Maybe (Machine Gun Kelly song)

"Maybe" is a song by American musician Machine Gun Kelly. It was released on March 16, 2022, as the fourth single from his sixth studio album Mainstream Sellout. The song features performances from members of the British rock band Bring Me the Horizon.

"Maybe"
Single by Machine Gun Kelly featuring Bring Me the Horizon
from the album Mainstream Sellout
Released	March 16, 2022 (2022-03-16)
Recorded	2022
Genre	Pop punk[1][2][3] post-hardcore[4]
Length	2:50
Label	Bad Boy Interscope
Songwriter(s)	Colson Baker Travis Barker Nick Long Brandon Allen Stephen Basil Oliver Sykes Jordan Fish Omer Fedi
Producer(s)	Travis Barker Colson Baker Nick Long
Machine Gun Kelly singles chronology
"Ay!" (2022) "Maybe" (2022) "Make Up Sex" (2022)
Bring Me the Horizon singles chronology
"Bad Habits" (2022) "Maybe" (2022) "Fallout" (2022)
Music video
"Maybe" on YouTube

Background

"Maybe" was first premiered on March 4, 2022, at the "Emo Nite" live event club night at Los Angeles' Avalon Hollywood venue.^[5] The song was released as the fourth single from Machine Gun Kelly's sixth studio album on March 16, Mainstream Sellout, after "Papercuts", "Emo Girl", and "Ay!".^[1][6] The song features members of the British rock band Bring Me the Horizon; the track is their second collaboration of 2022, following their remixed version of "Bad Habits" with Ed Sheeran.^[7]

An acoustic variation of the song was released on June 23, 2022 alongside the release of "Life in Pink Deluxe" version of the Mainstream Sellout album. As of June 6th, 2024 the official audio version is approaching 650k views and over 16k likes.^[8]

Themes and composition

Rolling Stone described the song as "pop punk, albeit with some signature screaming from Sykes".^[1] The song features alternating vocals from Kelly and Sykes, with clean, melodic vocals throughout, and "deathcore-styled screaming" in the bridge by Sykes alone.^[2][9] The song opens up with a chant of "2,3,5!" by Kelly, as he felt the typical start of "1,2,3" was boring.^[10][9] BrooklynVegan, Louder Sound, Pitchfork and Wall of Sound compared the track to the sound of Paramore's song "Misery Business", a song that Kelly had covered in the past.^{[4][11][12][7]} Far Out Magazine stated that the intro sounds similar to Soundgarden's "Black Hole Sun" and that the main guitar riff sounds similar to +44's "When Your Heart Stops Beating".^[13] The Daily Californian described it as a combination of Everlast's "What It's Like", and AFI's "Miss Murder" and the general sound of Blink-182.^[14] Clash compared the guitars to Linkin Park.^[15]

Reception

Wall of Sound praised the song for being a "certainly decent track" and a "stand out on the album for alternative fans",^[7] whereas Kerrang! referred to it as a "massive banger".^[10] Clash also praised it, calling the song a "total delight".^[15] Other publications were less positive, critiquing it for its lack of originality.^[4][16] MetalSucks referred to it as "bland and predictable",^[16] while BrooklynVegan complained that it was too similar to Paramore's "Misery Business", to the point of declaring they felt Kelly probably owed the band royalty payments.^[4] Far Out Magazine called it terrible and said that the intro is "cringe-inducing".^[13] Sputnikmusic said that Oli Sykes outshines Baker due to not being completely tone-deaf.^[17] Wall of Sound's album reviewer also felt differently about the track, concluding that "expectations fell short here."^[18]

Music video

The official music video for "Maybe" was released on March 25, 2022 and was directed by Marc Klasfeld.^[19][20]

The video is set and recorded inside The Shard in London, England where Machine Gun Kelly performs the song alongside Bring Me the Horizon's Oli Sykes and Blink-182's drummer and album's producer Travis Barker, as the glass from The Shard shatters around them and forms into a massive cloud over the city as the song culminates and ends.^[21]

Personnel

Credits adapted from Tidal.^[22]

Musicians

• Colson Baker – lead vocals, composer, lyricist, guitars
• Oliver Sykes – featured vocals, composer, lyricist
• Lee Malia – guitars
• Jordan Fish – keyboards, programming, percussion, backing vocals, composer, lyricist
• Matt Kean – bass
• Matt Nicholls – drums

Additional personnel

• Travis Barker – producer, composer, lyricist
• Omer Fedi – producer, composer, lyricist
• Adam Hawkins – mixing, studio personnel
• Chris Gehringer – mastering engineer, studio personnel
• Nick Long – producer, co-producer, composer, lyricist
• BazeXX – producer
• SlimXX – producer
• Stephen Basil – composer, lyricist
• Brandon Allen – composer, lyricist
• K Thrash – engineer, studio personnel
• Henry Lunetta – assistant mixer, studio personnel
• Hunter Smith – assistant mixer, studio personnel

Charts

Weekly charts Weekly chart performance for "Maybe" Chart (2022) Peak position Australia (ARIA)[23] 38 Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[24] 40 Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[25] 36 Czech Republic (Singles Digitál Top 100)[26] 30 Germany (GfK)[27] 68 Global 200 (Billboard)[28] 69 Ireland (IRMA)[29] 68 New Zealand Hot Singles (RMNZ)[30] 12 Slovakia (Singles Digitál Top 100)[31] 30 South Africa (TOSAC)[32] 88 Sweden Heatseeker (Sverigetopplistan)[33] 5 UK Singles (OCC)[34] 39 US Billboard Hot 100[35] 68 US Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (Billboard)[36] 6

Year-end charts Year-end chart performance for "Maybe" Chart (2022) Position US Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (Billboard)[37] 43

Certifications

Certifications for "Maybe"

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[38]	Gold	40,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[39]	Silver	200,000‡
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

1. Goggins, Joe (March 16, 2022). "Machine Gun Kelly unveils Bring Me the Horizon collaboration 'maybe' – listen". Rolling Stone. Retrieved March 25, 2022.
2. Childers, Chad (March 16, 2022). "Machine Gun Kelly Officially Releases 'Maybe' Collaboration With Bring Me the Horizon". Loudwire. Retrieved March 25, 2022.
3. Rogers, Jack (March 29, 2022). "Bring Me the Horizon Have Achieved Their First Ever Billboard 100 Track with 'Maybe'". Rock Sound. Retrieved March 30, 2022.
4. Sacher, Aaron (March 28, 2022). "Machine Gun Kelly review – pop punk's 'Mainstream Sellout' doubles down on new LP". BrooklynVegan. Retrieved March 31, 2022.
5. Brannigan, Paul (March 17, 2022). "Listen to new Machine Gun Kelly/Bring Me The Horizon collaboration, Maybe". Metal Hammer. Retrieved March 25, 2022.
6. wookubus (March 16, 2022). "Hear Machine Gun Kelly & Bring Me The Horizon's New Song "Maybe"". ThePRP. Retrieved March 25, 2022.
7. Aarons, Ricky (March 17, 2022). "Machine Gun Kelly + Bring Me The Horizon's Studio 'Maybe' Collab Is Out". Wall of Sound. Retrieved March 25, 2022.
8. Machine Gun Kelly – maybe ft. Bring Me The Horizon [acoustic] (Official Audio), retrieved July 25, 2022
9. Aubrey, Elizabeth (March 16, 2022). "Listen to Machine Gun Kelly and Bring Me The Horizon's new track, 'maybe'". NME. Retrieved March 25, 2022.
10. Carter, Emily (March 17, 2022). "Listen: Machine Gun Kelly drops new single, Maybe, featuring Bring Me The Horizon". Kerrang!. Retrieved March 25, 2022.
11. Scarlett, Elizabeth (March 7, 2022). "Machine Gun Kelly and Oli Sykes tease new song Maybe". Louder Sound. Retrieved April 1, 2022.
12. Gordon, Arielle (April 2, 2022). "Machine Gun Kelly: Mainstream Sellout Album Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved April 2, 2022.
13. McStarkey, Mike (March 17, 2022). "Machine Gun Kelly and Bring Me the Horizon team up for the genuinely terrible song 'maybe'". Far Out Magazine. Retrieved April 2, 2022.
14. Harvey, Lauren (March 29, 2022). "Machine Gun Kelly falls flat on banal 'Mainstream Sellout'". The Daily Californian. Retrieved April 1, 2022.
15. Swingle, Emily (March 24, 2022). "Mainstream Sellout". Clash. Retrieved April 3, 2022.
16. "The Machine Gun Kelly/Bring Me The Horizon Collab Is as Bland and Predictable As You Thought It'd Be". MetalSucks. March 17, 2022. Retrieved March 31, 2022.
17. L., Jesper (March 26, 2022). "Review Machine Gun Kelly - Mainstream Sellout". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved April 3, 2022.
18. May, Tamara (March 25, 2022). "Machine Gun Kelly – Mainstream Sellout (Album Review)". Wall of Sound. Retrieved March 31, 2022.
19. Iahn, Buddy (March 25, 2022). "Machine Gun Kelly drops 'Maybe' video". Music Universe. Retrieved April 1, 2022.
20. Daypop, Rock (March 29, 2022). "Machine Gun Kelly releases video for 'maybe' featuring Oli Sykes & Travis Barker". 93.7 KLBJ. Retrieved April 1, 2022.
21. "Machine Gun Kelly releases video for 'maybe' featuring Oli Sykes & Travis Barker". 96.7 The Wolf. March 29, 2022. Retrieved April 1, 2022.
22. "Credits/Maybe/Machine Gun Kelly". Tidal. March 18, 2022. Retrieved March 25, 2022.
23. "ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart". Australian Recording Industry Association. March 28, 2022. Retrieved March 25, 2022.
24. "Machine Gun Kelly & Bring Me The Horizon – Maybe" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved March 29, 2022.
25. "Machine Gun Kelly Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved April 5, 2022.
26. "ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Digital Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Select 13. týden 2022 in the date selector. Retrieved April 4, 2022.
27. "Machine Gun Kelly & Bring Me The Horizon – Maybe" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved March 25, 2022.
28. "Machine Gun Kelly Chart History (Global 200)". Billboard. Retrieved April 5, 2022.
29. "IRMA – Irish Charts". Irish Recorded Music Association. Retrieved April 2, 2022.
30. "HOT 40 SINGLES". Recorded Music NZ. March 28, 2022. Retrieved March 25, 2022.
31. "ČNS IFPI". IFPI ČR. Note: Select SK SINGLES DIGITAL TOP 100 and insert 202213 into search. Retrieved April 4, 2022.
32. "Local & International Streaming Chart Top 100 Week 13-2022". The Official South African Charts. Retrieved June 1, 2024.
33. "Veckolista Heatseeker, vecka 12". Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
34. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 25, 2022.
35. "Machine Gun Kelly Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved April 5, 2022.
36. "Machine Gun Kelly Chart History (Hot Rock & Alternative Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved April 5, 2022.
37. "Hot Rock & Alternative Songs – Year-End 2022". Billboard. Retrieved December 2, 2022.
38. "Canadian single certifications – Machine Gun Kelly – Maybe". Music Canada. Retrieved February 7, 2023.
39. "British single certifications – Machine Gun Kelly – Maybe". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved August 19, 2024.