Machine Gun Kelly (rapper)

Colson Baker (born April 22, 1990), known professionally as Machine Gun Kelly (MGK), is an American rapper, singer, musician, and actor. He is noted for his compositional blending of contemporary and alternative hip hop with rock.

Machine Gun Kelly released four mixtapes between 2007 and 2010 before signing with Bad Boy Records. He released his debut studio album, Lace Up, in 2012, which peaked at number four on the US Billboard 200 and contained his breakout single "Wild Boy" (featuring Waka Flocka Flame). His second and third albums, General Admission (2015) and Bloom (2017), achieved similar commercial success; the latter included the single "Bad Things" (with Camila Cabello), which peaked at number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. His fourth album, Hotel Diablo (2019), included rap rock.

Machine Gun Kelly released his fifth album, Tickets to My Downfall, in 2020; it marked a complete departure from hip hop and entry into pop punk. It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, the only rock album to do so that year, and contained the single "My Ex's Best Friend", which reached number 20 on the Hot 100.

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).

Baker was born on April 22, 1990, in Houston to missionary parents. Baker and his family moved all around the world and took up residence abroad from Egypt 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 started listening to rap in the sixth grade, when he attended Hamilton Middle School, a school with an ethnically diverse student body in Denver. 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).

Following his father's departure, Baker stopped attending school and began to make a name for himself by calling out elder classmates. In 2005, his father returned to take them both to Kuwait before the pair were forced back stateside to Cleveland, where Baker attended Shaker Heights High School.

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.[clarification needed] 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 graduating high school. Baker soon also became a father.