In an interview with Mikey T The Movie Star, MGK explains trading bars with DMX and how X(TM)s music helped him through some personal problems.

After an assortment of personal and legal troubles in 2010 and 2011, DMX is back on schedule in regards to releasing music. But his first collaboration wasn’t with Jay-Z, Swizz Beatz or any of the other artists he’d previously enjoyed commercial and critical success with. It was Cleveland, Ohio’s Machine Gun Kelly. In an interview with Mikey T The Movie Star, the Bad Boy Records rapper said he was more than happy to return the favor. The pair collaborated on the DMX single “I Don’t Dance.”

“That’s my idol,” MGK said. “I’m on DMX’s first single…that’s like big bruh. I’m on his first single, and he’s got a joint on my album. That’s the man. I bow to him.”

MGK also urged fans to “dare to be different” and draw inspiration from emcees like DMX as opposed to engaging in whom they think is the best rapper alive. For his part, Machine Gun Kelly says he drew such inspiration from X while going through his own personal problems.

“It was just music I could run away to,” MGK explained. “When me and my pops fell out, my mom left and all that other shit, fights with kids at school, getting picked on—X was that man. I always threw on some X and imagined beating people up.”

MGK + DMX = Greatness