abnervaught: Machine Gun Kelly 'Grateful' To Fans For Hottest Breakthrough Win

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Machine Gun Kelly 'Grateful' To Fans For Hottest Breakthrough Win

On 'RapFix Live,' MGK presents his die-hard supporters with a hand-carved award for all their votes.
By Rob Markman, with reporting by Sway Calloway

Machine Gun Kelly
Photo: MTV News

Machine Gun Kelly is having a Rocky Balboa moment. After he was named MTV News' Hottest Breakthrough MC of 2011 on Wednesday's "RapFix Live," the Cleveland rapper hopped on Skype to check in with Sway and thank his fans for all their support. He even presented them with an award of their own.

"I can't explain how grateful I am for all those kids who sat there and got in voting circles and sat there for hours and hours and did votes upon votes," MGK said of his fans, who voted for him in the week-long poll that started December 7. "I know that we have probably the least amount of fans, but like I told my fans: Heart is always gonna prevail over connections and who these people know and who tweets what."

It was then that MGK held up a red piece of wood with the words: "Congratulations to the Breakthrough Fans of 2011, EST" carved into it.

"I stayed up last night," the Bad Boy rapper said. "I couldn't go get a plaque made, so I went and got a piece of wood and carved in it, and so we want to present this to the fans."

The competition was tough, and ever since the fan-driven Hottest Breakthrough poll opened on the RapFix blog last week, Kells was jockeying for the #1 position, fighting off Lil Twist and Mac Miller. A$AP Rocky, Future, French Montana, Freddie Gibbs, Kendrick Lamar, Meek Mill and Roscoe Dash were also in contention, but in the end, it was MGK who held the crown after hundreds of thousands of votes were tallied. When all the math was complete, MGK finished with 44 percent of the vote.

Miller, whose Blue Slide Park debuted at #1 last month, was an early favorite. Twist, who finished in the #2 spot with 39 percent of the vote, proved to be MGK's most formidable competition, thanks to his die-hard fans, Young Money team and best friend Justin Bieber, who all tweeted in support.

Next up, Kells would like to release his debut album, which he revealed he has already finished recording. But before he signed off, he couldn't help but thank his fans once again.

"To the fans, this is a huge thing for the world," Machine Gun Kelly said, feeling inspired by the movie "Rocky," which he said he had been watching earlier in the day. "We just knocked out Apollo Creed, and I just want to thank all my fans for being ringside with me."

All this week, watch "AMTV" on MTV every day at 8 a.m. ET for our Best of 2011 lists. Then, come to MTVNews.com at 5 p.m. as we reveal our top picks of the year!

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