Machine Gun Kelly Bio
Colson Baker (born April 22, 1990), known professionally as MGK (stylized in all lowercase) and formerly credited as Machine Gun Kelly, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor. The stage name MGK was inspired by the nickname of Prohibition-era gangster George Kelly Barnes. Over the course of his career, Baker has built a wide-reaching presence in both music and film, releasing chart-topping albums and appearing in a range of movies and television projects while maintaining a high-profile public image.
He first gained recognition through a string of independent mixtapes before signing with Bad Boy Records in 2011, an imprint of Interscope Records. His debut studio album, Lace Up (2012), debuted at number four on the US Billboard 200, and he went on to top the same chart with Tickets to My Downfall (2020). In film, he has built a screen résumé that includes Bird Box (2018), The Dirt (2019), Project Power (2020) and Good Mourning (2022).
Early Life and Background
Colson Baker was born on April 22, 1990, in Houston, Texas. His parents were both Christian missionaries, and the family moved frequently during his childhood. He spent his earliest years in Egypt, where he learned to speak Arabic before English, and later lived in Kenya, Germany and several US cities, including Los Angeles and Chicago. When Baker was nine years old, his mother left home, and he and his father relocated to Denver to live with his aunt.
His father struggled with depression and unemployment during this period, and Baker has spoken about limited resources and bullying in his neighborhood. He discovered rap in the sixth grade while attending Hamilton Middle School in Denver, listing Ludacris, Eminem and DMX as the first three artists who drew him into hip-hop. Baker later attended Thomas Jefferson High School in Denver for his freshman year and finished his schooling at Shaker Heights High School in Cleveland.
Path to Acting
After high school, Baker was asked to leave home by his father and supported himself with odd jobs, including work at Chipotle. In 2009, while on the verge of eviction, he traveled to Harlem’s Apollo Theater and became the first rapper to win consecutive battles there, which gave him early industry visibility. He recorded material in a home studio he called the Rage Cage and gained exposure through MTV2’s Sucker Free Freestyle, while also becoming a young father.
His first national credit arrived in May 2010 with the single Alice in Wonderland, released through Block Starz Music, followed by the mixtape Lace Up in November 2010 and a feature in XXL magazine in 2011. A SXSW showcase in March 2011 led to a recording contract with Sean Combs’ Bad Boy Records, an imprint of Interscope Records, formalizing his path between music and, eventually, screen work.
Machine Gun Kelly Career
Early Career (2006–2015)
Baker’s debut studio album, Lace Up, was released on October 9, 2012, led by the single Wild Boy, which reached the Billboard Hot 100 and was certified gold by the RIAA. The album featured collaborations with artists such as DMX, Lil Jon, Tech N9ne, Twista, Waka Flocka Flame and Young Jeezy, and it debuted at number four on the Billboard 200. He followed Lace Up with the mixtape Black Flag in 2013 and released the singles Till I Die and A Little More in 2015.
His second studio album, General Admission, arrived in 2015 and continued his run of commercial success. In December 2011, MTV named him its Hottest Breakthrough MC of 2011, and in March 2012, he was featured on the cover of XXL as part of its annual Freshman Class. Early in this period, he also made his film debut in Beyond the Lights (2014), where he played a rapper named Kid Culprit.
Breakthrough (2016–2023)
In 2016, Baker released Bad Things with Camila Cabello, which peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 and broadened his mainstream profile. He expanded his acting résumé with a role in the techno-thriller Nerve (2016), a recurring part on the Showtime series Roadies and the Cleveland-set drama The Land, which he also co-executive produced. His 2018 diss track Rap Devil, aimed at Eminem, became a major cultural moment and reached number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100.
His fourth studio album, Hotel Diablo (2019), experimented with rap rock and debuted at number five on the Billboard 200. In 2020, he released Tickets to My Downfall, produced entirely by Travis Barker, which abandoned hip-hop for a pop-punk sound, debuted atop the Billboard 200, and was supported by the singles Bloody Valentine and My Ex’s Best Friend. Its sequel, Mainstream Sellout (2022), matched its commercial success. On screen, he played Felix in Bird Box (2018), portrayed Tommy Lee in the Mötley Crüe biopic The Dirt (2019), played Newt in Project Power (2020), appeared in Midnight in the Switchgrass and The Last Son (2021), and made his directorial debut with Good Mourning (2022), which he also wrote, produced and starred in alongside Mod Sun.
Notable Works and Milestones
Signature works include the albums Lace Up (2012), General Admission (2015), Bloom (2017), Hotel Diablo (2019) and Tickets to My Downfall (2020), along with the films Bird Box (2018), The Dirt (2019) and Project Power (2020). Career milestones include his Apollo Theater win, a Billboard 200 number-one album with Tickets to My Downfall, and his transition into directing with Good Mourning (2022).
Machine Gun Kelly Award Nominations
Machine Gun Kelly, performing as MGK, has accumulated award nominations across the music and film industries, including recognition from MTV, the Underground Music Awards and the Ohio Hip-Hop Awards. Verified nomination categories tied directly to his career include MTVu Breaking Woodie (2012) and MTV’s Hottest Breakthrough MC of 2011, alongside further nominations related to his singles and albums in the pop-punk and hip-hop categories.
Machine Gun Kelly Awards Won
Verified award wins for Colson Baker include Best Midwest Artist at the 2010 Underground Music Awards and Best Music Video at the 2010 Ohio Hip-Hop Awards for Alice in Wonderland. He also received the MTVu Breaking Woodie award in 2012 and was named MTV’s Hottest Breakthrough MC of 2011. In his acting career, he has received industry attention for performances in Bird Box (2018), The Dirt (2019) and Project Power (2020), though specific competitive wins tied to those films are not fully documented in the source material.
Machine Gun Kelly Family
Colson Baker was born to missionary parents and has described a peripatetic childhood spent in Egypt, Kenya, Germany and several US cities. His mother left the family when he was nine, after which he and his father moved to Denver to live with his aunt. He has spoken openly about his father’s struggles with depression and unemployment, experiences that shaped his early years and his drive toward a music career.
Personal Life
In his teens, Baker was in a relationship with Emma Cannon, with whom he has a daughter named Casie, born in July 2009. He has been open about past struggles with substance use, including heroin addiction before the release of Lace Up and later treatment for Adderall addiction in 2020. Baker has identified politically as an anarchist.
In May 2020, Baker began a relationship with actress Megan Fox after the two met on the set of Midnight in the Switchgrass. The couple became engaged in January 2022, and Fox announced in March 2024 that they had called off the engagement. In November 2024, Fox revealed she was pregnant with his child, and their daughter was born on March 27, 2025.