Machine Gun Kelly Biography

Richard Colson Baker (born April 22, 1990), better known by his stage name Machine Gun Kelly or MGK, is an American rapper from Shaker Heights, Ohio, signed to Bad Boy and Interscope Records. His stage name was given for his rapid-fire lyrical flow and is a reference to notorious criminal George "Machine Gun" Kelly. He rose to fame after releasing his first four mixtapes, Stamp Of Approval (2006), Homecoming (2008), 100 Words and Running (2010), Lace Up (2010). He also has been featured in XXL. In mid 2011 MGK signed a deal with Young and Reckless Clothing. On December 14, 2011, Machine Gun Kelly was named the Hottest Breakthrough MC of 2011 by MTV. On March 18th, 2012, Machine Gun Kelly won the MTVu Breaking Woodie award.

Early life

Richard Colson Baker was born in April 22, 1990, in Texas to missionary parents and took up residence in Egypt, Germany, Chicago, Los Angeles, Denver and Ohio. Since he lived the first four years of his life in Egypt, he spoke Arabic before English. He started listening to rap in the sixth/seventh grade when he went to Hamilton Middle School, a mixed race school in Denver. At the age of fourteen, Baker moved to his now hometown Cleveland, where he attended Shaker Heights High School and graduated in 2008. Baker has stated that he is half Dominican.
Musical career

On the verge of getting evicted, Baker went to Harlem's Apollo Theater in March 2009 where he had back-to-back victories, making him the first white rapper to ever win at the Apollo Theater. He records music in his home studio which he refers to as the "Rage Cage". Baker first started to gain exposure when he was featured on MTV2's Sucker Free Freestyle, where he freestyled numerous verses from his "Chip Off The Block" single. In February 2010, he released his debut mixtape 100 Words and Running. In May 2010, he made his national debut with the single and video for "Alice In Wonderland" from the Midwest Block Starz compilation released by Block Starz Music. He released his second mixtape in November 2010 titled Lace Up which featured the hometown anthem "Cleveland" which is played at Cleveland Cavaliers home games and is on rotation on Z107.9 in Cleveland. Lace Up was recorded in three months in 2010 during a creative burst. He is currently touring, and has forged a friendship with Three 6 Mafia's Juicy J who tapped Kelly to appear on his track "Inhale" in January 2011 which was produced by Lex Luger the music video for "Boat Load" featured Steve-O from Jackass.

In March 2011 he participated in his first SXSW show in Austin, Texas. At the SXSW show he was approached by Sean Combs and since then has gained massive exposure throughout the music scene. In 2011 Machine Gun Kelly signed with Bad Boy Records which is associated with Interscope He was featured on the XV song "Finally Home". On November 15, Machine Gun Kelly released a music video for the song "Wild Boy" featuring American rapper Waka Flocka Flame. On December 8, 2011, Machine Gun Kelly appeared on BET's 106 & Park alongside Waka Flocka Flame to premiere the video. In February 2012 Machine Gun Kelly hinted on twitter that his long awaited album Half Naked & Almost Famous would be released in March 2012. Machine Gun Kelly tweeted from his twitter page @machinegunkelly "Once March hits ... it's gonna be a wild ride for all of us. We're gonna watch something we've seen come from the bottom rise way up. LTFU".
Signing to Bad Boy Records/Interscope Records

MGK was signed by Jimmy Iovine and Diddy to Interscope and Bad Boy Records on August 3, 2011. In official statement given, Kelly's debut album is titled Lace Up due first quarter of 2012.[citation needed] The first single of the album, "Wild Boy" featuring rapper Waka Flocka Flame was released on September 27, 2011. On the week of January 28, 2012, The song debuted on the US Billboard Hot 100 on at number ninety-eight. His song "Invincible" is featured in a commercial for the HTC ReZound as well as the official theme song of WrestleMania XXVIII and WWE also used the song to highlight John Cena in his match with The Rock at the event. It is currently the theme for Thursday Night Football on NFL network. The song was released on iTunes December 16, 2011 featuring singer Ester Dean as the second single of the album. In 2012, Machine Gun Kelly was featured on the cover of XXL as part of their annual "Top 10 Freshmen list" along with fellow rappers Macklemore, French Montana, Hopsin, Danny Brown, Iggy Azalea and Roscoe Dash.