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My Ex's Best Friend

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Wikipedia article




{{Infobox song

| name = My Ex's Best Friend

| cover = Machine Gun Kelly - My Ex's Best Friend.png

| alt =

| type = single

| artist = Machine Gun Kelly featuring Blackbear

| album = Tickets to My Downfall

| released =

| recorded = 2019

| studio =

| genre = Pop-punk

| length =

| label =

* Bad Boy

* Interscope

| writer =

* Colson Baker

* Matthew Musto

* Nicholas Alex Long

* Travis Barker

| producer =

* Travis Barker

| chronology = Machine Gun Kelly

| prev_title = Concert for Aliens

| prev_year = 2020

| next_title = Acting Like That

| next_year = 2020

| misc =

}}

"'My Ex's Best Friend'" (stylized in all lowercase) is a song by American musician Machine Gun Kelly. It is the third single off of his fifth studio album 'Tickets to My Downfall'. The song, the third to feature a pop-punk sound, features guest vocals by Blackbear. The song reached number 20 on the US 'Billboard' Hot 100 chart, becoming the third top-40 hit for both artists.

Background and release



Colson Baker, better known as Machine Gun Kelly, released his fourth studio album, 'Hotel Diablo', on July 5, 2019, via EST 19XX, Bad Boy, and Interscope Records. The third single from that album, "I Think I'm Okay", was a collaboration with Yungblud and Travis Barker, which served as a segue for Baker's transition towards rock music. Baker described the song as "our first 'Oh shit. I think we might be onto something' moment". Baker booked a studio session with Barker, recording what would become the song "Bloody Valentine". Machine Gun Kelly describes the session as "so powerful that Travis was like, 'Fuck it, I'm blocking off two months of my life and we're doing this album'". On December 4, 2019, Machine Gun Kelly tweeted, "rock album in 2020".

Baker first collaborated with Blackbear on "End of the Road", the final track on Baker's 2012 debut album 'Lace Up'. Both artists made a guest appearance on "Shoot'Em Down", from Mod Sun's 2015 album 'Look Up'. In 2017, Machine Gun Kelly appeared as a featured vocalist on Blackbear's track "E.Z.", from his album 'Cybersex'. Baker teased another collaboration with Blackbear in December 2019, posting a screenshot of their text conversation on his Instagram account, with the caption, "ayy the @bear vocals came in". "My Ex's Best Friend" was officially released on August 7, 2020.

Composition and themes



The song was described as pop punk, but as a modern take on it, rather than the "classic" form of the genre. Publications described it as a "guitar-laden" song with the two singers covering the complications of relationship breakups and rebound relationships. The song's "infectious guitar line" has been noted as being one of the most memorable moments on the 'Tickets to My Downfall' album.

Reception



'HotNewHipHop' praised the song, but noted that the enjoyment the listener gets would vary based on their attitude on the music's new sound, stating "If you're not on board for MGK's departure from hip-hop... you'll likely hit skip within the opening moments of [the song]. For those who decide to stay, you'll be treated to a tale of forbidden passion, the likes of which have fueled pop-punk balladry for years." In an otherwise negative review of 'Tickets to My Downfall', 'Sputnikmusic' contended that while the he felt it is not a good song by any means, it makes an effort to experiment and amalgamate pop-punk riffs with his familiar rap sensibilities.

Accolades



{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"

|+Awards and nominations for "My Ex's Best Friend"

|- align=center

! scope="col"| Year

! scope="col"| Organization

! scope="col"| Award

! scope="col"| Result

! scope="col"| Ref(s)

|-

! rowspan="2" |2021

|Billboard Music Awards

|Top Rock Song

|

| style="text-align:center;"|

|-

|MTV Video Music Awards

|Best Alternative

|

| style="text-align:center;"|

|-

!2022

|iHeartRadio Music Awards

|Alternative Rock Song of the Year

|

| style="text-align:center;"|

|}

Live performances



On August 30, 2020, Machine Gun Kelly and Blackbear performed "My Ex's Best Friend" live at the 2020 MTV Video Music Awards. Machine Gun Kelly also performed this song on the September 25th episode of The Kelly Clarkson Show, a day after he made an appearance on the show the day before. MGK also performed the song during the 2020 American Music Awards on November 22, and on New Years Eve during Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve 2021 with Ryan Seacrest. Coincidentally, both events were produced by Dick Clark Productions and aired on ABC. He also performed the song on the January 30th episode of NBCs Saturday Night Live, which was hosted by John Krasinski.

Personnel



Credits adapted from Tidal.

* Machine Gun Kelly vocals, guitar

* Blackbear vocals

* Travis Barker production

* BazeXX additional production

* SlimXX additional production

* Omer Fedi bass guitar, guitar

* Nick Long guitar

* Colin Leonard master engineering

* John Hanes mix engineering

* Serban Ghenea mixing

Charts



Weekly charts



Year-end charts



Certifications



Release history



{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" border="1"

! scope="col"| Country

! scope="col"| Date

! scope="col"| Format

! scope="col"| Label

! scope="col"|

|-

! scope="row"| Various

| August 7, 2020

|

|

|

|-

! scope="row"| Italy

| September 25, 2020

| rowspan="3"| Contemporary hit radio

| rowspan="2"| Universal

|

|-

|-

! scope="row"| United Kingdom

| October 2, 2020

|

|-

! scope="row"| United States

| October 13, 2020

| Interscope

|

|}

References



Category:2020 singles

Category:2020 songs

Category:Machine Gun Kelly (musician) songs

Category:American pop punk songs

Category:Bad Boy Records singles

Category:Blackbear (musician) songs

Category:Interscope Records singles

Category:Song recordings produced by Travis Barker

Category:Songs written by Blackbear (musician)

Category:Songs written by Machine Gun Kelly (musician)

Category:Songs written by Travis Barker

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