Cleveland Rapper Machine Gun Kelly Debuts in Toledo

Listen Up Toledo  |  06/30/2011 7:00 am

For a guy who's just barely legal to drink, Machine Gun Kelly (born Colson Baker) has had quite a life. Born in Texas to missionary parents, MGK - as he's oft known to fans - spent the first four years of his life in Egypt, learning Arabic before English, and went on to reside in Germany, Chicago, Denver, and L.A. before his family settled in Cleveland, OH.

At the age of 16, still attending Shaker Heights High School, MGK, released his first mixtape, debuting his signature rapid-fire flow that earned him his MC name. In 2009, on the brink of homelessness, MGK took his flow to NYC to debut at the infamous Apollo Theatre in Harlem. There, he enjoyed back-to-back wins, making him the first rapper to win on that historic stage. The following year, in 2010, the rapper made waves in his hometown with the release of two more mixtapes, 100 Words and Running, and Lace Up. Along the way, he caught the attention and friendship of Three Six Mafia's Juicy J, and released his hometown shout-out track "Cleveland," which routinely plays at Cavs games, and runs in town on local radio.

But, MGK is far from a mere local success. In fact, though still a bit of an underground sensation, he's blowing up across the country, recently enjoying a packed L.A. debut at the legendary Roxy, and a heralded performance at South by Southwest (after which he was approached by Sean "P. Diddy" Combs).

Catch this up-n-comer at Headliners (4500 N. Detroit Ave.) on Sunday, July 3. Doors at 7 p.m. $15. All ages. Tickets at mgk.ticketleap.com

www.mgklaceup.com/