6 Of Our Favorite Moments From mgk’s Appearance On IMPAULSIVE

Any mgk interview content can totally make our day, especially if it’s over an hour long. So we were stoked to check out his interview with Logan and Mike on IMPAULSIVE! Throughout their conversation, Kells talked about his personal journey, musical evolution, fatherhood, and so much more, even making Logan cry. He even talked about buying Logan’s old house and his favorite features that make it special, including a conversation pit he’s mentioned enjoying with MOD SUN. 

Press play on the episode below, then keep reading for our recap of standout moments!

Talking About His Personal Growth

As well as recently celebrating a year of sobriety, mgk has undergone so much personal growth over the past few years! He offered some insight on how he views himself and his journey which definitely stuck with us. We’re always changing physically and mentally, and it was so interesting to hear about how he feels disconnected from himself when he watches old videos because of how much he’s changed. 

Your cells regenerate every seven years anyway, so you literally are a different person. Even physically, you’re a different person than you were seven years ago. I mean, mentally, for me though, seven years ago I was on c*caine and any dr*g you could imagine, and that isn’t the case anymore. When you say I come across grounded, that’s, like, a new revelation for me and a new version of myself that I just met.

mgk

Blocking His Growth 

Speaking of change, Kells reflected on the ways he blocked his blessings from changing his life, which was so insightful. He opened up about how he thought he had to fit a certain mold to make it as an artist, all while dealing with addiction and trying to find himself. Everything combined into a perfect storm that prevented him from stepping into his true self and finding the success he dreamed of. 

In a chart reading before, they said 2012, that was the year I was supposed to be as big as I am now. But I blocked that blessing. It’s ironic because 2012 was the year that I got signed and then put out my first record, and that’s when ‘Wild Boy’ was going crazy. Like, there was a potential for me if I wouldn’t have blocked that blessing. How did I block my blessing? Uppers and downers, and drowning myself in Jameson whiskey over and over again, and making sure that I was positive everyone wanted to see another recreation of all of the 2000s rockstars – and I include rappers in that, too. The attitude, and the MTV era where you could play a character and that resonated. But that wasn’t who I am.

mgk

On His Dedication To Art

From his custom fangs (which cause him headaches every morning since he tries to grind his teeth in his sleep) to his bold fashion and the high-energy concerts he puts on, mgk seriously gives everything he has to his art. It makes the fandom experience even more exciting and means we constantly have new things to look forward to! 

One of the most impactful stories Kells told on IMPAULSIVE dates back to the days he spent opening for other artists. He thought back to a show he opened where the audience was waiting for hours and even got frostbite from standing in the snow, then the headliner came out in warm, comfy clothes. He thought it wasn’t fair to the audience since they weren’t getting a very interesting show from that, even though they waited and gave up their physical comfort to be there. “It’s not art to have your feet comfortable,” he noted. 

Art is above life to me. My job is to entertain and my job is art. I would live and die for this. That’s why when you bring up, you know, that people were calling me a rockstar before I was even making rock music, but it somehow made sense, because being a rockstar is aura. It’s much bigger than genre, it’s a lifestyle. Look at Lil Wayne, you can’t tell me that’s not a rockstar.

mgk

Showing ‘Lonely Road’ To Jelly Roll

Of course, Logan and Mike had to ask about the smash success of ‘Lonely Road’ and how Kells’ collab with Jelly Roll came to be! mgk explained that he worked on the track for over two years, partly because he wanted to honor the ‘Take Me Home, Country Roads’ sample and do John Denver’s song justice. 

‘Lonely Road’ came to be when Colson was working with Baze (his best friend and bassist), producer Charlie Handsome, and producer Jeff Bhasker on a different song at Jeff’s house. They took a break to go to the beach and the roads were empty, so Baze started singing, “country road, take me home,” which eventually changed into “lonely road, take me home.” They started working on a few lines of the song when they got back to Jeff’s house, before moving on to another song. 

mgk kept working on the song over the years to make sure it was as perfect as can be, even changing the key a few times and making sure the guitar line felt unique. He had become friends with Jelly Roll a few years earlier and they both lost their GRAMMY Award nominations in February 2023, so he asked Jelly to hang out while they were still in town after the ceremony. A disappointing weekend turned into musical magic that will go down in history for both of them!

I’m in the car with him and I get the aux cord, and dude, that same thing, like, that took over when it told me to blackout my tattoos, or when it told me Tickets To My Downfall is the [album] name… those moments of when the universe is telling you something. It told me, ‘play ‘Lonely Road.’’ Like, the demo of ‘Lonely Road.’ I pressed play and he was like, ‘what the f*ck is this?’ And I was like, ‘man, it’s just calling you.’ And he was like, ‘I’m on it.’

mgk

Giving Logan Advice On Fatherhood

mgk’s connection with his daughter, Casie, is always so heartwarming, so it makes perfect sense that Logan would ask him for advice now that he’s expecting a daughter of his own. He told a story of a sweet moment with Casie and what helped their bond be so strong!

This made me bawl my eyes out. My daughter came to me and she was like, ‘I just need your hug, there’s nothing like my dad’s hug.’ I was just like, ‘oh, God.’ She hugged me and while she was hugging me, I was like [wiping my eyes]. And that comes from just, like, years and years of always giving that same embrace. You’re the first man she’s ever gonna be in love with, and so you have this connection with her that no matter what anybody does in her life, no matter who she marries and whatever, you are always going to be the safe place for your daughter. So give her that love that so many young girls and grown women out here don’t get to have.

mgk

Why He Blacked Out His Tattoos

Finally, we loved hearing mgk explain his famous blackout tattoo, which took over 70 hours to finish. As if that wasn’t painful enough on its own, he basically had to tattoo over scar tissue since he was covering his older tattoos. It was a big decision he couldn’t back out of, but it meant a lot to him and his journey as a person.

I looked in the mirror one day and I was like, ‘this looks like a person who has rewrote himself so many times on his body and just doesn’t know who the fuck he is anymore.’ It just looked like straight chaos, right? I had redone my chest six times, dude. Just the chest, let alone other places where I was like, ‘I’ll throw this over this.’ It just looked like someone who was completely confused. You gotta treat this like you’re writing a journal or something. Imagine if you took a journal and you just kept writing over the same page every day.

mgk

What were your favorite moments of mgk’s IMPAULSIVE episode? Let us know in the comments below or hit us up on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter!

Check out more sweet mgk content! 

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT MGK:
FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | TIKTOK | TWITTER | WEBSITE | YOUTUBE