Machine Gun Kelly Fought 'Wild Boy' Initially

Machine Gun Kelly relishes the underdog role, but the Cleveland, Ohio, rapper racked up another serious win on Tuesday (March 20) when he dropped his Half Naked & Almost Famous EP on Bad Boy Records. The five-song digital release marks MGK's first major-label release and serves as a warm-up for his official debut LP.

Tracks like the riot-starting "Warning Shot" and the J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League-produced and soul-bearing "See My Tears" help balance out the quick fix, but the EP's anchor is its first single, "Wild Boy." Initially MGK was skeptical about leading his charge with the Waka Flocka-assisted track, but Diddy talked him into it. "He was the one who encouraged 'Wild Boy,' he encouraged the whole thing. I was like, 'Nah, no way, we gotta go serious with the serious stuff right now,'" MGK told during a January sit-down. "If we would've went that route, I would've fizzled off real quick"

Kells was down on the Spiff TV-directed video as well after a miscommunication between Waka and his mom/manager Deb Antney almost halted production. "We had all these initial plans, but none of them fell through," he said. "It was almost a wrap on it because Waka's mom didn't tell him that he had a video shoot today. So I was like, 'Come on, hurry up,'... He was like 'Video shoot? What are you talkin' about?' "

Waka eventually made it to the shoot and in the end everything worked out. Now, MGK understands the value of strong lead single. "I accept it. I totally accept it. I accept what it does for the people in the crowd and I accept what it did for my recognition."

In fact, thanks to "Wild Boy" and the tons of touring MGK does, the MC was able to gain enough support to be able to release Half Naked & Almost Famous and its accompanying documentary. "Maybe I should just hate every song I'm about to release," he joked.

What's your favorite song off of Half Naked & Almost Famous? Tell us in the comments!