Recording with GarageBand in her parents' guest bedroom, creating percussion tracks with hair straighteners, Maia began self-releasing songs on YouTube as "mxmtoon" in 2017. After initially attempting to write comedy songs, she began writing songs that embodied her emotions such as "feelings are fatal", which only required a USB microphone and GarageBand. The song currently has over 23 million streams on Spotify. Her 2017 collaboration with Japanese lo-fi producer peachy!, "Falling for U", reached nearly 40 million streams on Spotify by June 2019. Maia began secretly releasing music to the public, but was later compelled to tell her friends and family after experiencing viral success online. In 2018, Maia released her debut EP, plum blossom, which was reviewed by Earmilk, i-D and Hypebeast, and gained more than 100 million streams on Spotify by August 2019. The EP's single "i feel like chet" is a tribute to one of her favorite jazz musicians, Chet Baker.
After high school, Maia took a "gap year" by postponing college to focus on her music. She was planning to study architecture after graduating high school, until her music went viral in April 2018. In November 2018, she announced her "plum blossom tour". Her first tour, initially scheduled for five US shows with fellow Californian singer-songwriter khai dreams in March 2019, sold out, and was extended to include additional concerts in North America and Europe, including opening appearances for bedroom pop YouTuber Cavetown in the United Kingdom. Maia made her first appearance on a billboard in Times Square when Spotify advertised her single "dream of you" for their New Music Friday playlist.
Prior to the release of the masquerade, Spotify announced the release of 21 Days, a music podcast that follows Maia while she works on the album in New York City. Liz Gateley of Spotify praised Maia's online following as well as her social presence, stating that "She obviously has lots of followers already, but that's not enough. The person had to be the right human too, and we felt she had both." The podcast is an eight-episode audio diary that includes interviews with family, friends and collaborators, including the album's producer Cavetown.
Maia's debut studio album the masquerade was released on September 17, 2019. The album peaked at 17 on the US Heatseekers Chart and at 45 on the US Indie Albums Chart. It features "prom dress", a "light and peachy tune" described as "relatable, infectious hook-led pop that speaks to millennials". The single is inspired by experiences from her own big night and deals with social anxiety and the problems that come with being a teen in modern society. The song has been streamed over 30 million times on Spotify, and has been used in 100,000 videos on TikTok. Maia's back catalogue of songs have also received tens of millions of online streams.
Joshua Bote of Paste described the ten-track album as "comforting twee-pop that wrings out genuine pathos from mxmtoon’s internet celebrity". Matt Yuyitung of Exclaim! wrote "[Maia] brings her wry sense of humour and diary-entry lyricism to her debut record, recalling the lo-fi relatability of Frankie Cosmos."
Maia embarked on her sold out "the masquerade Tour" of North America and United Kingdom in September 2019. She released her first graphic novel "The Adventures Of Mxmtoon: The Masquerade" in October 2019. Kirsten Spruch from Billboard wrote, "The novel seamlessly pairs with the album, encapsulating her introverted, teenage tendencies and free-flowing creativity." Gabe Bergado from Teen Vogue described the book "a captivating, charming visual journey that complements the dreamy album." She released an accompanying animated short film for the graphic novel in November 2019.
In November 2019, Maia announced via Twitter that she would be joining American singer-songwriter Lauv for his 2020 summer tour of Asia supporting his album how i'm feeling.
On November 19, 2019, Kobalt Music Group announced that they would be signing mxmtoon to their label under a global publishing deal. This deal will include administration and creative support for current music catalogue and future works. Creative Vice-President at Kobalt, Melissa Emert-Hutner, stated "Maia is truly the voice of her generation; by sharing her beautiful, heartfelt music with the world and growing her brand organically, she exemplifies the DIY spirit and aesthetic that Kobalt embraces." Emily Bines, a senior creative director at Kobalt added "Mxmtoon is exactly the type of forward-thinking creative that we dream about working with at Kobalt. Her vision, matched with her team’s passion to bring it to fruition is unwavering. We will be hearing from Maia for a long time to come."
Maia released the masquerade (the edits) on November 22, 2019. The EP features remixes from songs on the masquerade from names like Chloe Lilac, Alexander 23 and Chloe Moriondo. In November 2019, Dork put Maia on their Hype List of 2020, alongside names like girl in red, Beabadoobee and Maisie Peters.
In December 2019, Maia re-recorded the song "prom dress" in Simlish, the fictional language used in The Sims games, to help promotion. The Simlish version was added to The Sims 4 on December 12, 2019. Maia reacted on Twitter with "countless hours of playing the sims has helped me become fluent in simlish... and guess what?? prom dress was just added to #thesims4 today!" A week later Maia released the music video for "unspoken words", which revolves around her Chinese-American upbringing as well as her relationship with her Chinese grandmother.
Maia released her first single of 2020, "Fever Dream" in January 2020.
the idea of you
mxmtoon Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Or the idea of loving you
It's unclear, I mean I used to feel so sure
But I might just be immature
I've been stuck on you for so long
That it's hard to tell myself I may be wrong
About the way that I feel for you
For so long, I would squeal
'Cause it's not love
When you don't talk anymore
And it's not love
When I never meant something to you
So why did I ever catch these stupid feelings?
I knew, when you told me I was cute
That I was dreaming
So now, I'll try and tell myself
My feelings have no meaning
They have no meaning
They have no meaning
'Cause it's not love
When you don't talk anymore
And it's not love
When you make me feel like I'm a bore
And it's not love
When I was the only one who's waiting
And it's not love
When there was no chance of you saying
"I love you too"
"I love you too"
And I don't know if I'm in love with you
Or the idea of loving you
It's unclear, I mean I used to feel so sure
But I might just be immature
I've been stuck on you for so long
That it's hard to tell myself I may be wrong
The song "The Idea of You" by mxmtoon is about questioning whether the feelings for someone are genuine love or just infatuation with the concept of being in love with that person. The singer is conflicted and unsure about whether their feelings are truly genuine, or if they are based on an idealistic perception of what love should be like.
The lyrics suggest that the singer has been very infatuated with this person for a long time, possibly even obsessed. They may have built up a fantasy in their head about what being in love with this person would be like, but when the reality of the situation didn't match their expectations, they started to doubt the authenticity of their feelings.
The song also speaks to the pain of unrequited love, as the singer acknowledges that the other person never felt the same way about them. They were left waiting and hoping for something that was never going to happen, and now they must come to terms with the fact that their feelings were not reciprocated.
Overall, "The Idea of You" is a bittersweet exploration of the complexities of love and infatuation, and the difficulty of distinguishing between the two.
Line by Line Meaning
I don't know
It's unclear
If I'm in love with you
I mean I felt real sure, but maybe I'm just immature
Or the idea of loving you
I'm unsure whether I love you or just the idea of loving you
I've been
I've had feelings for you
Stuck on you for too long
My feelings for you have lingered for quite some time
It's hard
It's difficult
To tell if maybe i'm wrong
To determine if my feelings are misguided
About
Concerning
The way that I feel
My emotions towards you
For you
In regards to you
For so long
For an extended period of time
I would squeal
I would get very excited
Over a single text from you
Upon receiving a message from you
But it's not love
My feelings aren't love
When you don't talk anymore
When we no longer communicate
And it's not love
It cannot be considered love
When I never meant something to you
When I wasn't meaningful to you
Why did I
Why did I ever
Ever catch
Develop
These stupid feelings
These foolish emotions
I knew
I was aware
When you told me I was cute
When you complimented me
That I was dreaming
That it was too good to be true
So now
As a result
I'll try and tell myself
I'll attempt to convince myself
My feelings for you they have no meaning
My emotions towards you are insignificant
They have no meaning
They are meaningless
Cause it's not love
Because it's not true love
When you don't talk anymore
When communication ceases
And it's not love
It can't be called love
When you make me feel like i'm a bore
When you make me feel uninteresting
Cause it's not love
Since it's not genuine love
When I was always the one waiting
When I was always waiting for you
And it's not love
It's not love
When there was no chance of you stating
When you didn't express your feelings for me
I don't know
I'm unsure
If I'm in love with you
If my emotions towards you are love
Or the idea of loving you
Or if I simply love the thought of loving you
It's unclear
It's not evident
I mean I felt real sure
I was certain
But maybe i'm just immature
But maybe my emotions are childish
I've been
I have experienced
Stuck on you for too long
My infatuation with you has lasted too long
It's hard
It's difficult
To tell if maybe i'm wrong
To determine if my emotions are misplaced
Lyrics © Songtrust Ave, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Maia X. M. T.
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Rocío Ochoa Charlín
i don't know
if i'm in love with you
or the idea of loving you
it's unclear
i mean i used to feel so sure
but i might just be immature
i've been
stuck on you for so long
that is hard to tell myself
i may be wrong
about
the way that i feel for you
for so long
i would squeal
over a single text from you
you, you
cause it's not love
when you don't talk anymore
and it's not love
when i never meant something to you
so i deny i
ever catch
these stupid feelings
i knew
when you told me i was cute
that i was dreaming
so now
i'll try and tell myself
my feelings have no meaning
they have no meaning
they have no meaning
cause it's not love
when you don't talk anymore
and it's not love
when you make me feel like i'm a bore
and it's not love
when i was the only one who's waiting
and it's not love
when there was no chance of you saying
i love you too
i love you too
and i don't know
if i'm in love with you
or the idea of loving you
it's unclear
i mean i used to feel so sure
but i might just be immature
i've been
so stuck on you for so long
that is hard to tell myself
that i may be wrong
eniola
THIS SONG IS LEGIT EVERYWHERE ON INSTAGRAM EDITS
mxmtoon
HAHHAHAH ARE THEY ANIME EDITS if U SEE ONE OMG TAG ME
eniola
mxmtoon WHATS YOUR @ SO I CAN TAG YOU LMFAOOOO
Nia Dore
hoNESTLY.
zain
eniola. oh no mxmtoon’s didn’t respond back SHES MISSING ALL THE INSTA EDITS
JC22
what kind of legit. lol
Lovely
When you realize the person you’ve liked for so long might not be as perfect as you thought they were, and slowly realizing they aren’t anything at all like you thought they were.
fiver
Juli and bryce from flipped vibes
DENVER024 /BT_DENVER024
my nuh
n oh. mmm. n.
ur local person
Because nobody's pretty on the inside, and sometimes you have to adapt to sticking around and loving people when things get messy so you can wait for the good days to come around.