Mk.gee
American singer-songwriter and music producer (born 1996)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Michael Todd Gordon[2][3] (born September 27, 1996), better known by his stage name Mk.gee, is an American singer-songwriter, music producer, and multi-instrumentalist.[4][5] His career began in 2017 with the release of his debut single "I Know How You Get".[6] In 2018, he followed up with two EPs Pronounced McGee and Fool,[7][8] before releasing his debut mixtape A Museum of Contradiction in 2020.[9] In 2024, Gordon released his debut studio album Two Star & the Dream Police.[10] Aside from his own work, Gordon has collaborated as a songwriter and producer with various artists, including Dijon, Omar Apollo, Kacy Hill, Fred Again, Bon Iver, and Justin Bieber.[11][12][13]
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September 27, 1996
- Singer-songwriter
- music producer
- Vocals
- guitar[1]
- piano
- synthesizer
Mk.gee | |
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Mk.gee performing in Dallas in 2024 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | Michael Todd Gordon September 27, 1996 Somers Point, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Occupations |
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| Instruments |
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| Years active | 2017–present |
| Labels |
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| Website | mkgee |
Early life
Michael Todd Gordon[14] was born on September 27, 1996, in Somers Point, New Jersey, to parents Maureen and Todd Gordon.[15][16] He grew up in nearby Linwood, New Jersey.[17] His interest in music began at an early age when he started taking piano lessons at the age of 6 or 7,[1][3] and by 11, he started learning to play guitar. While attending Mainland Regional High School,[16] he joined a band with some of his schoolmates. However, he preferred to play solo and began to record his own demos, playing all the instruments by himself.[1] After graduating high school, Gordon moved to Los Angeles to study at the USC Thornton School of Music, but dropped out before graduating.[1][18]
Career
Solo music career
Gordon released his debut single "I Know How You Get" in 2017, which became the lead single of his debut EP Pronounced McGee, released on May 18, 2018. The EP also featured the singles "Roll with the Punches," "Over Here," and "You".[19] He followed this with his second EP Fool, released on November 25, 2018,[20] led by the singles "Come On (You Know That I'm a Fool)" and "New Year".[21]
In 2019, Gordon signed with Iamsound and Interscope Records and released the single "Untitled".[22] That year, he also supported Omar Apollo on his The Voyager Tour and Wallows on their Nothing Happens Tour,[23][24] and made his music festival debut, performing at the Pitchfork Music Festival in Paris.[25][26]
On May 22, 2020, Gordon released his first mixtape A Museum of Contradiction. The mixtape was preceded by the single "cz", which was released on February 22, 2020. Rhys Buchanan, a writer from NME, praised the mixtape and gave it a four out of five stars rating, describing it as "a release that merges genres from different worlds with both maturity and ease" and noting Gordon's natural ability to balance emotional depth with musical complexity. Buchanan also called the mixtape "an important stepping stone" and predicted Gordon's rising stardom.[27]
On February 9, 2024, Gordon released his debut album Two Star & the Dream Police, via R&R, to critical acclaim.[28] Praised by Pitchfork as one of the best albums of the first half of the 2020s,[29] the album was supported by five singles: "Candy", "How Many Miles", "Are You Looking Up", "You Got It", and "Dream Police".[10] Commercially, Two Star & the Dream Police became his first charting album, peaking at number 12 on the Scottish Albums Chart and number eight on the UK Indie Albums Chart.[30] To promote the album, Gordon embarked on a North American headline tour from April to May 2024,[31] followed by a world tour between September and December of the same year.[32] The concerts received praise from several publications.[33][34][35][36] On May 15, 2024, he surpassed 1 million active monthly listeners on Spotify for the first time.[37] As of September 1, 2025, Gordon has 2 million monthly listeners.[38]
Following the debut album, Gordon has released two standalone singles: "Lonely Fight" and "Rockman".[39][40] In December 2024, "Rockman" became his first charting single, entering the US Adult Alternative Airplay Chart, the US Rock & Alternative Airplay Chart,[41] and the US Alternative Airplay Chart.[42]
Gordon made his debut television appearances in 2024. On April 11, he performed "Are You Looking Up" on the late-night talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live! and later appeared as a musical guest on Saturday Night Live on November 9, performing the album track "Alesis" alongside "Rockman".[43][44][45] In 2025, Gordon has performed at multiple music festivals across the United States and Europe, namely the Governors Ball, Lollapalooza, Way Out West, Øyafestivalen, Vodafone Paredes de Coura, Lowlands, Rock en Seine, and Austin City Limits festivals.[a]
All of Gordon's releases to date have been home-produced by himself.[2][18]
Songwriting and producing
In addition to his solo work, Gordon has contributed as a songwriter and producer for several artists. He co-produced Omar Apollo's mixtape Apolonio (2020) and Dijon's debut album Absolutely (2021). He co-wrote "Mountains", performed by Charlotte Day Wilson, which was later sampled in "Fair Trade" by Drake featuring Travis Scott from the album Certified Lover Boy (2021).[54]
In 2023, Gordon produced and co-wrote the track "Kids Are Growing Up (Part 1)" for The Kid Laroi's debut album The First Time.[55]
In 2024, Gordon was credited as a co-writer on the tracks ".One" and ".Ten" from Fred Again's album Ten Days, which sampled his 2020 single "cz".[56]
In 2025, he co-wrote the track "From" from Bon Iver's album Sable, Fable,[57] and co-produced and co-wrote "Daisies" from Justin Bieber's album Swag.[58] The latter song reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100.[59] Gordon also contributed to Dijon's second studio album Baby, credited as a co-producer and co-writer.[60] Collaborating again with Justin Bieber, Gordon co-produced and co-wrote "Love Song" from Bieber's album Swag II.[61][62]
Artistry
Gordon's musical genres have been described as indie, alternative,[3] lo-fi,[2] experimental indie,[18] R&B, and soft-psychedelia.[63] His musical influences include Eric Clapton,[1] Jimi Hendrix, Prince, Perfume Genius, Taj Mahal,[64] The Black Keys, Sly Stone, Larry Graham,[3] Grouper, Julianna Barwick, Pat Metheny, Lyle Mays, Eric Johnson and Down to Earth.[65]
Gordon has been highly regarded for his technical ability, composition, and creative experimentation on the guitar, and being credited with developing an original style of instrumentation.[1][17] He learned the basics of guitar from somebody who played an upright bass, recalling: "I never liked the idea of getting lessons from a guitar player, and thought it would be more useful to learn from someone who didn't play the guitar at all — someone who could give musical lessons that were more exploratory, more about trying things out."[66][67]
In May 2024, when asked about modern guitarists who excite him, Clapton mentioned Gordon, commenting that he is "unique" and that "He has found things to do on the guitar that are like nobody else. [...] And he can do it live." Clapton also compared Gordon's "innovative style" to that of Prince "when [he] came on the scene".[68]
Equipment
As of 2024, Gordon's primary instrument is a Fender Jaguar which he strings as a baritone guitar with flatwound strings.[67][69] This is equipped with a Roland GK-2A divided guitar MIDI pickup, which he runs through a Roland VG-8 guitar processor and synthesizer.[70][71]
He tracks and performs live with a TASCAM Portastudio 424 MKI, which he uses as a preamp for its cassette-style distortion and clipping.[72][73][17][74]
Gordon also uses guitar pedals such as the Chase Bliss Audio Mood MKI, Rainger FX Reverb-X, Empress Effects ParaEq MKII, DigiTech Drop, Boss CE-2W Chorus, Boss DD-20 Giga Delay, and Electro-Harmonix Hum Debugger.[71]
Tours
Headlining
Opening
- Nothing Happens Tour (with Wallows) (2019)
- The Voyager Tour (with Omar Apollo) (2019)
Band
- Absolutely (with Dijon) (Spring 2022)
Touring band members
- Andrew Aged – guitar (2023–present)
- Zack Sekoff – drums, bass, samples (2023–present)
Discography
| Mk.gee discography | |
|---|---|
| Studio albums | 1 |
| EPs | 2 |
| Mixtapes | 1 |
| Singles | 14 |
Albums
Studio albums
Mixtapes
| Title | Details |
|---|---|
| A Museum of Contradiction[9] |
|
Extended plays
Singles
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US AAA |
US Alt. Air |
US Rock Air | |||
| "I Know How You Get" | 2017 | — | — | — | Pronounced McGee |
| "Roll with the Punches"[75] | — | — | — | ||
| "Over Here"[4] | 2018 | — | — | — | |
| "You"[76] | — | — | — | ||
| "Come On (You Know That I'm a Fool)" | — | — | — | Fool | |
| "New Year"[77] | — | — | — | ||
| "Untitled"[78][79] | 2019 | — | — | — | Non-album single |
| "cz"[80] | 2020 | — | — | — | A Museum of Contradiction |
| "Candy"[81] | 2023 | — | — | — | Two Star & the Dream Police |
| "How Many Miles"[81] | — | — | — | ||
| "Are You Looking Up"[82] | — | — | — | ||
| "You Got It"[82] | — | — | — | ||
| "Dream Police"[10] | 2024 | — | — | — | |
| "Lonely Fight"[39] | — | — | — | Non-album singles | |
| "Rockman"[40] | 24 [83] | 25 [84] | 30 [85] | ||
Songwriting and production credits
| Title | Year | Artist(s) | Album | Credit(s) | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "The Climb" (Miley Cyrus cover) | 2019 | Role Model | Non-album single | Producer | |
| "Hey Boy" | 2020 | Omar Apollo featuring Kali Uchis | Apolonio | Co-producer (with Omar Apollo and Budgie) | |
| "Useless" | Omar Apollo | Co-producer (with Omar Apollo, Oscar Santander, and Albert Hammond Jr.) | |||
| "Bi Fren" | Co-producer (with Omar Apollo, Michael Uzowuru, and DJ Dahi) | ||||
| "Mountains" | 2021 | Charlotte Day Wilson | Alpha | Co-writer (with Charlotte Day Wilson, Brandon Banks, D'Mile, Babyface, Kyle Moscovitch, Marcus Reddick, Teo Halm, and Varren Wade) | |
| "Thank You, God. For It All." | Childish Major | Thank You, God. For It All. | Co-writer (with Childish Major and Hollywood Cole) | ||
| "Fair Trade" | Drake featuring Travis Scott | Certified Lover Boy | Co-writer (with Marcus Reddick, Teo Halm, Kyla Moscovich, Brandon Banks, D'Mile, Babyface, Varren Wade, Charlotte Day Wilson, OZ, Patron, Jahaan Sweet, WondaGurl, Travis Scott, and Drake) | ||
| "Simple, Sweet, and Smiling" | Kacy Hill | Simple, Sweet, and Smiling | Co-producer (with John Carroll Kirby, Jim-E Stack, and Kacy Hill) | ||
| "Big Mike's" | Dijon | Absolutely | Co-producer (with Dijon) | ||
| "Many Times" | Co-producer (with Dijon and Andrew Sarlo) | ||||
| "Noah's Highlight Reel" | Co-producer (with Dijon) Co-writer (with Dijon and Noah Le Gros) | ||||
| "Rodeo Clown" | Co-writer (with Dijon and Le Gros) | ||||
| "End of Record" | Co-producer (with Dijon) | ||||
| "Kids Are Growing Up (Part 1)" | 2023 | The Kid Laroi | The First Time | Producer Co-writer (with The Kid Laroi) |
|
| "White Teeth" | Ryan Beatty | Calico | Co-writer (with Ryan Beatty, Ethan Gruska, Michael Uzowuru, and Carter Lang) | ||
| ".One" | 2024 | Fred Again | Ten Days | Co-writer (with Fred Gibson, Henry Counsell, Berwyn Du Bois, Georgie Gibson, Minnie Gibson, and Bridie Monds-Watson) | |
| ".Ten" | Co-writer (with Fred Gibson) | ||||
| "From" | 2025 | Bon Iver | Sable, Fable | Co-writer (with Justin Vernon, Tobias Jesso Jr., Ilsey Juber, Jacob Collier, and Jim-E Stack) | |
| "T00STEP" | SEES00000 | Non-album single | Co-producer (with Noah Ciccel and Zack Sekoff) | ||
| "Homerun 2021" | Jonah Yano | Non-album single | Co-producer and co-writer (with Jonah Yano) | ||
| "Daisies" | Justin Bieber | Swag | Co-producer (with Carter Lang, Dylan Wiggins, Eddie Benjamin, Dijon, and Daniel Chetrit) Co-writer (with Justin Bieber, Tobias Jesso Jr., Dylan Wiggins, Eddie Benjamin, Dijon, and Daniel Chetrit) |
||
| "Another Baby!" | Dijon | Baby | Co-producer (with Dijon and Andrew Sarlo) | ||
| "Higher!" | Co-producer (with Dijon and Andrew Sarlo) | ||||
| "Yamaha" | Co-writer (with Dijon, Cara Delevingne, Carter Lang, Daniel Chetrit, Eli Teplin, and Tommy King) | ||||
| "Loyal & Marie" | Co-producer (with Dijon, Andrew Sarlo, BJ Burton, and Tommy King) | ||||
| "Kindalove" | Co-producer (with Dijon and Andrew Sarlo) Co-writer (with Dijon, Ethan Gruska, and Henry Kwapis) | ||||
| "Love Song" | Justin Bieber | Swag II | Co-producer (with Carter Lang, Dijon, Dylan Wiggins, and Eddie Benjamin) Co-writer (with Justin Bieber, Carter Lang, Dijon, Dylan Wiggins, Eddie Benjamin, Daniel Chetrit, and Tobias Jesso Jr.) |
[96] | |
| "500 Days of Summer" | Guy | Non-album single | Co-producer (with Guy Hershko) | [97] | |
| "Banner" | Andrew Aged | crown | Co-producer (with Andrew Aged) Co-lyricist (with Andrew Aged) |
[98] | |
| "Emmaus" | Co-producer (with Andrew Aged and Zack Sekoff) | ||||
| "Crown for you" | Co-producer (with Andrew Aged, Cole MGN, and Zack Sekoff) |
Awards and nominations
| Award | Year | Category | Nominee | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Libera Awards | 2025 | Best Breakthrough Artist | Himself | Nominated | [99] |
| Record of the Year | "Rockman" | Nominated | |||
| Sound of... | Sound of 2025 | Himself | Nominated | [100][101] | |