Rapper MGK has fans ecstatic with the slated release of his Album, lost americana, on August 15th of this year. Colson Baker, previously professionally known as Machine Gun Kelly, is a 35-year-old American rapper hailing from Cleveland, Ohio.
Baker started his musical career in 2006 and, since then, has amassed over 17 million monthly listeners on Spotify. Some of Baker’s most popular songs include “my exs’s best friend”, “Bad Things”, “I Think I’m OKAY”, “forget me too,” and “bloody valentine.”
Many of these songs feature popular artists such as Travis Baker, Camilla Cabello, YUNGBLUD, and halsey. While mainly known for his rapping, Baker also sings, acts, and plays the guitar.
Baker’s music style
In addition to this, Baker consistently experiments with his music and often moves into new genres. Baker’s most recent shift was from pop-punk, in albums Tickets to My Downfall and Mainstream Sellout, to emo-rap, in his collab EP Genre: Sadboy.
Based on the singles released from lost americana, it seems that Baker might pivot genres once again. While it may seem hard to keep fans by switching genres, the majority of fans seem to enjoy Baker’s musical genre transitions as well.
“I’m 35 now and have enjoyed every MGK era. From the hardcore rap battle phase to the pop hits like Wild Boys and challenging Em”, writes one YouTube user. “Rock/alt songs and now the cliche pop hits. I rock with MGK.”
“So Happy he stopped caring and just makes music he likes,” another YouTube user comments. “The fans love it and it’s a pleasure to be along for the journey.”
While there is a scarce amount of negative comments, a few still remain.
“This man fell off so hard he had to resort to making emo pop music and give up being a rapper,” writes one Instagram user.
“Eminem dissed this dude so hard that he smacked the rap out of him,” one Instagram user humorously comments.
As with the previous comment, the main topic that most of Baker’s hate comments bring up is his prior feud with one of the biggest rappers of the century, Eminem.
Ironically, Baker was a huge fan of Eminem. Baker stated in a 2011 interview on Whollywood Shuffle that he loves being compared to Eminem. In addition to this, Baker made numerous tweets about how much he loves Eminem and wishes to meet him.
Beginning of MGK’s beef with Eminem
Unfortunately, this is where the beef eventually began. On May 7th, 2012, Baker made a tweet about Eminem’s daughter. In the tweet, Baker calls Eminem’s daughter, Hailie, “hot as f*ck.” Because of Baker’s poor wording, Eminem was extremely unhappy about Baker’s tweet and allegedly banned Baker from Eminem’s radio station.
Baker still went on to idolize Eminem for the next few years, until Baker’s frustration with Eminem came to light on October 19th, 2015, in a Hot97 Interview. Baker mentioned that he was just calling Eminem’s daughter “beautiful” and that he was not a “creep.” He also seemed irritated that many places would not listen to his music because of the tweet he had made.
Over the next few years, Baker seemed more and more bitter towards Eminem in various interviews and even took a few shots at Eminem in a freestyle. Eminem only responded after Baker’s comments on Tech N9ne’s song “No Reason.”
In the song, Baker officially took shots at Eminem once again stating, “It’s only one option, you gon’ need a doctor [and] I ain’t talkin’ ‘bout the one from Compton.” This line is a clear reference to Dr. Dre and indirectly targets Eminem because of Dr. Dre’s relationship with Eminem.
Eminem responded in his song “Not Alive” in his 2018 album Kamikaze, where Eminem called Baker a wannabe gangster. In the same song, Eminem goes on to call Baker a “little non-threatening blond fairy cornball.”
Disstracks
Three days after Eminem’s album, Baker uploaded an official diss track titled “Rap Devil.” In the track, Baker takes numerous shots at Eminem, including Eminem’s age, clothing, and the fact that Eminem pays a lot of security.
The diss track was good enough to warrant a response from the Rap God, Eminem himself. Many comments on social media give credit to Baker for having the courage and skills to make a diss track against Eminem.
“This guy got Eminem to respond to him,” writes one YouTube user. “Nick Cannon should take notes.”
“I mean, the fact Eminem dissed him shows that at least he’s deserving of a reply,” writes another YouTube user.
Eminem’s response to Baker’s “Rap Devil” came out on September 14th, 2018, in a diss track titled “Killshot,” featuring art of Baker in a crosshair. While Baker stated in an interview that he believed “Killshot” was a 6/10, many hip-hop fans disagreed.
“‘As long as I’m shady you’ll still be living in my shadow’” was both extremely clever and brutal,” one YouTube user comments. “Em dissed him so bad that he changed genres.”
“How to Disassemble a Machine Gun in 4 Minutes!,” another YouTube commenter
Other MGK news
Regardless of who hip-hop fans believe won, Baker has still solidified himself as a strong artist in his own right.
In terms of other recent news, Baker went on a trip to Costa Rica with Megan Fox. Fox, an Actress who Baker has had a long on-and-off relationship with, is now the mother of their 3-month-old daughter.
In the realm of music, Baker is slated to release his album lost americana on August 8th of this year. Narrating the trailer of the album is Bob Dylan, one of the most major figures in American songwriting history.
Based on the trailer, the album aims to highlight the American dream and what’s been forgotten and lost throughout history. The album targets those who wish to forge their own path and navigate society on their own terms.
So far, the two singles released from lost americana are “cliché” and “vampire dairies.” Both of these songs seem to follow Baker’s previous trend of pop-punkish music.
Review of lost americana’s released singles
“cliché” was the first of the singles to be released and, just like the title implies, features a lot of clichés. While clichés are generally frowned upon and seen as low effort, Baker’s concept of filling a song with clichés is rather interesting. From the dance moves in “cliché[‘s]” music video to the music video’s various settings, Baker cleverly highlights clichés throughout American history.
The other single Baker released leading up to the release of his upcoming album is “Vampire Diaries.” The lyrics feature how tragic life would be as a stereotypical vampire. The song underscores how people idolize the lives of others, yet do not consider the struggles of that particular individual’s life. In the music video, Baker also showcases his dancing skills with a tribute to Michael Jackson.
Based on Baker’s Instagram and YouTube, from dancing to signing albums, Baker seems to truly enjoy creating this particular album. Fans are also extremely supportive of this new wave of Baker’s music. With clever, relatable lyrics and awesome dance moves, Baker is ready to conquer the pop genre once again with lost americana.
