Malcolm Todd is back at Genius, this time to break down his viral hit, “Chest Pain (I Love).” Since its release, the track has racked up hundreds of thousands of impressions online, quickly becoming a fan favorite. On today’s episode of Verified, the singer-songwriter opens up about his creative process, why he’s more dramatic in his music than in real life, his idea of fun, and more.
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MusicTranscript
00:00When you're busy and you got a lot going on, you're just like, don't bother me.
00:03I'm locked in.
00:04I'm independent.
00:05I don't have time for this.
00:07And then the second things slow down, you're like, where's my hug at?
00:10You're like, where'd you go?
00:12Do you not like me?
00:13What's wrong?
00:14Do I smell bad?
00:15What's the problem?
00:16I'm trying to hang.
00:23I was just in my room in New York, playing on the guitar, humming the, my chest is hurting
00:27part.
00:28I had when I've had the idea for the song, and then when I went into the studio, it
00:33took two days straight to write the whole pre-chorus part, the, my chest is hurting.
00:37I was sitting with Jonah and Charlie, my producers, and we were just racking our brains.
00:41And then after two days of doing the pre-chorus, we finally got to the, I love part.
00:46And it was the very first thing I did, and it was done.
00:58So I'll lay here instead.
01:01Your chest hurting represents anxiety and heartbreak, just overall pain.
01:06Your heart's in your chest.
01:08When I say my chest is hurting, I'm like, no bueno, not good.
01:11Not good times.
01:12I didn't purposely make the drums feel like a heartbeat, but they do sound like a heartbeat.
01:16I think that's just the authenticity of the song.
01:19What you're feeling comes out in the song, whether you try to do it or not.
01:23And I think that's something that happened in the process.
01:25Great love makes all the hard things harder.
01:38Things get so high, that'll make them drop really low.
01:41Then you're going to, you know, want to kick it in bed all day, be like, I think I like
01:44it here.
01:55I love, I love, I love.
02:05We just ran the recording, and they were like, go do your thing, little bro.
02:09I was just like, I love.
02:11And then I sat down to write it, and I was like, okay, what do I want to say?
02:14And then Charlie was like, dude, just say I love.
02:17It's not rocket science.
02:18And I was like, this guy's got a point.
02:20And so we just ran with the take, and yeah, it's a good message, you know?
02:25It is simple, but it's a powerful word.
02:26Better than I hate.
02:49Yeah, I'm a homebody.
02:50I don't think I'm a nightlife person.
02:52I definitely can have fun, and drink a few brews, and get a little crazy, but I don't
02:56think I'm always trying to go outside and be super social.
02:59I definitely enjoy a good rom-com, or just a rom, or just a com.
03:03That line, the make me feel lonely soon, you might not know me, it's kind of like a threat,
03:23where it's like, hey, if you're not giving me the time of day, you might just not hear
03:28from me, and then it's like, you're lost.
03:29If you make me feel lonely, just lose my number.
03:33That's a little too much, actually.
03:35I'm not that guy.
03:36But when you're writing songs, sometimes you've got to be a little dramatic.
03:40I'm hurting, I'm stuck in my bed, I don't know where to go, so I'll lay here instead,
03:50with my symptoms, symptoms of sorrow and dread, they all said it would fade, but again and
03:59again.
04:00Instead of saying, my chest is hurting, I just say, I'm hurting.
04:04A strong meaning of that section changing is just to be dynamic in the song.
04:10I feel like people can tend to just, they have their sections in the song, and they're like,
04:14great, and then just copy and paste, copy and paste.
04:16I was like, it's not a big difference, but to put in the effort and feel like the song's
04:20taking a journey, sometimes you just got to change little tiny things.
04:23I just broke it down a little bit, I whispered a little bit, I got a little smooth.
04:28Other than that, same message, pretty much just, I'm bummed.
04:54At the end of the song after the second chorus, before the beat drop
04:58we kind of strip, we kind of strip everything down.
05:00It was kind of in anticipation of like, we were going to bring the drums back in and stuff,
05:06and I just kind of pictured myself on a stage getting low, and wind blowing my non-existent
05:12hair, and I'm getting sexy and quiet in anticipation of the crowd going wild and the drums crashing.
05:19I just love noise and loud noise and head banging a little bit, so it's like, I was just trying
05:24to tee up that moment, so that when the beat dropped, shit was electric.
05:32This guy like on a TikTok or on a Twitch stream sang it.
05:36He sounded so good, and I was like, oh my gosh.
05:38I was like, what am I doing?
05:39This guy fucking blew me away.
05:41I was like, fuck, but it's all good.