MKTO

The California pop/hip-hop act MKTO took shape around the combined skills of actor-musicians Malcolm Kelly and Tony Oller, stepping forward in 2012 behind the upbeat singles “Thank You” and “Classic.” Both cuts landed on the duo’s self-titled debut, an album that reached the Billboard 200 in 2014 and spotlighted Kelly’s MC abilities next to Oller’s smooth vocal delivery.

The pair first crossed paths when they were cast together on the Nickelodeon series Gigantic in 2010. Kelly had previously portrayed Walt Lloyd on ABC’s Lost, while Oller had appeared on multiple programs, among them Disney Channel’s As the Bell Rings. Their friendship formed during that Nickelodeon project and led them to create MKTO—an acronym drawn from their initials that also stands for “Misfit Kids Total Outcasts.” Columbia Records released “Thank You” in 2012; “Classic” and “God Only Knows” followed in 2013. The full-length MKTO arrived the next year, carrying production from Emanuel Kiriakou and Andrew Goldstein along with a guest turn by Ne-Yo. In 2015 the four-track EP Bad Girls surfaced, succeeded a year later by the independent singles “Hands Off My Heart/Places You Go” and “Superstitious.” Oller disclosed the group’s breakup in 2017, yet the members quickly regrouped after signing with BMG and issued “How Can I Forget” in 2018.