Michael Todd Gordon (born September 27, 1996), better known by his stage name Mk.gee, is an American

singer-songwriter A singer-songwriter is a musician who writes, composes, and performs their own musical material, including lyrics and melodies. In the United States, the category is built on the folk- acoustic tradition with a guitar, although this role has ...

music producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

, and

multi-instrumentalist A multi-instrumentalist is a musician who plays two or more musical instruments, often but not exclusively at a professional level of proficiency. Also known as woodwind doubler, doubling, the practice allows greater ensemble flexibility and mor ...

. His career began in 2017 with the release of his debut single "I Know How You Get". In 2018, he followed up with two

EPs An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

''Pronounced McGee'' and ''Fool'', before releasing his debut

mixtape In the modern music industry, a mixtape is a musical project, typically with looser constraints than that of an album or extended play. Unlike the traditional album or extended play, mixtapes are labeled as laid-back projects that allow artists mo ...

A Museum of Contradiction A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, and others worldwide. Its name in English is '' a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes''. It is similar in shape to the Ancient G ...

'' in 2020. In 2024, Gordon released his debut studio album '' Two Star & the Dream Police''. Aside from his own work, Gordon has collaborated as a songwriter and producer with various artists, including

Dijon Dijon (, ; ; in Burgundian language (Oïl), Burgundian: ''Digion'') is a city in and the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Côte-d'Or Departments of France, department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regions of France, region in eas ...

Omar Apollo Omar Apolonio Velasco (born May 20, 1997), known professionally as Omar Apollo, is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. After signing a record deal with Warner Records, his debut album, ''Ivory (Omar Apollo album), Ivory'', was released in ...

Kacy Hill Kacy Anne Hill (born May 1, 1994) is an American singer-songwriter, producer, and former model. She was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona and had previously worked as a model for American Apparel. She released "Experience", her first non-album ...

Fred Again Frederick John Philip Gibson (born 19 July 1993), known professionally as Fred Again (stylised as Fred again..) or simply Fred (stylised as FRED), is an English record producer, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and DJ. At the 66th Ann ...

Bon Iver Bon Iver ( ) is an American indie folk band founded in 2006 by singer-songwriter Justin Vernon in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Vernon had originally formed Bon Iver as a solo project, but it eventually became a band consisting of Vernon (vocals, guit ...

, and

Justin Bieber Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Regarded as a pop icon, he is recognized for his multi-genre musical performances. He was discovered by record executive Scooter Braun in 2008 and subsequently brought to the U ...

Sable, Fable ''Sable, Fable'' (stylized as ''SABLE, fABLE'') is the fifth studio album by American indie folk band Bon Iver, released on April 11, 2025, via Jagjaguwar. The album is a continuation of the '' Sable'' EP (2024), which is included as a separate ...

Swag Swag, SWAG, or Swagg may refer to: Terms and slang * Swag (motif) or festoon, a wreath or garland or a carving depicting foliage and ribbons ** Swag, fabric dressing for a window valance * Swag, stolen goods, in 1800s thieves cant * Swag (pr ...

Early life

Michael Todd Gordon was born on September 27, 1996, in

Somers Point, New Jersey Somers Point is a city (New Jersey), city situated on the Jersey Shore that is the oldest settlement in Atlantic County, New Jersey, Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was settled by Europeans in 1693 and was incorporated as a ...

, to parents Maureen and Todd Gordon.Brunetti, Michelle
"Everyone has a story: Linwood teen delves deeper into jazz"
''

The Press of Atlantic City ''The Press of Atlantic City'' is the fourth-largest daily newspaper in New Jersey. Originally based in Pleasantville, New Jersey, Pleasantville, it is the primary newspaper for southeastern New Jersey and the Jersey Shore. The Designated marke ...

'', April 2, 2014. Accessed November 3, 2024. "At 5 years old Michael Gordon, of Linwood, was studying piano and already composing music. After about a year, he picked up his piano teacher's guitar and started to play..... 'It felt a lot more natural than piano,' said Gordon, 17, a junior at Mainland Regional High School." He grew up in nearby

Linwood, New Jersey Linwood is a City (New Jersey), city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 6,971, a decrease of 121 (−1.7%) from the 2010 United States ...

. His interest in music began at an early age when he started taking piano lessons at the age of 6 or 7, and by 11, he started learning to play guitar. While attending

Mainland Regional High School Mainland Regional High School is a regional public high school and school district serving students in grades nine through twelve from the communities of Linwood, Northfield and Somers Point in Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey ...

, he joined a band with some of his schoolmates. However, he preferred to play solo and began to record his own

demos Demos may refer to: Computing * DEMOS, a Soviet Unix-like operating system * DEMOS (ISP), the first internet service provider in the USSR * Demos Commander, an Orthodox File Manager for Unix-like systems * Plural for Demo (computer programming ...

, playing all the instruments by himself. After graduating high school, Gordon moved to Los Angeles to study at the

USC Thornton School of Music The USC Thornton School of Music is a private music school in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1884 only four years after the University of Southern California, the Thornton School is the oldest continually operating arts institution in Los An ...

, but dropped out before graduating.

Career

Solo music career

Gordon released his debut single "I Know How You Get" in 2017. The single was later included on his debut EP ''Pronounced McGee'', which was released on May 18, 2018. The EP also featured the singles "Roll with the Punches," "Over Here," and "You". Later that year, on November 25, he released his second EP ''Fool'', led by the singles "Come On (You Know That I'm a Fool)" and "New Year". In 2019, Gordon signed with IAMSOUND and

Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label based in Santa Monica, California, owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture ...

and released the single "Untitled". That same year, he served as an opening act for

's ''The Voyager Tour'' and

Wallows Wallows is an American alternative rock band based in Los Angeles composed of Dylan Minnette, Braeden Lemasters, and Cole Preston. The band began releasing songs independently in April 2017, starting with "Pleaser", which reached number two o ...

' ''Nothing Happens Tour''. He also made his music festival debut, performing at the

Pitchfork Music Festival Pitchfork Music Festival was an annual music festival in Union Park (Chicago), Union Park in Chicago, Illinois, organized by the online magazine ''Pitchfork (website), Pitchfork.'' Starting in 2011, the festival announced a branch staged in Paris ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. On May 22, 2020, Gordon released his first mixtape ''

''. The mixtape was preceded by the single "cz", which was released on February 22, 2020. Rhys Buchanan, a writer from ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'', 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. On February 9, 2024, Gordon released his debut album '' Two Star & the Dream Police'', via R&R, to critical acclaim. Praised by ''Pitchfork'' as one of the best albums of the first half of the 2020s, the album was supported by five singles: "Candy", "How Many Miles", "Are You Looking Up", "You Got It", and "Dream Police". Commercially, ''Two Star & the Dream Police'' became his first charting album, peaking at number 12 on the

Scottish Albums Chart The Scottish Albums Chart is a chart compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC) which is based on how physical and digital sales towards the UK Albums Chart fare in Scotland. The official singles chart for Scotland, the Scottish Singles Chart, ...

and number eight on the UK Indie Albums Chart. To promote the album, Gordon embarked on a North American tour from April to May 2024, followed by a world tour from September to December. The concerts received praise from several publications. Since the release of his debut album, Gordon has released two standalone singles: "Lonely Fight" and "

Rockman Rockman may refer to: * ''Rockman'', the Japanese name for the ''Mega Man'' franchise ** Rockman, the Japanese name of Mega Man (character), the titular protagonist of the ''Mega Man'' video games * Alexis Rockman (born 1962), American contempora ...

". In December 2024, "Rockman" became his first charting single, entering the US Adult Alternative Airplay Chart, the US Rock & Alternative Airplay Chart, and the US Alternative Airplay Chart. Gordon also 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! ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'', sometimes shortened to ''JKL'', is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, and broadcast on ABC. The nightly hour-long show tapes and is based out of the Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywo ...

'' and later appeared as a musical guest on ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

'' on

November 9 Events Pre-1600 * 694 – At the Seventeenth Council of Toledo, Egica, a king of the Visigoths of Hispania, accuses Jews of aiding Muslims, sentencing all Jews to slavery. * 1180 – The Battle of Fujigawa: Minamoto forces (30,000 ...

, performing "Alesis", a non-single track from ''Two Star & the Dream Police'', alongside "Rockman". In 2025, Gordon has been announced as one of the performers for the

Governors Ball Music Festival The Governors Ball Music Festival (commonly known as Governors Ball or Gov Ball) is a multi-day music festival held in New York City. Launched in 2011 by Jordan Wolowitz, Tom Russell, Yoni Reisman, the festival features an array of genres and ...

, Lollapalooza Music Festival, and

Way Out West Festival Way Out West is a three-day music festival held in Gothenburg, Sweden, during August that plays host to a variety of popular music artists mainly from the rock, electronic and hip-hop genres. The main festival is complemented with the club con ...

, scheduled to take place in June, July, and August, respectively. All of Gordon's releases to date have been home-produced by himself. On May 15, 2024, he surpassed 1 million active monthly listeners on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...

for the first time.

Songwriting and producing

Gordon co-produced

's mixtape ''

Apolonio ''Apolonio'' is the debut mixtape by American singer-songwriter Omar Apollo. It was released on October 16, 2020, through Warner Records Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label. A s ...

'' (2020) and

's debut album '' Absolutely'' (2021). "Mountains", performed by

Charlotte Day Wilson Charlotte Day Wilson (born 1993) is a Canadian contemporary R&B singer-songwriter.

and co-written by Gordon, was sampled in the track " Fair Trade" by

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals and creatures * A male duck * Drake (mythology), a term related to and often synonymous with dragon People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family ...

featuring

Travis Scott Jacques Bermon Webster III (born April 30, 1991), known professionally as Travis Scott (formerly stylized as Travi$ Scott), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Scott has had five number-one hits on the U.S. ''Bil ...

from Drake's 2021 album ''

Certified Lover Boy ''Certified Lover Boy'' is the sixth studio album by Canadian rapper Drake, released on September 3, 2021, by OVO Sound and Republic Records. Its production was handled by frequent collaborators 40, Nineteen85, PartyNextDoor, OZ, and Vinylz, a ...

''. In 2023, Gordon produced and co-wrote the track "Kids Are Growing Up (Part 1)" by

The Kid Laroi Charlton Kenneth Jeffrey Howard (born 17 August 2003), known professionally as the Kid Laroi (stylized as The Kid LAROI), is an Australian rapper, singer and songwriter. He was first discovered by Triple J Unearthed in 2016 at the age of 13. As ...

from his debut album '' The First Time''. In 2024, Gordon was credited as a co-writer on the tracks ".One" and ".Ten" from

's album '' Ten Days'', after his song "cz" was used as a sample. In 2025, Gordon co-wrote the track "From" from

's album ''

''. He also co-produced and co-wrote the track " Daisies" from

's ''

''.

Artistry

Gordon's musical genres have been described as

indie Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media *Independent media, media free of influence by government or corporate interests *Indie art, fine arts made by artists independent of commer ...

alternative Alternative or alternate may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Alternative (Kamen Rider), Alternative (''Kamen Rider''), a character in the Japanese TV series ''Kamen Rider Ryuki'' * Alternative comics, or independent comics are an altern ...

lo-fi Lo-fi (also typeset as lofi or low-fi; short for low fidelity) is a music or production quality in which elements usually regarded as imperfections in the context of a recording or performance are present, sometimes as a deliberate stylistic ch ...

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs whe ...

indie, R&B, and soft-

psychedelia Psychedelia usually refers to a Aesthetics, style or aesthetic that is resembled in the psychedelic subculture of the 1960s and the psychedelic experience produced by certain psychoactive substances. This includes psychedelic art, psychedelic ...

. His musical influences include

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English Rock music, rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s l ...

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

Perfume Genius Michael Alden Hadreas (born September 25, 1981), better known by his stage name Perfume Genius, is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. Hadreas's music explores topics including sexuality, his personal struggle with Crohn's disease, dome ...

Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal ( ; ; ) is an ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was commissioned in 1631 by the fifth Mughal Empire, Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his belo ...

The Black Keys The Black Keys are an American Rock music, rock duo formed in Akron, Ohio in 2001. The group consists of Dan Auerbach (guitar, Singing, vocals) and Patrick Carney (Drum kit, drums). The duo began as an Independent music, independent act, record ...

Sly Stone Sylvester Stewart (March 15, 1943 – June 9, 2025), better known by his stage name Sly Stone, was an American musician, songwriter and record producer. He was the frontman of Sly and the Family Stone, playing a critical role in the development ...

Larry Graham Larry Graham Jr. (born August 14, 1946) is an American bass guitar, bassist and baritone singer, with the psychedelic soul/funk band Sly and the Family Stone and as the founder and frontman of Graham Central Station. In 1980, he released the si ...

Grouper Groupers are a diverse group of marine ray-finned fish in the family Epinephelidae, in the order Perciformes. Groupers were long considered a subfamily of the seabasses in Serranidae, but are now treated as distinct. Not all members of this f ...

Julianna Barwick Julianna Barwick is an American musician who composes using electronic loops. Her first album, '' The Magic Place'', was released in 2011. Music career Barwick has said that her music is influenced by her participation in church choir while gro ...

, and Down to Earth. 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. He learned the basics of guitar from somebody who played an

upright bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

, 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.” As of 2024, Gordon's primary instrument is a

Fender Jaguar The Fender Jaguar is an electric guitar by Fender Musical Instruments characterized by an offset-waist body, a relatively unusual switching system with two separate circuits for lead and rhythm, and a short-scale 24" neck. Owing some roots to th ...

which he strings as a

baritone guitar The baritone guitar is a guitar with a longer scale length, typically a larger body, and heavier internal bracing, so it can be tuned to a lower pitch. Gretsch, Fender, Gibson, Ibanez, ESP Guitars, PRS Guitars, Music Man, Danelectro, Sche ...

. 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 ecame on the scene".