Machine Gun Kelly is entering a new era. The “Bloody Valentine” singer, born Colson Baker, debuted his new, shorter stage name shortly after covering up the majority of his tattoos for “spiritual purposes.”
Amid the release of his new single “dont let me go” on streaming, the artist changed his stage name to simply “mgk” on Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal and YouTube. His name on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram also shows the change, although his handle remains @machinegunkelly.
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MGK has previously expressed interest in changing his name. In September 2022, comedy act Chad and JT petitioned to have “machine gun” removed from the artist’s name, asking him via a sign at one of his concerts. At the time, MGK could be seen reading the sign before asking the audience, “What do you think?”
The 33-year-old “Emo Girl” musician also hinted at his upcoming transformation in November while attending the 2023 GQ Men of the Year event with his fiancée Megan Fox. “I have a question,” he told photographers on the red carpet, as seen in a video of the interaction. “Instead of ‘Machine Gun,’ can you just hit me with the ‘Machine’ from now on?” He would go on to post a screenshot of the interaction on X with a talking head emoji and the caption “‘machine.’”
MGK’s transformation goes even further than his name, as the “Rap Devil” artist revealed earlier this month that he had covered up the majority of his tattoos with a massive blank ink tattoo that covers most of his arms and chest. Sharing a photo of his bare torso on Instagram, MGK wrote that the change was “for spiritual purposes only.” The rapper later explained the reason for his aesthetic change on his new single, rapping, “Just like I wish they would understand me one time / I had a breakdown and tatted my entire body except one line.”
The artist also rapped about the miscarriage he and Fox experienced in 2021. “How do I live with the fact that my hand wasn’t on her stomach when we lost the baby/ I don’t got no one to turn to ’cause everyone’s dead in my life that was tryin’ to raise me,” he raps.
