Mae Stephens: If We Ever Broke Up was last minute TikTok idea

Universal Music Group

It’s pretty impossible to go on TikTok without hearing Mae Stephens’ ultimate break-up song at the moment.

The 19-year-old was working at a supermarket when the 15-second clip of her single If We Ever Broke Up blew up.

She’s since gone from getting a few thousand hits on her videos to millions of views and has signed to a record label.

But Mae’s told BBC Newsbeat she only put it on TikTok as “a last-minute thing” when she was struggling for content.

“I just I put on the brightest jumper I could, pulled the most awful dance moves, went for my New Year’s Eve [and] woke up the next morning and got spammed because it had gone viral,” she says.

“I was in a bit of a state of shock, I was like: ‘This isn’t actually happening’.

“And then just to start seeing the videos rack up and the views and all the comments and people now spamming for the song, it was like, ‘right, now I need to go and get stuff done’.”

Mae has since quit her job at Asda and says she loves working on her music full-time.

“It’s been such a crazy few weeks, especially signing with the label [and] getting the lyric videos out.

“It has been manic but I have literally enjoyed every single second of it. It’s like going from doing a normal day-to-day job to something you love every single day.”

Still from Mae's viral video on TikTok

TikTok

As well as taking over TikTok, If We Ever Broke Up is also all over Instagram reels – even on videos that are nothing to do with a break-up.

So why does Mae think the song – about telling your ex’s dad about how they treated you – has gone so big?

“I think it’s because it’s the things that people want to say, but they can’t,” she says.

“I think it gives people that boss energy and maybe a sign that allows them to remember who they are

“And if they’re in a bad relationship or somebody’s not treating them right, then they can leave.

“To say ‘I’ll call your dad’, that was something I wanted to do when I was younger but I never did it.

“And if I could go back, I would 100% call his dad and tell him everything.”

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