If you’re a TikTok fanatic, the hit song ‘If We Ever Broke Up’ may be familiar to your ears. But trust when we say that that honey-sweet voice is sticking around for the foreseeable future, and you’re gonna be stanning Miss Mae Stephens. The hit song that dropped back in January accumulated over a whopping 350 million streams, has been certified Silver in the UK, and has catapulted the 19-year-old into the music spotlight.
Now Mae has dropped her brand new single ‘Mr Right,’ in which she enlists pop princess Meghan Trainor as a feature. With sassy lyrics about swiping on unsatisfying profiles on a dating app, this groovy, glittery disco pop song is perfect to soundtrack your summer.
And the song is a dream collab for Mae. Speaking about working with Meghan in a press release, Mae shares: “Meghan is an artist I have idolized for years! She is the artist I aspire to be, so working with her has been an absolute dream come true! Especially working with a huge artist for the first time she just makes me feel so heard and comfortable!”
And it turns out Meghan also reciprocates the love, as she shares: “I have been a big fan of hers from afar on social media and was so excited when her team reached out. I am convinced that she is my long-lost little sister, and I am so excited that we now get to have a song together.”
With the song officially out and sure to be a hit, we thought we’d give you all the info on future superstar Mae Stephens so you can have absolute bragging rights to stanning before she blew up into the mainstream.
She’s Your Typical Girl-Next-Door From England
@maestephens_ From bedroom singing to stage ✨ #howwasthefall #music #fyp #music #foryou #singer #foryoupage #songwriter #musician #fypmusic ♬ what the absolute hell – yellowflowrs
Hailing from Kettering, England, Mae lived the typical life of most. She was just getting by with your typical concerns such as income, working at her local ASDA store, and her dad acting as her manager all before things took off for her. She wrote a song as a kid called ‘Wolf In The Night’ which she played to her parents. Speaking in a YouTube video on her channel, Mae shared: “I played it to my parents in my living room and my dad said to me, ‘I think we’ve found what you’re good at.'”
Mae’s dad became a massive support for Mae’s aspiring career, spending years learning everything he could about music to support her. He even took her around to open mic night and pub gigs in their county in order to get Mae’s voice heard. Talk about a supportive parent!
Stephens initially teased her hit single ‘If We Ever Broke Up’ on her TikTok account before it gained traction, and that led to her being signed to EMI this year.
Making Music Has Proven To Be Therapeutic For Her
@maestephens_ A lil video of me singing one of my unreleased songs Mirrors.. I enjoyed playing this on my piano that my grandmother passed on to me!!🫀👼🏻☁️ #newmusic #maestephens #piano #singersongwriter #singertiktok #womenoftiktok #unreleasedmusic ♬ original sound – Mae Stephens ♡︎
Like a lot of us, Mae, unfortunately, didn’t have the best time at school and was subject to bullying for being the “loud, quirky kid.” She ended up turning to music as a form of escapism. “I used to be quite angry as a kid and I had a lot of pent-up tension, especially coming home from school,” she explains. “I tried so much to find what was going to help me release all of that – stuff like judo, skiing, biking. I tried so many things until it came to song writing. Just being able to sit, close the door, not have anyone around me and just have some space to think and let my emotions out into something creative was probably the one thing that really got me through school, other than my brother.”
Now she’s an international success, Mae wants to use her voice to help others and give them the escape she once relied on through her music. “A lot of kids are probably going through stuff that’s a lot worse than what I went through and it’s not highlighted as much as it should be,” she says. “To watch kids go through that and not have someone to look up to is something I really hope I can help with. I want to be the champion of the underdogs – Mae’s misfits.”
We’re absolutely here for this initiative!
‘If We Ever Broke Up’ Was A Step Out Of Her Comfort Zone
Despite its viral impact, ‘If We Ever Broke Up’ was actually a first for Mae dipping her toes into a more funky pop vibe. The song came about on a songwriting trip to Amsterdam, where the loop of the song was playing on repeat in the studio she was working in. “I kind of just started writing to it,” Mae explains in a video on her YouTube channel. “At the time, the beat of the song wasn’t really my type, it didn’t fit with me if that makes sense. It wasn’t really what I was into, especially when it came to writing. I kind of just began to go with it.”
As for the inspiration for the lyrics, Mae was pretty open about her muse: “The song is actually about what I would have done if I was still with my ex-boyfriend. And to quote myself: everyone needs that boss bitch energy. Everyone needs a sign to do something. And that sign is if he’s awful, tell his dad and leave him.” Honestly pop off, Mae!
She’s Already Opened For Big Names
@maestephens_ BST Hyde Park – Week 2: The Main stage was INSANE!! I had to show my friends what it looks like from my angle! 😱💕 . . . #funkmusic #maestephens #blackpink #festival #summer ♬ Mr Right – Mae Stephens ♡︎
Since making her breakthrough back in January, Mae Stephens has already become a familiar name at live music events. She’s been on the bill to support the likes of BLACKPINK at BST Hyde Park London, P!NK and Anne-Marie at UK shows, joined a bill featuring Sam Fender and Maisie Peters at TRNSMT, and even landed herself a slot at the world-renowned Glastonbury festival. She’ll also be performing at several festivals including the iconic Reading & Leeds Festival, where she’ll join the likes of Billie Eilish, Rina Sawayama, and Imagine Dragons. Not a bad old year, eh?
She Has Famous Fans
@enhypen 💔❤️ #ENHYPEN #SUNOO #JUNGWON ♬ If We Ever Broke Up – Mae Stephens
With her ever-growing international fanbase, Mae has already recruited famous fans. As well as Meghan Trainor, who is already a self-confessed stan, Mae’s particular growth in Japan and South Korea has led to ENHYPEN, ITZY, and IVE loving her and even posting videos on TikTok to ‘If We Ever Broke Up.’ We’ve got total envy over here!
Funky Glasses Are Part Of Her Signature Look
@maestephens_ Which ones were your fave? Tiny glasses for the win #ifweeverbrokeup #fyp #funksong #funkalicious #newmusic #glasses #tinysunglases ♬ If We Ever Broke Up – Mae Stephens
In case you haven’t noticed, Mae is rarely seen without rocking a funky pair of glasses. Speaking about her staple accessory to SPIN1038, the singer-songwriter shares: “Obviously the video [that went viral] had glasses, the original £2 Primark glasses, and then I put them on for the next one because I was like ‘well you know people wouldn’t kind of know my face,’ but I feel like the glasses is something that a lot of people commented about […] I put them on in the next video and then they just became a recurring theme and now they’re practically glued to my face. I think I’m up to about 42 pairs of glasses now.”
Olly Murs had the trilby, Jade Thirlwall had the bowtie, and Mae Stephens has the sunglasses. We love our style icons!
Her Original Style Of Music Sounded A Bit Different
Pop music wasn’t initially the sound that Stephens was going for and if you listen to her previous releases, you can get a taste of the style she was focusing on. When speaking to TIME about what her future record will sound like, Mae shared: “I was always more into heartbreak songs and ballads. So to have this release, it’s kind of given me a push to do more things and work on some kind of funky bops.”
Honestly, we’re so excited to hear more music from her and would be partial to both funky bops and some ballads. We’re eclectic!
We absolutely adore Mae and her music, and we can’t wait to see what’s next for her! In the meantime, you can catch us listening to ‘Mr Right’ on repeat.
‘Mr Right’ featuring Meghan Trainor is out now!
Are you a fan of Mae Stephens? What do you think of ‘Mr Right?’ Let us know down in the comments below or by tweeting us @TheHoneyPOP!
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