“Ay!” by Machine Gun Kelly & Lil Wayne

“Ay!” has correctly been classified as an exercise in emo rap. Indeed it is lyrically reminiscent, particularly from Machine Gun Kelly’s perspective, to a song that the late Juice WRLD would have dropped. In other words, MGK presents himself as someone who knows that “in the end”, being dependent on drugs isn’t a good thing. But he is still compelled to resort to such a modus operandi in the name of combating persistent “depression”.

Machine Gun alludes to partaking of marijuana and coke. Lil Wayne also makes mention of “shrooms” or magic mushrooms, as they’re more popularly known. Weezy’s verse is more squarely centered on the idea of him simply enjoying a good high. And the most interesting line of his verse, all things considered, features the rapper relatedly proclaiming that he is “higher than Jehovah”. But beyond that, Wayne also gives a notable shoutout to Guns N’ Roses, who are a very popular rock band.

Meanwhile the title of this song, in context, is actually akin to a general, ambiguous expression of excitement. In other words, “ay” doesn’t have any type of particular meaning. So what it is actually used for in the chorus of this song is harmonizing.

Facts about “Ay!”

“Ay!” is a track which Bad Boy Records and Interscope put out on 4 March 2022 as one of the singles from “Mainstream Sellout”, a 2022 Machine Gun Kelly studio album.

Even though this song is in fact featured on a MGK project, Lil Wayne, shares equal billing with Kelly.

MGK is an artist who commenced his career being recognized as a rapper but has since ventured into what is known as pop punk. And whereas Wayne has consistently remained recognized as a hip-hop artist, he is known to dabble in the rock genre also. And this is the first time he has officially teamed up with MGK.

The music video to this song was filmed by MGK himself, reportedly using an iPhone and doing so just the day prior to the release of “Ay!”.

All three producers of this track are recognized as being part of MGK’s backing band (i.e. his regular instrumentalists). And they are BazeXX, SlimXX and Travis Barker, the latter being a well-known musician in his own right.

The three producers are also acknowledged as co-writers of “Ay!”, as are Aldae, Wayne and Machine Gun.

MGK got around to teasing this track shortly before its release, most notably via a late February 2022 appearance on The Late Late Show with James Corden.