Was the cover art of Machine Gun Kelly’s forthcoming album Mainstream Sellout inspired by the cover of Japanese Breakfast’s 2021 album Jubilee? Michelle Zauner says no.
“I don’t actually think it looks anything like my album cover at all,” the singer told Pitchfork, “but I think it’s very funny that Rolling Stone put up an article about it just because there’s a circular fruit in the foreground.
“I mean, his is people throwing tomatoes at him, and mine is persimmons peacefully hanging around me, so I think they’re very different concepts.”
On Monday, Rolling Stone posted an article with the headline: “Nice Album Cover, Machine Gun Kelly. Looks Familiar.” Angie Martoccio wrote: “MGK and Zauner don’t share a ton of similarities — save for tattoos — but now we can add cover art to the circle of commonalities in their Venn diagram.”
Zauner tweeted a link to the article and captioned it: “2022’s feud of the year.”
MGK replied: “so should we beef over tomato’s (sic) or…should i thank them for introducing me to your album, because i just listened and i really like it.”
Rolling Stone updated its post, claiming it made a “joke” about the album art’s “loose similarities.”
If Zauner has any criticism of MGK’s album art, it’s his choice of pink tomatoes – which she suggests is inspired by a certain Canadian singer. “It’s a very contemporary Avril [Lavigne] aesthetic,” she told Pitchfork. “Which, as much as I stan Avril, is an aesthetic I don’t really embrace for myself.”