Kells

Raised on hardcore rock and punk bands such as Anti-Flag, NOFX and Nirvana, Colson Baker fell in love with hip-hop after hearing Ludacris and DMX and began writing raging, furious rhymes as a teenager. The son of Christian missionaries, he lived in Egypt and Germany as a child before travelling across the U.S. and getting his big break in New York when he became the first white rapper to win a talent contest at Harlem's notorious Apollo Theatre in 2009. Taking the stage name Machine Gun Kelly (MGK) from a 1930s gangster, he featured on MTV2's 'Sucker Free Freestyle' rap battle show and was spotted by P. Diddy while performing at the South By Southwest festival and signed to his Bad Boy Records label. Covered in tattoos and playing up to a wild rock star lifestyle, MGK's early mix tapes '100 Words and Running' and 'Rage Pack' were recorded at his home studio in Cleveland, known as the Rage Cage, while his high energy live shows caused a stream of controversy. A loyal following grew with popular EP 'Half Naked & Almost Famous', before his debut full-length album 'Lace Up' shot to number four in 2012 in the Billboard 200 and featured appearances from Lil Jon, Twista and Waka Flocka Flame.The 'Black Flag' mix tape was released in 2013 followed by rumours of a second album. It wasn't for another two years that he announced his second album was to be called 'General Admission', preceded by a ten-track mix tape titled 'F**k It' featuring tracks that didn't make it onto the album. 'General Admission' debuted at number four on the Billboard 200 and number one on the R&B Charts. In 2017 he joined the cast of Rupert Wyatt's film 'Captive State' alongside John Goodman and Vera Farmiga. The science fiction thriller is set in a suburb of Chicago and follows the story of the residents as they battle the extraterrestrial beings that have taken over their town. © ©Copyright Music Story 2020