting sales of over 500,000 copies. Kelly embarked on the No Class Tour in 2014 to promote the album.
01Singles
The album's lead single, "Wild Boy" was released on September 27, 2011. The song features guest vocals from fellow American rapper Waka Flocka Flame, with production being provided by GB Hitz and Southside. It was initially featured on his fourth mixtape, Rage Pack (2011), and on his debut EP, Half Naked & Almost Famous (2012). The song debuted at number 98 on the US Billboard Hot 100 on the week of January 28, 2012, and number 49 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. It serves as his first song to be charted on both Billboard charts.
The album's second single, "Invincible" was released to digital retailers in the United States on April 24, 2012, and was solicited to rhythmic contemporary radio and contemporary hit radio on May 15 to July 31, 2012, respectively. The song features guest vocals from American singer-songwriter Ester Dean, and was produced by British producer Alex da Kid. MGK shot a music video for the single, which features an appearance from the singer Ester Dean, and uploaded the video on YouTube under his VEVO account, on June 3, 2012.
"Hold On (Shut Up)" featuring Young Jeezy, was released as the album's third single on August 6, 2012. The music video was released on November 19, 2012.
Promotional singles
On September 20, 2012, "Stereo" was released with an accompanying music video, as the album's promotional single (although this track was formerly part of the mixtape with same title as the album). The song features guest vocals from Alex Fitts. The track would also be included, alongside "Invincible" and "Hold On (Shut Up)", as part of the MGK's Music Unlimited exclusive EP, titled Lace Up - The Prelude (released on October 2, 2012).
02Tour
In 2014, Kelly went on a 33-city fall United States tour to promote the album, beginning on September 7 at Club Elevation in Casper, Wyoming and ending on October 31 at the Bismarck Civic Center in Bismarck, North Dakota. Limp Bizkit was a supporting act on select dates.
03Critical reception
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 69/100 |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic | |
| DJBooth | |
| HipHopDX | |
| Rolling Stone | |
| Spin | 5/10 |
| XXL | 4/5 (XL) |
Lace Up received favorable reviews but music critics found the record overall uneven, compared to Kelly's previous mixtapes. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received average score of 69, based on 6 reviews which indicates generally favourable reviews. Adam Fleischer of XXL praised the production throughout the album and MGK for being consistent with his rapid-fire flow concluding with, "though he may no longer be quite the underdog he once was, rapping like it, at least for now, still works." Fred Thomas of AllMusic also praised the album for its production and putting MGK in the spotlight, calling it "a beast of a debut, and some of the heaviest mainstream-friendly hip-hop happening in 2012, a picture of young energy at its zenith."
Edwin Ortiz of HipHopDX gave a mixed review of the album, praising tracks like "Edge of Destruction" and "D3mons" for their intensity but found "Invincible" and "All We Have" put MGK into "industry purgatory." He concluded with, "Lace Up is an imbalanced project that fails to establish MGK's grand message. His debut is decent at best, with hope that his following projects yield better results." Phillip Mlynar of Spin felt that the special guests throughout the album were more of a hindrance to the main artist saying, "Instead of turning this debut proper into an expansive listen, the guests seem like they're papering over holes in both the music and the message."
04Commercial performance
The album debuted at number four on the US Billboard 200, with first-week sales of 57,000 copies. It slid down to number 22 in its second week giving it a total of 65,000 copies. Sliding down to number 37 in week three it sold 10,000 more copies. As of September 2015, the album has sold 263,000 copies in the United States.
05Track listing
Album credits adapted from official liner notes.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Save Me" (featuring M. Shadows and Synyster Gates) |
|
| 3:12 |
| 2. | "What I Do" (featuring Bun B and Dub-O) |
|
| 4:32 |
| 3. | "Wild Boy" (featuring Waka Flocka Flame) |
|
| 3:51 |
| 4. | "Lace Up" (featuring Lil Jon) | Drumma Boy | 3:02 | |
| 5. | "Stereo" (featuring Alex Fitts) |
| Alex Kickdrum | 3:55 |
| 6. | "All We Have" (featuring Anna Yvette) |
|
| 3:27 |
| 7. | "See My Tears" |
| J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League | 4:10 |
| 8. | "D3MONS" (featuring DMX) |
|
| 4:21 |
| 9. | "Edge of Destruction" (featuring Tech N9ne and Twista) |
|
| 5:08 |
| 10. | "Runnin" (featuring Planet VI) |
| 2:47 | |
| 11. | "Invincible" (featuring Ester Dean) | Alex da Kid | 3:07 | |
| 12. | "On My Way" |
|
| 4:10 |
| 13. | "End of the Road" (featuring blackbear) |
|
| 4:04 |
| Total length: | 49:41 | |||
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14. | "Half Naked & Almost Famous" |
|
| 2:51 |
| 15. | "La La La (The Floating Song)" |
| Chase N. Cashe | 3:54 |
| 16. | "Hold On (Shut Up)" (featuring Young Jeezy) |
| JP Did This 1 | 3:30 |
| 17. | "Warning Shot" (featuring Cassie) |
|
| 3:21 |
| Total length: | 63:16 | |||
- Notes
- ^[a] signifies a co-producer
- ^[b] signifies an additional producer
- "Save Me" features additional vocals from M. Shadows.
- "La La La (The Floating Song)" features additional vocals from Betty Idol.
- Sample credits, taken from liner notes.
- "See My Tears" contains a sample of "Rain" written and performed by Armin van Buuren and Cathy Burton.
- "D3MONS" contains a sample of "Sorrow" (from the Gladiator soundtrack) written and performed by Lisa Gerrard and Hans Zimmer.
06Personnel
Credits for Lace Up adapted from AllMusic.
|
|
07Chart performance
Weekly charts
|
Year-end charts
|
08Certifications
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United States (RIAA) | Gold | 500,000‡ |
|
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. | ||
09Release history
| Region | Date | Format(s) | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| Germany | October 5, 2012 | CD, digital download | Bad Boy, Interscope |
| Canada | October 9, 2012 | ||
| United States |
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Lace Up”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- MGKLaceUp.jpg by Unknown author, Fair use
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