Machine Gun Kelly

Colson Baker (born April 22, 1990), known professionally as Machine Gun Kelly (MGK), is an American musician, rapper, singer, songwriter, and actor.

He is noted for his genre duality across alternative rock with hip hop.

Baker was born on April 22, 1990, in Houston, Texas, to Christian missionary parents.

Baker and his family moved all around the world and he lived in Egypt for the first 4 years of his life.

He also moved to Germany as well as throughout the United States, in Chicago, Denver, and Cleveland.

Baker's mother left home when he was nine years old and he and his father moved to Denver to live with Baker's aunt.

Baker's father fought depression and unemployment.

Baker says he had just two school outfits and that he endured bullying from children in his neighborhood.

He began listening to rap in the sixth grade, when he attended Hamilton Middle School, a school with an ethnically diverse student body in Denver.

While he lived in Cleveland, Baker attended Shaker Heights High School.

The first three rappers that got him into the genre of hip hop as a child were Ludacris, Eminem and DMX, with Baker gaining interest in the genre after listening to DMX's "We Right Here" from the album The Great Depression (2001).

Machine Gun Kelly released four mixtapes between 2007 and 2010 before signing with Puff Daddy's Bad Boy Records, an imprint of Interscope Records.

In March 2009, while he was on the verge of getting evicted, Baker traveled to Harlem's Apollo Theater, where he had consecutive victories, making him the first ever rapper to win at the Apollo Theater.

He recorded music in his home studio, which he refers to as the "Rage Cage", and started to gain exposure when he was featured on MTV2's Sucker Free Freestyle, where he freestyled numerous verses from his "Chip off the Block" single.

In February 2010, he released his second mixtape 100 Words and Running, where he derived his catchphrase, "Lace Up", which started as a mixtape interlude, before making it a prominent reference in his music.

Despite his rising popularity, Baker found himself working at Chipotle to afford rent, as well as being kicked out by his father after high school.

Baker soon also became a father.

In May 2010, he made his national debut with the single "Alice in Wonderland", which was released on iTunes and accompanied a music video along with the song.

It was released via Block Starz Music.

The single earned Baker the "Best Midwest Artist" at the 2010 Underground Music Awards and his "Alice in Wonderland" clip won Best Music Video at the 2010 Ohio Hip-Hop Awards.

He released his second mixtape in November 2010 titled Lace Up which featured the hometown anthem "Cleveland", which was then played at Cleveland Cavaliers home games and went on rotation on Z107.9 in Cleveland.

The mixtape was recorded in three months in 2010 during a creative burst.

Following the release of the mixtape, he was featured in the magazine XXL in 2011.

He then appeared on the Juicy J track "Inhale", which also featured Steve-O from the television series Jackass, in the music video.

In March 2011, Baker participated in his first SXSW show in Austin, Texas, and at the show, he was approached by Sean Combs, who had offered Baker a recording contract with Bad Boy Records, which is associated with and has its content distributed by Interscope.

Prior to the contract, he was featured on the XV song "Finally Home".

The song "Invincible" was released on iTunes on December 16, 2011, featuring co-writer and singer Ester Dean as the second single of the album.

The song is featured in a commercial for the HTC ReZound as well as the official theme song of WrestleMania XXVIII.

WWE also used the song to highlight John Cena in his match at the event, with Baker also performing at WrestleMania prior to the main event between Cena and The Rock.

"Invincible" was also used as the theme for Thursday Night Football when it was on the NFL Network.

His debut studio album, Lace Up (2012) peaked at number four on the US Billboard 200 was led by the single "Wild Boy" (featuring Waka Flocka Flame), which marked his first entry on the Billboard Hot 100 and received triple platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

Baker announced that his debut album would be titled Lace Up and would have an intended release on October 9, 2012.

"Wild Boy" served as the lead single for the album and the song peaked on the US Billboard Hot 100 at number 98.

It was soon certified gold by the RIAA.

Machine Gun Kelly had his first starring role in the romantic drama Beyond the Lights (2014), and since appeared in the techno-thriller Nerve (2016), the horror Bird Box (2018), the comedy Big Time Adolescence and portrayed Tommy Lee in the biopic The Dirt (both 2019).

His second and third albums, General Admission (2015) and Bloom (2017) were met with critical praise and similar commercial success; the latter was supported by the single "Bad Things" (with Camila Cabello), which peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100.

His fourth album, Hotel Diablo (2019) further experimented with rap rock.

Machine Gun Kelly's fifth album, Tickets to My Downfall (2020) saw a complete departure from hip-hop in favor of a pop-punk sound and aesthetic, with its production entirely helmed by Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker.

It debuted atop the Billboard 200—the only rock album to do so that year—and contained the single "My Ex's Best Friend" (featuring Blackbear), which peaked within the top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100.

Its sequel, Mainstream Sellout (2022) served as his sixth album and matched its commercial success, although critical reception was mixed.