In one of the most unexpected pairings since Ozzy Osbourne went viral on TikTok, Bob Dylan—yes, that Bob Dylan—has narrated the trailer for MGK’s upcoming album Lost Americana.
If that sentence gave you whiplash, you’re not alone.
The clip, directed by longtime MGK collaborator Sam Cahill, plays out like a grungy postcard from a forgotten America: rusted-out cars, neon diners, lonely highways, the ghost of the American dream flickering on a loop. And then there’s that voice—gravelly, unmistakable, Nobel Prize-winning—calling Lost Americana “a personal excavation of the American dream.” It’s like a tone poem for the disillusioned, delivered by the last guy you’d expect to co-sign the former wild-boy of pop-punk.
There’s been no official confirmation it’s Dylan, but all signs (and MGK’s Instagram story) point to the legend himself lending his voice to the project. Either way, it’s the kind of surreal crossover that makes you look twice. Dylan, the poet of counterculture, throwing his weight behind MGK, the bleach-blonde chaos merchant of the post-emo generation.
The narration describes the album as “a love letter to those who seek to rediscover—the dreamers, the drifters, the defiant.” Which, oddly enough, tracks. Lost Americana feels like MGK trying to shed the pop-punk costume and dig for something real. He’s swapped pink guitars for desert dust and heartbreak ballads for something closer to existential Americana.
MGK’s last record Mainstream Sellout was all about putting the middle finger up to expectations. Lost Americana sounds more like a search party for whatever got lost in the process. Whether that’s youth, truth, or just another vibe to sell remains to be seen.
The album drops August 8. Until then, we’ll be replaying Dylan’s narration and wondering if this strange fever dream of a collaboration is a one-off… or the start of MGK’s weirdest—and maybe most interesting—era yet. Who knows really.
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