mgk, times of my life | Song Review

Unfortunately, mgk doesn’t muster up too much excitement, let alone much innovation or musical excellence, on his single, “times of my life.”

Noted, mgk (Colson Baker).  The heavily tatted, former “Wild Boy” has long departed his days as a white rapper… oops, did I say that? After achieving some success with his pop punk makeover (Tickets to My Downfall, primarily), mgk unveiled a pop album, lost americana, in 2025.  At best, it received mixed reviews, with All Music fiercely panning it. In an age of doubling down, even if doubling down on utter crap, mgk released the single, “times of my life” which appears on the 2026 deluxe edition (!) of lost americana. Mgk penned “times of my life” with Travis Barker, Dark waves, and Jacob Kasher.  Barker, Dark Waves, SlimXX, BazeXX, and No Love For The Middle Child produced it. It is… um… lackadaisical.

“Times of my life” commences with cliché rhythmic guitars. Yeah, I said it. The sound is familiar: nothing brand-new or particularly innovative. Piano enters the mix as mgk sings in his lower register initially. While those low-register vocals by mgk are inoffensive, they are also colorless, monotone, and unexciting. Dull. He sounds better when he ascends into his middle and upper registers at the end of the first verse. By the time the pre-chorus arrives, he’s back in the deep end… and it’s still dull. Mgk sounds better during the chorus when he sings in his middle-upper register:

“The best times of my life

Were the ones that had you

I had to bury them inside

To get me through.”

Word. The second verse adds a consistent drum groove to up the ante, contextually speaking. Like in the first verse, mgk begins the second in his soulless lower register.  Bummer.  Again, he sounds better when he gets out of those depths! Once the second chorus arrives, there is some additional color to the sound palette, thanks to the strings.  At best, “times of my life” is a meh song. Does this forgettable bonus track from the deluxe edition of lost americana bring anything new to the table for mgk or the album itself? Nope.

---

mgk » “times of my life” » EST 19XX, LLC / Interscope » 1.2.26 [📷: EST 19XX, LLC / Interscope]

---