Machine Gun Kelly has Frank Ocean fans upset after he released his rendition of Frank's "Swim Good." The newly engaged performer dropped a stripped-down version with new added lyrics on Thursday, but some fans would rather cling on to Frank's original mixtape track.
According to Complex, Slim XX, Baze XX and Omer Fedi produced the updated version, which was accompanied by a music video featuring a pensive MGK as he sits by the ocean.
The cover is quite a turn from the Born With Horns artist's newer music following his 2020 project Tickets to My Downfall, which was a Travis Barker collaboration. The album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboards 200 albums chart.
Frank hasn't publicly commented on the cover, but that hasn't stopped his fans from going up on his behalf.
who told MGK he was allowed to cover a Frank Ocean song?????? pic.twitter.com/TLGe3tbE4L
— Tyler Conway (@jtylerconway) January 27, 2022
An MGK cover of Swim Good AND an awful TikTok dance to Lost?
What did Frank Ocean do to deserve this?
— Jon FM (@JonDenton) January 27, 2022
just listened to MGK do a cover of Frank Ocean's swim good. And i must say, it ruined my morning
— Dat Gunna ????️ (@DatDaDatty) January 27, 2022
Things we never asked for…
L's
Yeezy 350 V2 CMPCT
StockX NFTs
Machine Gun Kelly covering any of Frank Ocean's musicRespectfully,
The human population pic.twitter.com/b1BLAYxUat
— Sole Retriever (@SoleRetriever) January 27, 2022
frank ocean i am so sorry https://t.co/na1xNuzjva
— zae | son of apollo (@ItsZaeOk) January 27, 2022
The "Godspeed" artist has been working on something new for his fans. Frank previewed snippets of his new music over the holidays on the Christmas episode of Blonded Radio. The 2023 Coachella headliner shared an almost 9-minute-long clip of a song inspired by conversations he'd had with Dutch athlete and motivational speaker Wim Hof, aka “The Iceman.”
“We spoke for a while about his work, the purpose of grief, and how going into the cold water changed his life,” Frank wrote on Instagram.
“It reminded me of conversations in the studio with players I know. Freewheeling, psychedelic, emotionally charged, intelligent, and generous. I enjoyed listening to him, so in this edit I just let him speak uninterrupted. Me, [Cory Henry], and [Dylan Patrice] played some sounds underneath to heighten the feeling. I added some writing at the end that I did a single take of w Cory in the summer of 2020. I came back and added a few words and parts over the top of that take more recently. Felt like it fit the wabi sabi of Wim’s words. Merry Xmas everyone,” he said.