It’s been a few months since mgk released the Floor 13 5th anniversary edition of his iconic Hotel Diablo and we’ve hardly taken it off repeat since then! That’s especially true for the newest track, ‘El Pistolero,’ which brings back his quick rap style and shockingly powerful bars that could convince anyone to become a fan. He gave a special sneak peek of the music video to some very lucky fans at mgk Day back in August, and the rest of us can finally check it out!
The music video draws from Colson’s love of anime and films like Kill Bill, showing him take on various fights with swords and magic powers. Look closely and you might even see some familiar EST faces in the background of certain scenes. From the visual effects to the color palette, we couldn’t peel our eyes away from our screens. Everyone say thank you to the legendary Sam Cahill for bringing it to life with his amazing direction!
Let’s celebrate ‘El Pistolero’ and mgk’s artistic growth by breaking down some of our favorite lyrics! But of course, press play on the video below first, because this is one you won’t want to miss.
“Welcome to Hotel Diablo, in this building, I’m the honcho…”
Listening to ‘El Pistolero’ for the first time is something we’ll never forget, and we got such chills when mgk rapped this line. He’s made the Hotel Diablo: Floor 13 Edition so special for fans, between the new tracklist additions, his Discord event and Q&A, and now the ‘El Pistolero’ music video. We never checked out, truthfully, but it brought us so much joy to check back into Hotel Diablo for another round where he rightfully claims his musical throne.
“We sit in the realm between heaven and hell…”
The Hotel Diablo graphic novel explains that the hotel exists between heaven and hell, but on a more personal level, we think the realm Kells is talking about is fame. On one hand, as a famous musician, he gets to make the music he’s dreamed of making with his friends and heroes while helping millions of fans worldwide. But on the other hand, there’s a lot of ‘PRESSURE’ and negative attention that comes with being in the spotlight, something that comes up throughout the Hotel Diablo album.
“Tell all my competition I don’t love ‘em, I invite them over to kill ‘em again…”
For any new fans out there, or any EST who just didn’t realize, ‘El Pistolero’ is a follow-up to the Hotel Diablo track ‘el diablo.’ So it only makes sense to reference the original! ‘el diablo’ opens up with the lyric, “Tell all my competition that I love ‘em, but I brought them back just to kill ‘em again.” Here, mgk knows he can defeat any of his musical nemeses, but won’t play nice in the meantime. It kind of reminds us of the “never hesitate to say it to your face” line from ‘NYLON’ and ‘Rap Devil’ on BINGE.
“They send a shot, but it’s impossible to put the slugs in me…”
We also get a callback to another Hotel Diablo track, specifically ‘Floor 13!’ That song shows off Kells’ strength in the face of different conflicts and negative press attention: “I just spent the winter living after someone tried to send a kill shot, missing me.” Five years out from the original album, he’s stronger than ever and knows he can bounce back from anything.
“Never been a typical individual, I was always a little cynical / My condition was clinical / Had a friend that was fictional, that knew I was convincible / If I listened, I would grow to be a criminal / All I wanted was to be mythical, I was already invisible, I need to be invincible…”
We tried to pick a single lyric from this incredible run, but we think it’s best displayed as a whole section. It really shows off his technical abilities with the rhymes, as well as his personal growth over the years. These lines are very personal, but if we may: Colson, you’ve officially crossed into “invincible” territory and we’re so proud of you!
“I can do rap or country or punk, or say f*ck it and do nu-metal…”
This line feels like a sister to the “y’all said that I switched genres, I saw the limit and took it farther” lyric from the mainstream sellout album version of ‘papercuts!’ Kells has really proven how versatile he is over the years, between his rap roots, pop-punk charm, and latest endeavors into country with songs like ‘Lonely Road.’ Could nu-metal actually be his next stop…? We can’t know for sure, but we’re excitedly waiting either way.
Which ‘El Pistolero’ lyrics do you love most? What’s your favorite part of the music video, and which Hotel Diablo: Floor 13 Edition track would you want a video for next? Let us know in the comments below or hit us up on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter!
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