“You really rip it, man”: How Bob Dylan championed mgk – forming an unlikely friendship and artistic collaboration

mgk (formerly known as Machine Gun Kelly) might not be the first artist you think of when anointing a contemporary guitarist with the title of “guitar savior”.

However, the genre-hopping artist's departure from rap in favor of a more pop-punk and rock aesthetic has earned him a number of fans in the guitar world, including Polyphia's Tim Henson, who gave mgk a shoutout for making “guitar cool again.” Now, his latest fan is, perhaps unexpectedly, Bob Dylan.

After posting a video of mgk on social media – a rarity for Dylan, who uses his Instagram feed as a tribute page – the two formed an unlikely friendship. In fact, mgk's seventh studio album, Lost American, features a voice note from Bob Dylan.

“I reached out to him and was like, ‘Did you guys make a mistake?’” mgk related in an interview with The Times. “[Dylan’s] manager was like, ‘Apparently he likes you…’

“I wrote him this big letter about the Lost Americana album I was doing: ‘It would be amazing to have the great American voice be the narration to the announcement of this album.’”

His letter did the trick. Dylan sent him a voice note, waxing lyrical about how mgk's “music celebrates the beauty found in the in-between spaces,” which consequently ended up in the teaser trailer.

As for whether he ended up meeting Dylan in person, well, after mgk's surprise appearance with Willie Nelson at the Outlaw Music Festival in Hollywood, he claims to have been approached by “a dude all in black.”

mgk - lost americana [album trailer] - YouTube

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“He’s like, ‘Let’s go meet Bob.’ I get on his bus and [Dylan] has a hoodie on, white cowboy boots, and this energy that feels like you’re in the midst of Peter Pan or something, while also in the midst of Homer writing the Iliad – this prolific, young, spirited guy.”

And what did Dylan tell him? “You really rip it, man.”

Despite Dylan’s contribution to his album launch, and the flourishing relationship – which also includes the exchange of letter – mgk admits that he still doesn’t know how and why Dylan, an elusive figure, granted him access into his life.

“One thing I know for sure is that he can’t figure me out, which I think is interesting to him. And I can’t figure him out, which is very interesting to me,” he concludes.

In a 2023 interview with Guitar World, another one of mgk's collaborators, shredder Sophie Lloyd, revealed how she went from being a YouTube guitar sensation to playing stadiums with the rapper-turned-rocker.