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mgk - Biography
Initially coming up as a lyrical rapper before crossing over into pop realms and making a switch to pop punk, a shift that led to Billboard dubbing him the “Crown Prince of Pop Punk”, Machine Gun Kelly (born Colson Baker on April 22, 1990) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and actor from Cleveland, Ohio.
Traveling the world because of his parents' jobs before settling down in Cleveland, Machine Gun Kelly, commonly referred to as MGK, earned his stage name for his lightning-fast delivery while still in high school. His breakthrough came at the start of the 2010s with his party-rap hit “Wild Boy”, mixing his lightning-fast flow with hedonistic, party-ready lyrics over a bass-heavy beat. He would go on to release two more rap albums before making his crossover into pop.
His third album, bloom, marked a stylistic and commercial turning point for the Ohio rapper. Led by his smash hit single “Bad Things”, a pop-rap duet with, at-the-time, rising songstress Camila Cabello, the album saw his style pivot to pop and his sales increase accordingly. With “Bad Things” becoming a top five hit on the Hot 100 and reaching the top spot of the pop charts, as well as the album’s other hit, “At My Best”, nearly cracking the top 20 of the pop charts, the album became the most successful of Machine Gun Kelly’s career.
After a highly-publicized feud with Eminem and a critically-acclaimed rap-rock album in 2018 and 2019, respectively, Machine Gun Kelly started to become a household name in 2020 with the release of Tickets To My Downfall, reviving pop punk with a uniquely hip-hop-inspired spin. The approach proved successful, with the album’s single my ex’s best friend” staying on the Hot 100 chart for a full year. At the front of a revival of pop-punk and rock music in the mainstream, he followed up with 2022’s mainstream sellout, for which he earned a Grammy nomination, a first in his career.
To date, Machine Gun Kelly has certified sales of 25 million singles and 2.5 million albums.
Traveling the world because of his parents' jobs before settling down in Cleveland, Machine Gun Kelly, commonly referred to as MGK, earned his stage name for his lightning-fast delivery while still in high school. His breakthrough came at the start of the 2010s with his party-rap hit “Wild Boy”, mixing his lightning-fast flow with hedonistic, party-ready lyrics over a bass-heavy beat. He would go on to release two more rap albums before making his crossover into pop.
His third album, bloom, marked a stylistic and commercial turning point for the Ohio rapper. Led by his smash hit single “Bad Things”, a pop-rap duet with, at-the-time, rising songstress Camila Cabello, the album saw his style pivot to pop and his sales increase accordingly. With “Bad Things” becoming a top five hit on the Hot 100 and reaching the top spot of the pop charts, as well as the album’s other hit, “At My Best”, nearly cracking the top 20 of the pop charts, the album became the most successful of Machine Gun Kelly’s career.
After a highly-publicized feud with Eminem and a critically-acclaimed rap-rock album in 2018 and 2019, respectively, Machine Gun Kelly started to become a household name in 2020 with the release of Tickets To My Downfall, reviving pop punk with a uniquely hip-hop-inspired spin. The approach proved successful, with the album’s single my ex’s best friend” staying on the Hot 100 chart for a full year. At the front of a revival of pop-punk and rock music in the mainstream, he followed up with 2022’s mainstream sellout, for which he earned a Grammy nomination, a first in his career.
To date, Machine Gun Kelly has certified sales of 25 million singles and 2.5 million albums.
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