honestav On His New Collab with mgk and His Viral Missed Concert Moment in Toronto: Interview

The road to honestav's Sweet American Boy was supposed to go through Toronto.

The Missouri artist released a major collab with mgk on his new album, and was scheduled to come perform it with him at his RBC Amphitheatre show on June 14, the same day as his now-legendary Billboard Canada THE STAGE show later that night.

The rapper-singer was back home in the Midwest when he got a last-minute call from the artist formerly known as Machine Gun Kelly. The plan was to fly to Toronto, surprise the crowd and perform their emotional collaboration "Crash First" for the Canadian fans.

When he got to the airport in Toronto and told them he was there to perform with mgk, the customs agent asked if he had his work release. He didn't.

"They said, 'When does [the show] start?' I said, 'in two hours,'" honestav recalls. "They said, 'Yeah, you're not going to make that, buddy.'"

Getting word that his friend was stuck in the airport, mgk performed "Crash First" on his own. "Free Av," he said. "When you get out of jail tomorrow, I hope you see these videos."

honestav (which rhymes with "Honest Abe," and is short for his name Avrey Freeman) says he soon saw a trending search for "Why is honestav in Canadian jail?" with people joking that his content was "too harsh for Canada."

It wasn't exactly jail, but honestav says he was handcuffed and told he was being detained. He would have had to stay for 24 hours, but one officer found a flight for him back to Missouri leaving in 30 minutes. He quickly bought the tickets and flew home.

It's ironic, because honestav’s new album was partially inspired by Canada.

The artist, who had his first Billboard hit in 2024 with "I'd Rather Overdose," finished a run of nine Canadian shows last year in Montreal, where fans kept taking photos with him and calling him a "sweet American boy."

"It kept happening," he remembers. "When I went to Montreal, there was this one girl, English definitely wasn't her first language, and she just kept patting me on my chest saying, 'Sweet American boy.' I went into the van right after and told the guys, 'Oh dude, that’s got to be the name of my album.'"

He admits he's a little disappointed he didn't get to perform "Crash First" with mgk, who he exclusively calls by his nickname "Kells."

honestav met the artist through their mutual friend Mod Sun, who he toured with on his first tour. Mod Sun invited him to mgk's house in Los Angeles, and he admits he was initially reluctant to go.

"And at this point, like, not only had I never been inside of a mansion, I'd also never hung out with anybody A-list celebrity famous," he laughs. "I need to prepare for that for like a week."

When he did go, he was quickly disarmed by their commonalities. He saw something in common with him as someone from working class roots who turned to music. Like mgk, he fluidly crosses genres between hip-hop, emo and punk with vulnerability and honesty holding it together.

They recorded "Crash First" at mgk's house after a heavy touring schedule for mgk. His voice was shot, but they decided to record anyway.

"We were recording until like 1 am," honestav recalls. "He starts like singing and you can hear it in the rasp in his voice. He's like, 'dude, like there's too much emotion right now in this room to not record.'"

When honestav sang the line "I'm high like you," he started to well up. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see mgk sitting next to him.

"He was like 'hey bro, do you mind if I share this moment with you?'" he says. "Can I sit here and live in this pain that you're writing?"

For the build-up, he says, mgk wanted his secret weapon: his guitar that he used to record his 2020 pop-punk left-turn Tickets To My Downfall. He had guitars everywhere, but he wanted to use this one that means a lot to him and that he keeps locked in his bedroom, honestav says (it took him some time to get it because his house is so big). "So it goes even deeper than just the lyrics. This guy is using instruments that are tied to him emotionally."

They share a sensibility as Midwesterners. It's not uncommon to see the same guy listening to rapper Lil Durk one day and classic country singer George Strait the next, he explains.

But honestav holds a special place for Canada. He'll be back to play the True Rhythm Festival in British Columbia in August — and this time he will have the correct paperwork.