Machine Gun Kelly appears to have officially changed his name

If you find yourself searching up Machine Gun Kelly's songs today or planning to stalk his social media, you might notice something looks a little different.

It seems that the rapper from Houston, Texas, will officially no longer be answering to his memorable pseudonym.

The 33-year-old, real name Colson Baker, has been going by Machine Gun Kelly for the last 18 years, as he claims he took it on as a teen because of his 'rapid fire delivery' on the mic when he first started doing shows.

To be fair, he can spit at quite a surprising speed - but sadly, he doesn't outdo his rival Eminem in that department, as Slim Shady can deliver 7.5 words per second, according to the Guinness World Records.

Machine Gun Kelly also apparently took inspiration from Prohibition-era gangster George Kelly Barnes, who also went by the same nickname - but the latter's reasoning for it was down to the fact that a Thompson submachine gun was his favourite weapon.

In contrast, the musician has tried to move away from the violent connotations that his stage name brings with it after fans suggested that it glorifies guns.

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At one of his concerts in Iowa back in September 2022, some of his supporters reportedly held up signs which read: "Change Your Name!!!"

When Baker spotted the sign, he began conversing with the crowd to find out what their problem was with his moniker, to which they responded: "We want to take out the ‘machine gun’, so we don’t glorify machine guns."

He clearly took heed of the chat, as while attending the GQ's Men of the Year party, he took the opportunity to advise reporters and photographers that he was trying to distance himself from his stage name.

The Midnight in the Switchgrass actor said: "Instead of Machine Gun, can you just hit me with Machine next time?"

This wasn't a major hint that he was the latter part of Florence and the Machine, though - in fact, upon reflection, it seems to have been a turning point in his mini-identity-crisis.

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Baker seems to have gone through an emotional and physical transformation lately, which he marked by sharing snaps of his new extravagant blackout tattoo which covers pretty much the entirety of his upper body.

He also released a poignant new track, don't let me go, where he discusses losses he has experienced in his life, mental health and the miscarriage which he and his other half Megan Fox suffered when she was just over two months pregnant.

It seems he is rounding off his resurrection onto the scene by debuting his new name too - as he has dropped Machine Gun Kelly in favour of it's abbreviation 'mgk'. He's even ditched the capital letters.

His official usernames on Spotify, Tidal, Apple Music, and YouTube all display his new title, although his usernames on Twitter and Instagram remain the same.

However, the rapper now displays 'mgk' as his name on these, as well as having 'colson xx blonde don' in his bio.

Welcome to the world, mgk.