Machine Gun Kelly

Colson Baker (born Richard Colson Baker; April 22, 1990), known professionally as Machine Gun Kelly (abbreviated as MGK), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and actor from Cleveland, Ohio. He embarked on a musical career as a teenager, releasing a mixtape in 2006. He went on to release four more mixtapes.

Baker then secured a recording contract with Bad Boy and Interscope Records in 2011. His major label debut album, Lace Up, was released in October 2012 to positive response from critics. The record contained the singles "Wild Boy", "Invincible", "Stereo", and "Hold On (Shut Up)", and debuted at number four on the US Billboard 200 chart; it was later confirmed to have sold more than 178,000 copies. In early 2015, he released the singles "Till I Die" and "A Little More" for his second studio album, General Admission, which released in October 2015, and debuted at number four in the US. The album incorporated darker tones and storytelling, with elements of rap rock and R&B as well. His third studio album, Bloom, was released on May 12, 2017, preceded by "Bad Things" with Camila Cabello, peaking at number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and becoming his highest-charting single. His fourth studio album, Hotel Diablo, was released July 5, 2019 and was supported by three singles: "Hollywood Whore", "El Diablo", and "I Think I'm Okay" (featuring Travis Barker and Yungblud).

As an actor, Baker made his film debut in the 2014 romantic drama Beyond the Lights. He has also appeared in several other films and had a recurring role on the Showtime series Roadies in 2016.

Acting career
Baker made his film debut in Beyond the Lights (2014), a romantic drama in which he played a "shallow, self-important" rapper named Kid Culprit. In 2016, he featured in four more films of various genres, including The Land, a Cleveland-set drama produced by fellow rapper Nas. In the same year, he had a recurring role on the Showtime comedy-drama series Roadies as Wes, a former Pearl Jam roadie. He played Felix in the Netflix film Bird Box (2018), and portrayed drummer Tommy Lee in The Dirt, a 2019 Netflix drama about Mötley Crüe. His most recently released movie is Big Time Adolescence, which premiered at Sundance Film Festival in 2019. Baker was also featured in two episodes of MTV's Wild 'n Out in 2013 and 2017.

Personal life
Baker has a child named Casie, who was born in 2008. Casie was featured on his album Hotel Diablo (uncredited), on the song Floor 13, where she says "Hotel Diablo" at the end.

Baker is open about his use of cannabis and he has claimed in many interviews that he smokes daily, describing it as a "source of happiness and a way people can feel a little more love [in their own right]." He has frequently mentioned cannabis references within sources of his music and rap persona, making it a forefront of both his rap and personal character.

Baker cites DMX and Eminem as music influences, as well as listening to rock bands Guns N' Roses and Blink-182 during his youth. Baker cites the latter rap and rock artists as major musical influences. In an interview discussing his collaboration with DMX, Baker called the rapper his idol. He also stated that DMX's music helped him through his troubles while growing up, especially bullying. Regarding his political philosophy, Baker identifies as an anarchist.

Eminem beef
In 2012, Machine Gun Kelly made a tweet about Eminem's daughter, Hailie Mathers. The tweet read, "ok so I just saw a picture of Eminem's daughter...and I have to say, she is hot as fuck, in the most respectful way possible cuz Em is king". After this, in 2015, MGK made claims that Eminem banned him from going to Shade 45, a radio station owned by Eminem. In 2017, MGK was on Power 106 FM and did a freestyle with The LA Leakers. During this, he again claimed Eminem had banned him from Shade 45. MGK also collaborated on a song with Tech N9ne in March 2018, and allegedly sent subliminal disses towards Eminem. On August 31, 2018, Eminem released a surprise album, Kamikaze, in which he dissed several artists, including MGK.

On the song "Not Alike" from Eminem's album Kamikaze, Eminem made several disses aimed at MGK. A few days later, MGK responded to "Not Alike" with the song "Rap Devil", releasing a music video for the song as well on September 3, 2018. After MGK's response, Eminem released an interview with Sway Calloway, in which Eminem was asked about the feud. Eminem explained that he did not know how to respond due to him not wanting to make MGK bigger. On September 14, 2018, Eminem released "Killshot". It is generally known that Eminem won this beef.