Machine Gun Kelly admits blackout tattoo made him seriously ill and turned skin yellow

When Machine Gun Kelly approached his tattoo artist in 2024 with plans for a full-body blackout tattoo, he was told to proceed with caution.

ROXX, the head artist involved, advised the rapper to undergo the work in stages over a total span of two years.

Ever the rebel, however, MGK decided to speed up the process, much to the detriment of his overall health.

Over a two-month period, the 36-year-old received the vast majority of his blackout body work, which resulted in a major medical emergency.

Speaking to Billboard Canada this week, he recalled ROXX's advice.

"She warned me that it was going to be near impossible, even from a pain tolerance standpoint," the 'Lonely Road' star explained. "I said, ‘Yeah, we got two months'."

MGK debuted his tattoo on social media (Instagram/@machinegunkelly)

"After the first week, we hit my lymph nodes around my armpits and shoulders, and I got really sick," MGK added.

He went on to recall his skin beginning to 'turn yellow' at one stage of the process, claiming the illness left him unable to sleep.

"I stopped being able to move certain parts of my upper body," the father-of-two, real name Colson Baker, explained.

He debuted the controversial look on Instagram at the time, captioning the post: "For spiritual purposes only."

MGK also revealed his reasoning behind his extreme new aesthetic in his chart-topping banger 'Don't Let Me Go', rapping, 'Just like I wish they would understand me one time / I had a breakdown and tatted my entire body except one line'.

Adding to his latest interview, the musician claimed the decision had been spurred by the commencement of a brand new chapter in life.

Kelly admitted his tattoo made his seriously unwell (Phillip Faraone/Getty Images for Raising Cane's)

"I was looking for a change that wasn't just a sound wave," he went on. "It had to be something physical."

When it came to covering up his previous tattoos, MGK added: "I saw death and drugs in all these patterns that I was literally writing on my body. There were happy tattoos, sad tattoos, holy tattoos, hellish tattoos.

"It was like my bipolarity was screaming off my skin."

Despite the toll the artwork took on his health immediately afterwards, the star claimed the emotional benefits he's experienced since its completion outweigh it tenfold.

"I came out the other side extremely inspired," MGK went on. "Not just because of what I had done, but because of what I had to overcome."