Mgk, who is Colson Baker, told Billboard Canada that mgk pressed a tattoo artist to finish a monumental blackout coverup far faster than advised and that the rush caused a serious health scare. He said the project was designed by celebrity artist ROXX as a "dark mode" geometric coverup meant to replace older tattoos he no longer recognized.
According to Billboard Canada, ROXX warned the work would take roughly two years, but Baker insisted on compressing sessions into two months. He said that after the first week the team "hit my lymph nodes around my armpits and shoulders," and that he became very sick. He described his skin turning yellow, an inability to sleep, and losing movement in parts of his upper body.
Baker also shared footage on Instagram documenting scarring, bleeding, and swelling during the multi‑session process, and he credited a hyperbaric oxygen chamber for aiding recovery. He said the final pattern left a full blackout chest with cutouts over his arms and abs that revealed portions of earlier tattoos, and he called the completion inspiring because of what he had to overcome.
Artistic Reinvention And Tour Work Around The Tattoo
Baker told Billboard Canada he sought a physical transformation that matched a new musical phase, saying he saw "death and drugs" in the collage of old tattoos and felt his bipolarity showing on his skin. He worked the visual and the sound together while returning to rap with a collaborative mixtape titled Blog Era Boyz with Wiz Khalifa, and he has been touring with Wiz Khalifa on a Lost Americana run.
The Billboard Canada cover story said ROXX not only designed the piece but also photographed Baker for the feature. Baker told the outlet he reallocated resources to support the music project, and he described investing heavily to recreate the blog era spirit. Billboard reported Baker took a large one‑time budget cut from his next album to fund the mixtape rollout and its videos.
Additional coverage notes Baker later discussed his decision not to use anesthesia during the sessions on The Jennifer Hudson Show, calling that approach a mistake and reaffirming his tolerance for pain. Other sources in the packet recorded Baker documenting new piercings and continued public promotion of the mixtape while framing the tattoo as both a physical act and a marker of personal reinvention.
