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See Machine Gun Kelly's transformation after covering his tattoos with solid black ink

In a photo shared to his Instagram Feb. 20, MGK posed shirtless in black pants to show off the transformation

Machine Gun Kelly attends the 2021 MTV Video Music Awards.
Jason Kempin/Getty Images

Machine Gun Kelly revealed that he covered the tattoos on his chest and arms in pure black ink. See his dramatic new look.

Machine Gun Kelly gave us tickets to his latest tattoo transformation. 

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The "My Ex's Best Friend" rapper—whose real name is Colson Baker—debuted an extreme new look after covering up most of the tattoos on his chest and arms with pure black ink.

In a photo shared to his Instagram Feb. 20, MGK posed shirtless in black pants to show off the transformation, which features his usually colorful sleeve and chest tats filled in with black ink apart from a few stripes. Alongside the snapshot, the Taurus actor wrote, "For spiritual purposes only."

And while Machine Gun Kelly's torso still bears his original tattoos—including one that says "locals only" and another depicting a man with a sign that reads "I want change"—the change required a lot of work. In fact, the 33-year-old—who shares one daughter Casie Colson Baker, 14, with ex Emma Cannon—revealed in a Feb. 19 Instagram Story that the design required "44 needles."

Ultimately, Machine Gun Kelly—who announced his engagement to Megan Fox in January 2022—was a pro throughout the whole process.

"Made some art with @machinegunkelly," the "bloody valentine" singer's tattoo artist R O X X wrote on Instagram. "Never met a tougher one."

Admitting it wasn't all smooth sailing, Machine Gun Kelly replied, "Thanks for the joy and the pain."

But not all of Machine Gun Kelly's tattoos have turned out exactly how he wanted. Back in 2022, the rapper admitted to having a bit of an ink misshap with his music collaborator Travis Barker after the pair got matching tattoos highlighting the original name of an album they made together. 

"We were so hyped," Machine Gun Kelly explained during a March 2022 episode of "The Ellen Degeneres Show." "We had just done a song and we were like, 'There's a tattoo artist here. Let's just get the [album] name tattooed on us.'"

A few months later, MGK decided he wanted to rename the album "Mainstream Sellout," but wasn't sure how to break the news, adding, "I couldn't bring myself to tell Travis because I knew he had the tattoo."

Luckily, the Blink-182 drummer found the whole situation "hilarious."

"He was just laughing," MGK remembered, "and I was like, 'Oh, this is a great moment.'"

Machine Gun Kelly didn't think twice when reacting to a scary fan encounter. The rocker was visibly startled when an audience member confronted him during his presentation at Forbes' 30 Under 30 Summit in Cleveland.
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