Machine Gun Kelly Says Dating Megan Fox Took Him 'Out of the Fast Lane'

Machine Gun Kelly credits girlfriend Megan Fox with taking him out of the "fast lane" of his rock star lifestyle. In NYLON's new cover story, the musician shared how his tough upbringing led into his career as a rapper, and how Fox came into his life to change his outlook earlier this year.

"I'm so happy right now," the "Bloody Valentine" artist, 30, told the outlet, adding that growing up, he was more "like the wind, with no guidance or care." He continued of growing up in Cleveland, "There's a beauty and a rawness to the streets of lower-class suburbia. I had a f— you attitude, in and out with drugs and cops."

Kelly, whose real name is Richard Colson Baker, said he had "been misunderstood since the time I came out of the womb," but always believed in his star power. "I'd be working at a fast-food spot talking about I'm going to grow up and be a superstar and people were like, 'You make no sense,'" he recalled. "Hello to them now!"

Meeting Fox back in March on the set of their new movie Midnight in the Switchgrass, Kelly said it was a total surprise to fall in love at a time when love is not "being encouraged." He explained, "In fact, it's exactly the opposite: everything now is isolation, dehumanization, separation. And f—, dude, you have in your head that you're this rock star, with multiple women and all that."

"So finding someone that can take you out of the fast lane and make sure that you're safe, because at any minute you can crash — I love that it can evolve into that," he added of his relationship with the Transformers actress, which came shortly after she split with her husband of 10 years, Brian Austin Green, in December 2019. It was a prescient time for Kelly, who told NME last month that he was "in a drunken stupor" while recording his new album, Tickets to My Downfall, before meeting her.

"I did fall in love during the making of this record, and I did become a better person," he told the outlet. "There was probably a crossroads in the middle of making this album where the title would have lived up to the reality. I think the universe caught on to me wanting to make a change. It was like: 'Maybe we won't make this a reality; maybe we'll make this ironic.' Instead of the downfall, go ahead and have the biggest rise of your f—ing life."