MGK’s Fortnite Server helped me understand Lost Americana

A disclaimer: I am a gamer. I am not a connoisseur of music. Music is not even my hobby. It’s a secondary activity for me just to pass the time. 

My pastime. 

I look at pastime’s not as active engagements, so I would not refer to it as a hobby. Music helps settle my mind, and it aids in transition moments (i.e. long car rides, commutes to work on the train, cooking, gaming, etc.). And because music has always been a stagnant activity - meaning my musical selections don’t change - any deviation disrupts my energy. 

I had a recent disruption. While listening to a Y2K playlist (you know, Lil Jon, Britney Spears, Nelly) something called Cliche started playing. I immediately asked, “Who is this? Who is mgk?” 

I was, of course, engaging in a primary activity (trying to finish the book); so I did not explore who the artist was disrupting my pop pleasure. But by the end of the song, I was nodding my head. It was a vibe. 

Later in the week, my kids were watching YouTube. A vampire in yellow was doing a Juice WRLD cover. The piano stood out to me. I played piano in church, so anytime there is a blending of genres and musical selections, I tune in. Sort of.

“Who is that?” I asked my kids.

“mgk.”

“Who is that!!?” (and why is he everywhere! I was thinking)

“The rapper ma.”

“What rapper!?”

“Machine Gun Kelly mama!”

“The Wild Boy??!”

I felt like Major Payne confirming, “the green boys suh.” 

I am not sure why my brain refused to connect the dots, but this new mgk was a breath of fresh air. 

So I had to catch up. It’s been a slow catch up. Remember music is secondary so I don’t have much time to consume music as an artist might intend. So I consumed what the algorithm recommended while waiting for this new album to drop:  

• Tickets to my downfall: Complete

• Mainstream sellout: In progress

• Controversies: None of my business but glad to see accountability and reflection there

• Beefs: yeah, he won

I even attended mgk day in Cleveland. I was there to visit former students, work on my book, see Lavell Crawford, my favorite comedian, visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Women’s Air & Space Museum, and other touristy things. And it was during mgk day that Lost Americana was released, and I listened to it while riding in a car, as instructed.

It was a whole vibe. I laughed. Got sad. Became angry. It was an emotional experience. I enjoyed it. But I must admit, I needed a fuller context of him, his relationships, and experiences with the music industry, fandoms, and personal life to truly appreciate this mgk experience. And while I am not the target audience for mgk, there are bits that I connect with heavily.

Since my taste for music was solidified by Y2K, I found appreciation in the pieces that give nods to that era: from the Goo Goo Dolls Iris cover, to the Bye Bye Bye freestyle, even the moody, isolated songs in his room and car (In these Walls, Champagne Supernova, etc). They provide nostalgia of easier times.  

I also appreciate the convergence of genres, eras, and formats. “Why are you here” and “Habits” LOOK like rock ballads from the late 80’s. The “Downfalls High” experience (which helped me gain an appreciation for “tickets to my downfall”) felt like one of those afterschool specials to teach youth about teen pregnancy, bullying, and drug use.  

With most of his work, I felt like the elder millennial who missed the context. I’m on the outside looking in. But like an auntie, I am still clapping and rooting for him to win. 

I will admit, I did not immediately connect with Lost Americana, but the high energy bops stayed in rotation. So I saved Lost Americana to the Y2K collection and added it to my passive engagement with music. 

Fast forward. August 29th, 2025

I got a Twitch alert about mgk’s server on Fortnite.

Oh he’s a gamer? How, in all my research, did I miss this!??
I tuned into the stream. Instinctually, I put on my ethnographer hat. I sat down. Observed. Watched. Listened. 

As a researcher of gaming cultures, I am fascinated by what people play, how they play, and why. I’ll admit, I didn’t glean much about the connection between Lost Americana and his server while watching the stream, so I waited until the hype passed and jumped into the server myself. 

Sweaty. 

It took me a while to reach 50 kills, a milestone to get a special mgk guitar weapon. All the occupants of the server wanted to do was kill.

Did I kill? Yes. I killed for the achievement and then stopped. I roamed the server for an extended period of time. I put my weapons down. I picked up items to help others reach their 50 kill milestone. I started healing. I even invited others to join me in the healing quest, to no avail. What I gleaned from the mgk community IRL was a space of helping and support. I wanted to bring that energy to the server. It was his quest helped me find value in the server and an appreciation for Lost Americana. 

The quest to kill and bots who were programmed to kill made me recognize something that Lost Americana is trying to say: we are conditioned for certain scripts. Why is it so hard to reprogram ourselves? To repurpose our mission? A better question: Why is healing so elusive? 

While I admit to being a gamer, I don’t admit to being a great one. Which is why the mandate to just kill in most games disrupts my energy. 

So I stopped killing. I started healing, one of my favorite things to do. Healing is one the most significant additions and innovations in gaming, an argument I am making in my upcoming book. I perfected healing from Lorde Mantis in Marvel Rivals. So I brought that same energy into this Fortnite space. 

It was at this time that it clicked for me. The larger meaning of Lost Americana. 

It was in this room, by myself, with the automatically generated bots that I gained clarity. 

On the surface, Lost Americana, the album, felt like a refashioned, rebranded, depoliticized MAGA (Make America Great Again): critique what we have - regain what was lost.. 

Lost Americana, the Fortnite server, initially felt exclusionary (so yes, MAGA energy). The mandate was to kill. And the ones who were having the best time were the best at killing. But the real story is not about the violent action in the sandlot. Gaming allows the possibility to suspend realities. To play pretend. To be anybody you want to be. 

The question I kept asking myself, why kill when there are so many other options? 

While healing, I spent more time in the crafted and constructed spaces in the corners of the server. I first went to the carwash (a nod to the Cliche video). I equipped the “Flowberry Fizz” and acted like I had a job washing cars. After work, I went to the house which is a replica of the album cover to “change outfits” before going to the drive in movie theater. After that, I surfed around a bit, narrowly avoiding bullets from GreyLoot’s 50cal sniper and Bigsnipezz’s shotgun.. 

I couldn't even defend myself, because I didn’t have a weapon. But I still healed them. 

The entire server looked like the backdrop to Americana. 

Speaking academically, Americana is the convergence of histories, cultures, people, experiences, and narratives that make up American life. While it mostly reflects musical convergence (folk, rap, country, pop, blues, etc), it also means the people who participate in these cultures. And mgk is a reflection of this. From the blending of genres, styles, looks (his hair alone deserves its own essay). 

mgk’s Fortnite server is the convergence of home, work, leisure, and pain. And most days when I visit the server, it is void of the one essential ingredient, people. 

Most users only see value when “mgk” is present. I get it. They have a desire to get a glimpse of this superstar who has given them so much. But what do they get? A random Black woman named Unikorn who is healing. And they grow frustrated when I don’t kill them back. 

“Unikorn you’re making me feel bad. Kill me back, please!?” someone once stated on the mic. 

But they are missing the point. We are the value added. We are “Lost Americana.” 

Lost Americana wants us to find each other. To see each other. The server was created to reconnect with what’s lost.

I had a milestone to finish my book, ironically on 8.08, the day Lost Americana came out. I slowed it down and took time to rest and heal from an overproductive academic career. I recently reached the milestone of Full Professor and took a dream job at the University of Michigan. But I had to take a pause and reevaluate myself and my work at this stage. 

Lost Americana has made me ask myself, what am I creating for? Who am I writing for? 

Lost Americana reminds us of our value: it is part one part Remembrance. Two parts Renaissance. 

Lost Americana is the memory of who we are and a reminder of what we can become. We can always revive ourselves and engage with renewed interest. This is the beauty of video games. We die alot, but as long as we are alive, there is another chance. To make things better. To improve relationships. To recoup what was taken. 

The Lost Americana server reminds me of summers of going to the basketball court and waiting for friends to wake up and join. Walking to the carwash to see who was hanging out. Going to the movies. Hanging on the front porch. 

Three. Two. One. Reset. 

If life had a reset button, like mgk requires frequently in the server, what would we reset? When would we reset to? 

A prior moment where we were on top of the world? Change our luck? Disrupt our trauma? 

But we must remember that all these things define who we are. It informs what we create and who we do it for. And that might be what “lost americana” is. Second chances. 

…. [stop here maybe???]

Fortnite is the reminder that we have unlimited chances. As the late great Aaliyah said, dust yourself off and try again. But the affirmation and validation only comes from within. We don’t feel this enough. We need to hear someone say “job well done.” 

The gamers in mgk’s Fortnite server are raking up kills. But the only achievement was 50. Why keep killing? A better question, why wasn't 50 enough? 

Why don't we know when to stop and take our victory lap. Burnout culture keeps us thinking we have to keep being productive, and that's not what moving forward means.  

Thinking is moving. Intention is moving.

Planning is moving. And rest is an essential component to moving. 

So for me, Lost Americana is the addition of “rest” to our values and lives.