Machine Gun Kelly and Jelly Roll’s relationship as artists has gone from hating to celebrating.
The crossover stars worked through some friction years ago to become collaborators, which culminated in a People’s Choice Country Award for best crossover song of 2024 for “Lonely Road.”
Jelly Roll was not in attendance at the Sept. 26 ceremony at the Opry House in Nashville, but Machine Gun Kelly gave him a special shoutout during his acceptance speech.
“Jelly, I love you!” he said. “We went from 10 years ago hating each other to elevating each other. Comparison is the thief of joy. There is enough room on this couch for everybody. We found camaraderie in the chaos.”
The speech showed how far things have come for the two stars considering Jelly Roll once wrote a rap song considered to be throwing shade at Machine Gun Kelly.
Here’s what to know about the evolution of their friendship.
What Jelly Roll and Machine Gun Kelly have said about their feud
As both were coming up in the music business in the early 2010s, they said they developed a mutual dislike of one another.
The two discussed their beef with one another on the Spotify podcast “Jelly Roll: Countdown to Beautifully Broken.”
In 2012, Jelly Roll released the song “Malibu’s Most Wanted,” which was seen as a diss of Machine Gun Kelly. It’s an allusion to the 2003 movie of the same title that features Jamie Kennedy playing an embarrassing white rapper who is the son of a U.S. senator.
“So our beginnings were interesting,” Machine Gun Kelly told Jelly Roll on the podcast. “It is so funny how much I love you now because like, God I hated you so much, man.”
“I was just a little spiteful, bitter f—— dude,” Jelly Roll said.
Jelly Roll, real name Jason Bradley DeFord, pointed to industry jealousy as the fuel for his dislike of Machine Gun Kelly, real name Colson Baker. Before he was a Grammy-nominated country artist, Jelly Roll, 39, began his career as a rapper.
“I explain this to people. They don’t understand the concept because of our age now. Whenever I talk to my daughter, I’m like, ‘You got to understand, there was only, like, seven white rappers on Earth at this time,’” Jelly Roll said on the podcast. “So it was so competitive when you was in that pool. We were kind of automatically forced against each other anyways.”
“For sure,” Machine Gun Kelly said. “You’re bred to hate each other.”
Machine Gun Kelly’s appearance also played into it.
“You were just like skinny and handsome,” Jelly Roll said. “I was just a hater. It’s hard to grow up in front of the whole world.”
The two joked about how Jelly Roll made fun of Machine Gun Kelly’s mohawk hairstyle at the time.
“At least you had a reason to hate me,” Jelly Roll said. “I was just a hater. At least you were completely justified in that.”
The two finally squashed the beef when Jelly Roll reached out.
“I had to call and apologize to you,” he said.
“That call was great,” Machine Gun Kelly interjected.
Jelly Roll called it the “coolest conversation” he’s ever had.
“It was so easy and just peaceful,” he said.
“I’m very proud to know you, dude, and I’m proud of you,” Machine Gun Kelly said.
Jelly Roll and Machine Gun Kelly collaborated on a video and song
The relationship between the two former rivals came full circle when they collaborated on their song “Lonely Road,” which was released on July 25.
The duo also appeared together in the video of the song with their significant others.
Machine Gun Kelly’s partner Megan Fox, plays a pregnant woman who gives birth. Jelly Roll’s wife, Bunnie XO, is shown looking distraught over a report stating “infertility diagnosis.” Jelly Roll and Bunnie XO announced in June that they are trying to conceive their first child together through IVF.
In the video, Machine Gun Kelly offers a plan to commit a crime to get both couples out of debt after they’re seen struggling financially.