Machine Gun Kelly shares meaning behind his name and why he changed it

Machine Gun Kelly has spoken about the meaning of his stage name, and why he changed it to ‘mgk’ recently.

MGK, whose real name is Colson Baker, has talked about the inspiration of his moniker throughout the years, but he has since come out to say it no longer aligns with who he is today.

You might remember the rapper from his 2012 to 2019 rap days, particularly his ‘Rap Devil’ song which was a diss track to Eminem’s ‘Rap God’ single.

However, he’s come a long way since then, and a huge turn around in his chosen genre.

Specifically, the way he has chosen to rebrand himself.

Long gone are the days of his short blond locks and topless antics, showing off a plethora of tattoos all over his body.

Say hello to a long pop-punk emo hairstyle, fitted with the clothes, and a whole new tattoo reveal to boot.

But with this new look comes a new name too.

mgk explained the meaning behind Machine Gun Kelly (YouTube/TODAY)

Instead of being known as Machine Gun Kelly, or MGK for short, he now goes by mgk that’s lowercase.

He explained his reasoning to TODAY after taking part in an ‘8 Before 8’ questions game.

There, he read a card that asked: “You recently shortened your stage name to mgk. What was the significance behind that?”

“Yeah, these are, these are good questions...um, Machine Gun Kelly...I was bestowed that name,” the singer revealed, noting: “It was derived from a mobster, right?”

He added: “So, it wasn't technically my name, and I think ultimately that like was a character.

“I think now I've infused the artist with the humans, so I am mgk and mgk all lower case just very much more matches who I am now.”

His name ultimately came from George ‘Machine Gun’ Kelly, a mobster of the prohibition era, who had abducted a wealthy oil magnate in 1933.

Anyway, the singer hasn’t just changed his name - he recently debuted a full blackout tattoo that has covered up most of his torso too.

The rapper decided to cover it all up in 2024, telling Billboard Canada: "I was looking for a change that wasn't just a sound wave. It had to be something physical."

This left him thinking: "Who the f**k am I?"

Mgk then chose to get a 'dark mode' tattoo that would cover most of his arms, chest, and stomach, which he said ultimately led him to feel unwell.

What’s next for the singer?