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Fans Are Obsessed with Mk.gee's Song "ROCKMAN" That Features an Epic Eagle Screech
The SNL Musical Guest has said he's "not really scared to try stuff" when he creates new music.
At 28 years old, Mk.gee is making waves in the indie music scene with his plucky experimental style. The musician, whose full name is Mike Gordon, is booked and busy. He’s been working on new music with Justin Bieber and made his debut on Saturday Night Live on November 9. And he has no plans of slowing down or changing his approach to creating new music.
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“I think people are scared to make mistakes and release projects where they’re just trying things out because it’s all forever – because it lives online and can be seen and interacted with so long after you’ve moved on from it,” Mk.gee told Dazed in September 2024. “And so there’s a fear to try things out. I’m not really scared to try stuff. Everything I’ve ever done is already out there, and I didn’t know how to do anything when I started. Because of that, I have no fear going forward. All my cards are out on the table.”
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Born and raised in Linwood, New Jersey, Mk.gee has been selling out concerts across North America and abroad, where he’s blown fans away with his hit single “ROCKMAN.” Read on to learn about the Saturday Night Live Season 50 Musical Guest, fans’ reactions to “ROCKMAN,” and the inspiration behind Mk.gee’s debut album.
Mk.gee’s song “ROCKMAN” will transport you to an ‘80s rock concert
Mk.gee’s October 2024 hit single “ROCKMAN” sounds like a modern ode to music legends from another generation, from the playful and eclectic instrumentals to the echoey vocals. There’s even an eagle screech towards the end. As of November 2024, "ROCKMAN" has nearly 3 million streams on Spotify.
Fans say they hear a mix of The Police, Sting, and Phil Collins throughout “ROCKMAN,” and they’re here for it. “Someone call the POLICE. Mk.gee doesn't miss. This track is so good, it STINGs,” one quipped on YouTube, while another said the musician is in “his Police era.” One more commented, “Mk.gee found the ultimate way to make '80s music non-cheesy.”
While Mk.gee has not shared his specific inspiration behind “ROCKMAN,” he told BBC Radio 1 that he grew up on jazz music and New Jersey rock. “I grew up a jazz kid, so I was just obsessed,” he said, adding that he’d play rock gigs and perform in jazz trios when he was younger. He also named Bruce Springsteen, Pat Metheny, and Lyle Mays as some of his earliest musical influences.
Mk.gee’s album Two Star & the Dream Police is meant to “feel like a storybook”
Released in February 2024 and featuring hits like “Alesis” and “Are You Looking Up,” Mk.gee’s debut album Two Star & the Dream Police has been met with rave reviews. Pitchfork described the album as an “original and expansive record that feels at once timeless and uncannily contemporary.” Rolling Stone wrote that it’s “an album about sadness and frustration and loss, but it is also, in the same way, about knowing what you want: love, joy, contentment.”
As for Mk.gee’s take on it, he told BBC Radio 1 that the album tells a story. “There’s a little story weaving in through the record sonically and lyrically, but I guess the whole concept of Two Star & the Dream Police is really supposed to feel like a storybook … Kind of like this liminal storybook you’re flipping through,” he said. “The whole record’s really about a second coming of this hero … It’s supposed to kind of honor some sort of hero archetype that this character [Two Star] is.”
“The whole record was kind of a challenge to myself,” he added. “I wanted it to feel like something so recognizable, but at the same time there’s no possible way that there’s anything out like this today.”
Mk.gee told BBC Radio 1 he’s been “obsessed” with making music that plays with your mind and takes listeners to a “wild place.”
“I think the purpose of this record was to make something as alien as possible but something that is like 'I shouldn’t understand it but i do understand it,'” he explained.
Mk.gee made his Saturday Night Live Musical Guest debut
On November 9, Mk.gee performed his hit song “ROCKMAN” on Saturday Night Live Season 50, with Bill Burr as the episode’s Host. Ahead of his debut, he appeared in a promo sketch with Burr and cast member Sarah Sherman where they tried to figure out how to spell Mk.gee’s name.
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“Mk.gee, how do you spell your name?” Sherman asked.
“M as in Mk.gee,” the musician blankly responded.
“Yeah, ‘K’ as in ‘Kiss From a Rose’ by Seal,” Burr excitedly chimed in. “‘Dot’ as in ‘dot com.’”
Watch Saturday Night Live on Saturdays at 11:30/10:30c on NBC. New episodes stream the next day on Peacock.
