It has been a phenomenal year for music. Between Charli XCX’s “Brat” creating a whole summer trend and Kendrick Lamar’s up-beat diss-track “Not like Us” topping the charts, music fans of all genres are being spoiled.
Following the success of their massive moments, both Charli XCX and Kendrick Lamar have run victory laps around their competition, in the form of two new musical projects. Charli XCX released a remix album of Brat featuring many of the most infamous names in the musical sphere, from Ariana Grande to The 1975, and Kendrick Lamar released “GNX,” an album filled with west-coast bangers and hype tracks. However, a victory lap people are not talking about enough is the single “Rockman” by Mk.gee (pronounced “Mc-Gee”).
When concert videos were released of Mk.gee premiering the song, clips showed him putting a show on and jumping around stage, as opposed to performing it. The song may not have the heavy 808s that permeate the Lamar album or the features of the “Brat Remix” album, but it’s clearly just as much of a victory lap for him.
Mk.gee, for those who don’t know, is the musical persona of guitarist and singer-songwriter Michael Gordon. Having been co-signed by everybody from Frank Ocean to Tyler, the Creator to Eric Clapton, Gordon has not been a secret to musicians in the industry. However, his name still does not ring a bell for a lot of people. But that’s soon changing.
Best known for his contributions to R&B singer Dijon’s 2021 album, “Absolutely,” Mk.gee’s music draws influence from a variety of places. His 2024 album “Two Star and the Dream Police” draws clear inspiration from the 1980s with tracks inspired by the Bruce Springsteen/Jersey-Rock sound and bands like Genesis and Fleetwood Mac. His album is a mixture of this retro sound with the lo-fi atmosphere found in a lot of ambient tracks by artists like Aphex Twin.
After releasing his album in the beginning of February, Mk.gee’s monthly listeners on Spotify has jumped from over 572,000 all the way to 2.4 million. According to Spotify, every track on the album has amassed millions of streams with tracks like “Alesis” having reached over 13 million. His song, “Are You Looking Up,” has reached over 15 million streams and has been featured in the hit television show “The Bear.”
Since September, he has been on a world tour throughout the entire United States, Europe and now Australia. He even performed on “Saturday Night Live” (“SNL”) one whole week before Charli XCX’s performance. And now he’s writing songs with pop-sensation Justin Bieber.
What should be understood about the kind of music that Gordon makes is that it’s not as focused on lyrics or sounding clean, but rather, it’s focused on the feeling it elicits. Musical acts like “Cigarettes After Sex” and “Beach House” reflect this goal of evoking emotion. Mk.gee’s music, which contains references to sports and using eagle sound effects, call back to the kind of Americana-style featured in a lot of 80s media. One could imagine this music playing on the radio or through a cassette player in an old truck. It feels like heavy denim light-washed jeans and leather jackets and plain white tee-shirts.
Many on TikTok have described Mk.gee’s sound as “Music 2.” Although this lofty title may be a “slight” hyperbole in comparison to what he actually makes, it’s clear that many are feeling inspired by his originality. His music has avant-garde experimental elements in its production and its atonal moments, but it has made a crossover to the mainstream. He has already been able to perform on “SNL” and Jimmy Kimmel, which is exciting for so many. He’s inspiring people to get the same tape recorder and guitar pedals he uses and to experiment with unique “reverb-and chorus-y” sounds.
In releasing “Rockman” in October, Mk.gee is following up all of his success with a pop banger in his usual musical style. A heavy bass riff, a rhythmic set of drums and an eagle sound effect underscore the track. It’s not as ambient or conceptual as his work on “Two-Star” but it’s still as fun and unique.
This is not to say that he was unknown before working on Dijon’s album or releasing his own solo effort in 2024 — he actually released two albums before his most recent one, “Pronounced Mc-Gee” in 2018 and “A Museum of Contradictions” in 2020. Tracks from his 2018 release were modest indie-rock hits, however it’s clear that the work he’s doing in 2024 is different.
On some of his older tracks you can hear influence from artists like Jai Paul, which feature warbly guitar-based music with auto-tuned vocals and electronic drum sounds. However, on his new album and newer work, everything is part of a cohesive vision.
Every music video is mysterious and uniquely cinematic, and his album art depicts a similar mysterious vibe. It’s not so much about his face, but more about the imagery of a long-haired man with a guitar. He is creating his own iconography. Intending for this imagery to appear like a hero with a sword, but instead of a long-blade, the axe he’s choosing is his Fender Jaguar.
In interviews, he’s talked about having a lot of ambition for the music he makes and being frustrated with the state of music made by young people. He hopes to reinvent what “pop-music can be.” By inspiring people to make weirder ambient music, he’s starting a wave that may actually achieve this. So tune in and witness the making of a star as he becomes a household name!
