There's nothing like someone who has lived your story and Ohio's MC MGK resilience has become a beacon of hope for thousands of kids across America. Penning rhymes about everything from addiction to family issues, MGK is a symbol of relentless perseverance to his fans and the MC is about to begin the next chapter of his already successful career.

Born Colson Baker in Houston, Texas, MGK lived almost a dozen places, including Egypt, before moving to Denver, Colorado with his father after his mother began a new life with a new man.

"I don't have a relationship with my mom, she left when I was nine years old," says MGK.

In Denver, the Bakers lived with MGK's aunt. Though the father and son had each other, they couldn't lay claim to much else. As his dad fought depression and unemployment, the young MC split his time between wearing two school outfits and being bullied by the neighborhood kids.

"I used to stand out because I was tall and I couldn't really fight back then," says MGK. "Then I got tired of getting beat up so I started fighting people with my words instead."

In seventh grade, MGK found solace in rhyming after watching DMX's "We Right Here" video.

"DMX is a huge influence on me because neither of us have siblings so we had to fight a lot of dark shit by ourselves," says MGK.

And though he "wasn't popular at all," the lanky kid was good at battling his middle school challengers. Later, while attending Denver's Thomas Jefferson High School, his father moved to Kuwait to work for the army and left MGK behind to live in a neighbor's basement. It was then the teen began experimenting with drugs and recorded his first demo tape.

"It was terrible, but I thought it was cool," says MGK, with a smile.

Without supervision, MGK stopped attending school and like 50 Cent, the high school freshmen, made a name for himself by calling out elder classmates. In 2005, his father moved MGK to Kuwait, where the teen got into even more trouble. Eventually, the pair were forced back stateside and settled in Cleveland, Ohio. While attending Shaker Heights High on the city's east side, MGK convinced a local t-shirt shop owner, who doubled as an MC manager, to take him under his wing.

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