Why He’s Interesting: Colson Baker — known as Machine Gun Kelly — has come a long way from when he was hustling in the streets to get his mixtapes out at 15. Having sold 20 million records worldwide with five studio albums and 31 singles, his most recent album Tickets to My Downfall debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in October, making him the first Cleveland artist to have a No. 1 album in 15 years.
Young Blood: MGK is nothing if not persistent. At 15 and 16, he passed out mixtapes at area high schools — from Shaker Heights and Mentor to Orange and Aurora — from the back of a Ford Explorer. Before his 17th birthday, he had already performed at Metropolis Nightclub, the Hi-Fi Concert Club and Peabody’s. “That was how I built my hype. It was organic groundwork.”
Till I Die: When schools were shut down and restaurants were struggling during the start of the pandemic, MGK gave back by partnering with nine Northeast Ohio restaurants on May 1 such as Black Box Fix and Sauce the City to provide free lunch to those in need. He also opened up 27 Club Coffee in the Flats that pulls inspiration from his longtime motto of EST: everyone stands together. “It’s as if I’m still 17 in Cleveland at the airbrush shop in Tower City being so hungry to be understood. I have that same exact fire inside of me right now. I don’t want that fire to go out.”
High Stakes: In order to keep busy during the pandemic shutdown, MGK began producing Lockdown Sessions on Instagram and YouTube, a daily dose of covers and original songs that saw MGK behind the guitar, piano and drums. Other artists such as Travis Barker from Blink-182 also made cameos. “It was a key moment in me branding myself with a guitar.”
Ticket Sales: Tickets to My Downfall is a pop-punk gem that inspired the upcoming Downfalls High film, a narrative film with interspersed live performances, releasing this month. It’s all an intentionally marked departure from MGK’s hip-hop past. “It was a way to free people from a box because people saw somebody who was literally boxed in break out of it.”
Interesting Fact:
MGK has starred in more than 10 feature films, including Netflix’s Bird Box and the upcoming The Last Son of Isaac LeMay with Sam Worthington.
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Most Interesting People 2021: Machine Gun Kelly
The Cleveland-bred musician hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with Tickets To My Downfall in October.
