Machine Gun Kelly Covers Don Omar (And Speaks Perfect Spanish) During Madrid Fest
Rolling Stone #RollingStone
Now, that’s a unexpected crossover — but we’re high-key living for it. Machine Gun Kelly performed at Mad Cool Festival on Thursday, and early in his set, he surprised fans by singing a cover of none other than Don Omar’s smash reggaetón hit “Danza Kuduro.”
“Spain, thank you so much for welcoming me to your country. I can feel all the love here today,” MGK told the crowd in near-perfect Spanish. (He even used the vosotros verb conjugation used in Spain.) “In return, I’d like to sing a song in your language with all of you. Let’s go!”
Machine Gun Kelly shared an Instagram video of the moment as he captioned the video, “Haters will say I switched genres again.” (He’s, of course, poking fun at the people who made fun of him for his transition from rap to punk rock.)
The musician’s comment section was filled with fans surprised that he can speak Spanish so fluently — and a co-sign by Don Omar himself, who commented, “🤟🏾🔥.”
Diplo wrote, “This Guy woke up and spoke Spanish.”
“Go craaaaaaxy !!!!!!!!” added Swae Lee.
MGK performed a 17-song set for the crowd at Mad Cool, performing tracks such as “Kiss Kiss,” “Concert for Aliens,” “Emo Girl” and “My Ex’s Best Friend.” He was one of the festival’s headliners for the day, alongside Lil Nas X, Lizzo, and Robbie Williams.
Machine Gun Kelly spoke to Power 106’s The Cruz Show about working on his Spanish pronunciation in 2016, saying he and Camila Cabello “spoke Spanish” together after collaborating on their song “Bad Things.” “My Spanish is getting better. I have more motivation now,” he said at the time.
The Danza Kuduro cover occurred several days after a fan in Mexico asked MGK to punch him in the face. (And the singer agreed to do it.) “Making dreams come true,” he captioned in the Instagram post documenting the incident.