Machine Gun Kelly is opening up about a painful chapter behind one of his most dramatic transformations.
The rapper, who debuted his massive blackout tattoo in 2024, revealed that rushing the project into a two-month process instead of the recommended two years left him seriously ill. According to Billboard Canada, MGK said the intense tattoo sessions affected his body so severely that his skin turned yellow and he temporarily lost mobility in parts of his upper body.
The tattoo, which covers much of his chest, shoulders and arms, was intended to mark a fresh start both personally and creatively. However, the process proved to be much more physically demanding than he anticipated.
MGK Reveals Frightening Health Scare During Tattoo Process
MGK said tattoo artist ROXX originally estimated that completing the blackout tattoo would take about two years. Instead, the musician pushed through the process in just two months.
That decision came with consequences.
After tattooing around his shoulders and armpits, MGK said his lymph nodes were affected and he became extremely sick. He recalled that his skin began turning yellow, he struggled to sleep and lost movement in certain areas of his upper body.
Despite the frightening ordeal, MGK said the experience ultimately left him feeling inspired because of what he had to overcome physically and mentally.
The revelation sheds new light on a transformation fans first saw in April 2024 when the artist unveiled the dramatic blackout design across much of his torso. At the time, MGK documented parts of the recovery process on social media, sharing footage that included blood dripping during tattoo sessions and images of himself recovering in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber while wearing an oxygen mask.
He previously described the experience as “the most painful” thing he had ever endured.
Why MGK Decided to Cover His Old Tattoos
The blackout tattoo was about more than changing his appearance.
According to Billboard Canada, MGK said he was looking for a physical transformation while working on his new mixtape, “Blog Era Boyz,” a collaborative project with Wiz Khalifa. He explained that he wanted a change that wasn’t limited to music and felt drawn toward reinventing himself in a more visible way.
Looking back at his previous tattoos, MGK admitted he no longer recognized the person staring back at him. He said the artwork represented different chapters of his life, including periods tied to drugs, personal struggles and conflicting emotions.
“I saw death and drugs in all these patterns that I was literally writing on my body,” he told the outlet.
The rapper also previously shared on “The Jennifer Hudson Show” that he had been tattooing himself since he was 13 and became fascinated with the idea of redesigning what human skin could look like. Per earlier report, the blackout project required 44 needles at a time and was completed without anesthesia or numbing cream.
While most of his previous tattoos disappeared beneath the blackout design, MGK left a few meaningful pieces untouched, including a small heart tattoo drawn by his daughter, Casie.
Today, MGK views the tattoo as more than body art. It represents a fresh start, a creative reset and a reminder of a challenge that pushed him to his limits.
“After the first week, we hit my lymph nodes around my armpits and shoulders, and I got really sick. My skin was turning yellow,” MGK told Billboard Canada.
Living proof that tattoos are a fetish and nothing more! Covering them up not that long after he got some of them shows a sick mind. Either way nobody listens to his music and he looks ridiculous!!!