# Mk.gee

Michael Todd Gordon (born September 27, 1996), better known by his stage name Mk.gee, is an American singer-songwriter, music producer, and multi-instrumentalist. 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 Pronounced McGee and Fool, before releasing his debut mixtape A Museum of Contradiction 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, Omar Apollo, Kacy Hill and Fred Again.

## Early life

Michael Todd Gordon was born on September 27, 1996, in Somers Point, New Jersey, to parents Maureen and Todd Gordon. He grew up in nearby Linwood, New Jersey. 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, 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. After graduating high school, Gordon moved to Los Angeles to study at the USC Thornton School of Music, 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 single "New Year". In 2019, Gordon served as an opening act for Omar Apollo's The Voyager Tour and Wallows' Nothing Happens Tour. That same year, Gordon also made his music festival debut, performing at the Pitchfork Music Festival in Paris.
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.
On February 9, 2024, Gordon released his debut album Two Star & the Dream Police 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". 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. In January 2025, Gordon was announced as one of the performers for the Governors Ball Music Festival and Way Out West Festival, scheduled to take place in June and August, respectively.
Since the release of his debut album, Gordon has released two standalone singles: "Lonely Fight" and "Rockman". In December 2024, "Rockman" became his first charting single, debuting at number 33 on the US Adult Alternative Airplay Chart, number 35 on the US Rock & Alternative Airplay Chart, and number 37 on 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! and later appeared as a musical guest on Saturday Night Live on November 9, performing "Alesis", a non-single track from Two Star & the Dream Police, alongside "Rockman".
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 for the first time.

### Songwriting and producing

As well as producing songs for himself, Gordon has also worked with other artists. He co-produced Omar Apollo's mixtape Apolonio (2020) and Dijon's debut album Absolutely (2021). In 2021, "Mountains", performed by Charlotte Day Wilson and co-written by Gordon, was sampled in the track "Fair Trade" by Drake featuring Travis Scott from the album Certified Lover Boy. In 2023, he produced and co-wrote the track "Kids Are Growing Up (Part 1)" by The Kid Laroi from his debut album The First Time. Most recently, in 2024, Gordon co-wrote the tracks ".One" and ".Ten" by Fred Again from his album Ten Days.

## Artistry

Gordon's musical genres have been described as indie, alternative, lo-fi, experimental indie, R&B, and soft-psychedelia. His musical influences include Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Prince, Perfume Genius, Taj Mahal, The Black Keys, Sly Stone, Larry Graham, Grouper, Julianna Barwick, 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, 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 which he strings as a baritone guitar.
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".

## Tours
### Headlining

* Inside Each of Us Are Two Stars Tour (2023)
* Two Star & the Dream Police North American Tour (2024)
* Two Star & the Dream Police World Tour (2024)

### Opening

* Nothing Happens Tour (with Wallows) (2019)
* The Voyager Tour (with Omar Apollo) (2019)

## Touring band members

* Andrew Aged – guitar (2023–present)
* Zack Sekoff – drums, bass, samples (2023–present)

## Discography
### Albums
#### Studio albums

| Title | Details | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions |
| Title | Details | SCO | UK Indie |
| Two Star & the Dream Police | Released: February 9, 2024 Label: R&R Format: Digital download, streaming, LP | 84 | 29 |

#### Mixtapes

| Title | Details |
| A Museum of Contradiction | Released: May 22, 2020 Label: IAMSOUND, Interscope Format: Digital download, streaming |

### Extended plays

| Title | Details |
| Pronounced McGee | Released: May 18, 2018 Label: Orchard Ears Format: Digital download, streaming |
| Fool | Released: November 25, 2018 Label: Orchard Ears Format: Digital download, streaming |

### Singles

| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Album |
| Title | Year | US AAA | US Alt. Air | US Rock Air | Album |
| "I Know How You Get" | 2017 | — | — | — | Pronounced McGee |
| "Roll with the Punches" | 2017 | — | — | — | Pronounced McGee |
| "Over Here" | 2018 | — | — | — | Pronounced McGee |
| "You" | 2018 | — | — | — | Pronounced McGee |
| "New Year" | 2018 | — | — | — | Fool |
| "Untitled" | 2019 | — | — | — | Non-album single |
| "cz" | 2020 | — | — | — | A Museum of Contradiction |
| "Candy" | 2023 | — | — | — | Two Star & the Dream Police |
| "How Many Miles" | 2023 | — | — | — | Two Star & the Dream Police |
| "Are You Looking Up" | 2023 | — | — | — | Two Star & the Dream Police |
| "You Got It" | 2023 | — | — | — | Two Star & the Dream Police |
| "Dream Police" | 2024 | — | — | — | Two Star & the Dream Police |
| "Lonely Fight" | 2024 | — | — | — | Non-album singles |
| "Rockman" | 2024 | 24 | 25 | 30 | Non-album singles |

### Songwriting and production credits

| Title | Year | Artist(s) | Album | Credit(s) |
| "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" | 2020 | Omar Apollo | Apolonio | Co-producer (with Apollo, Oscar Santander, and Albert Hammond Jr.) |
| "Bi Fren" | 2020 | Omar Apollo | Apolonio | Co-producer (with Apollo, Michael Uzowuru and DJ Dahi) |
| "Mountains" | 2021 | Charlotte Day Wilson | Alpha | Co-writer (with Wilson, Brandon Banks, D'Mile, Babyface, Kyle Moscovitch, Marcus Reddick, Teo Halm, and Varren Wade) |
| "Thank You, God. For It All." | 2021 | Childish Major | Thank You, God. For It All. | Co-writer (with Childish Major and Hollywood Cole) |
| "Fair Trade" | 2021 | 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" | 2021 | Kacy Hill | Simple, Sweet, and Smiling | Co-producer (with John Carroll Kirby, Jim-E Stack, Kacy Hill) |
| "Big Mike's" | 2021 | Dijon | Absolutely | Co-producer (with Dijon) |
| "Many Times" | 2021 | Dijon | Absolutely | Co-producer (with Dijon and Andrew Sarlo) |
| "Noah's Highlight Reel" | 2021 | Dijon | Absolutely | Co-producer (with Dijon) Co-writer (with Dijon and Noah Le Gros) |
| "Rodeo Clown" | 2021 | Dijon | Absolutely | Co-writer (with Dijon and Le Gros) |
| "End of Record" | 2021 | Dijon | Absolutely | 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" | 2023 | 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" | 2024 | Fred Again | Ten Days | Co-writer (with Fred Gibson) |

## Awards and nominations

| Award | Year | Nominee | Category | Result | Ref. |
| Sound of... | 2025 | Himself | Sound of 2025 | Nominated | |