Mae Stephens reveals how a bad relationship ended in a viral hit

Mae Stephens, the singer behind the huge TikTok hit 'If We Ever Broke Up', joined us for For The Record. With a huge hit on her hands, and a more recent hit with none other than Meghan Trainor, 'Mr Right', Mae revealed how her viral hit came about and how it almost didn't happen.

Mae had been on TikTok for a while, but hadn't had much success with the platform, admitting that she was close to leaving it and the video that went viral was going to be her last!

The singer told us that her viral hit was: "Very funkalicious, and I've heard it's made a couple of people break up with boyfriends... I'm sorry!"

Where was 'If We Ever Broke Up' written?

Mae wrote her hit in Amsterdam: "So the song was created in a studio in Amsterdam. I had three hours left before I had to go and hop on a plane and get myself through Amsterdam airport, and it wasn't my style of song to begin with," she explained.

"It was kind of just something we went OK let's give it a go. We started writing and then the phrase 'if we ever broke up, I'd never be sad' came out, and that was kind of the phrase that I went ohh it's alright and we ended up going with it and now it's kind of stuck in my brain.

"I got the song back in November after hearing it (on a) kind of a little bit of repeat. I had a voice note and it kind of just... I can't explain how it came together, it just kind of appeared one day after a three-hour session and a lot of stress after Amsterdam airport."

How did Mae Stephens' song go viral?

Mae's song 'If I Ever Broke Up' went viral earlier this year after she posted a video of herself dancing to it on TikTok. She told us about how she thought that video was going to be her last on TikTok.

“So when I posted the first video for 'If We Ever Broke Up', it was the last video I was going to post," she explained. "I'd done TikTok for a while, I tried to get viral, you know I did everything and it was kind of like, I'll do this if it doesn't work, I'll go and get a job, I'll go and find a way to move out, make my make my money.

"And it was the biggest sign to keep going. I woke up with seven million followers on New Year's Day, the beginning of a brand new year, and it almost changed my perspective on life, and on trying and on being passionate for something. But yeah, the video was literally just me dancing like an idiot, for the entire globe to see."

Mae continued: "I tested the algorithm one more time after posting the first video and I did the exact same hashtags, I did everything the same and it came up with 11 million, and it was just every single time I kept posting this sound with those hashtags, it just went up and up and up, it went to 12, it went to 14.

"And the more I posted the song, the more it was getting exposure, but also the more it was starting to annoy people that it hadn't been released yet."

What were the original lyrics to 'If We Ever Broke Up'?

Many songs go through various iterations, and Mae revealed to us some of the previous lyrics for her hit song.

'If we ever broke up I'll never be sad, thinking about everything that we had. If we ever broke up I'll call your dad and tell them all the s--tty things you said. I never want to lie to you I always hated you, and I still know it's true...

'If we ever broke up, I laughed so hard, as you left me drunk and scarred, if we ever broke up I'd be online telling everybody that you wasted my time.'

"It's got the truth on it," Mae admitted, but went on to explain why the lyrics didn't make the cut: "When we finalised the song, it was just a bit too much, 'You left me drunk and scared' like it was the reality of the situation, which is what the main song was about.

"And yeah, it was like that's a bit too deep. So we took it out, but I'd love to release the original version that'd be cracking."

Recording the 'If We Ever Broke Up' music video

Recounting the day they filmed the music video, Mae said: "That was one of the best days of my life."

Going on to explain: "Recording the music video was one of the best days of my life. It was just like I was like a kid in a candy store like there were all these actors in this set and the entire day was literally about waiting till the end and seeing some 20 something year old guy on a harness, bless him, lifted up in the sky with like 80 balloons. I mean it. The entire cast was so amazing to work with, they're all very, very sweet.

"That day was just so full on, but it was so much fun, and then to stand in a park while a bunch of random passes by watched this man being hung up with probably what seemed like a mega, mega mega wedgie bless him, it was just a very, very good day. I really enjoyed it."

What was the inspiration for Mae's song?

The inspiration for Mae's song was a bad relationship, although she won't name her ex, she did say: "Like I won't name and shame, he was an awful human being, and it wasn't until I got out of the relationship that I realised that."

What's next for Mae?

Mae revealed that she has a new song with The Chainsmokers and Alok coming out "very soon", admitting she never thought she would collaborate with them.

You can hear songs by Mae Stephens on Northsound 1.

Take a look at tours coming up this year and beyond:

What is For The Record?

For The Record is a chance for fans to get to know their favourite artists' music even better. If you want to know about the inspiration a hit song or the writing process behind it, then you've come to the right place.

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• mae stephens
• for the record