About Lights Down Low (feat. gnash)

"Lights Down Low" is a song by American singer Max Schneider (better known as MAX) from his 2016 album, Hell's Kitchen Angel. The song was written by Schneider, Nathaniel Motte, and Liam O'Donnell, with Motte serving as the producer. A later remix of the song includes a feature and writing contribution from singer gnash. The song, which MAX used to propose to his wife Emily, was released in October 2016; it became a sleeper hit, entering the Billboard Hot 100 more than a year after its release, and also earning a Platinum certification from the RIAA for sales of more than 1,000,000 copies. The song had an accompanying music video tracing the life of a couple living in an apartment. A "Latin Mix" featuring Argentine singer TINI was released on December 15, 2017.

After recording the song, MAX played it for his girlfriend, Emily, followed by a marriage proposal which she accepted. Originally, MAX planned to release the song in its solo form, but he decided to feature American rapper gnash on it after "this moment where I was like, 'Well, I kind of hear [gnash's] voice on "Lights Down Low." I never considered a rapper, it's a ballad, but you know what? I'm just gonna talk to him.' After the song's release, it drew much attention in the LGBT community. In a 2017 interview with Billboard, MAX stated that "It's not our song anymore. It's everybody's song. Everybody is able to add whatever they want to it, what it is to them, and in that way, it becomes so much less — it's not about us anymore. It's not about even the artist or the writer or the singer, it's about what it can stand for for people."