mxmtoon

Mxmtoon, born Maia Xiao-En Moredock-Ting, is an American singer-songwriter, YouTuber, Twitch Streamer, and author whose pop sound has made her viral among Gen Z. Born in Oakland, California, Maia developed an interest in music at an early age. Although she first learned to play the piano and guitar, she later picked up the ukulele in middle school and began writing original songs at thirteen. Before becoming a musician, Mxmtoon was the name she used for an online cartoon project, which evolved into her social media username and eventually became her professional stage name. She began uploading covers and original songs to YouTube in 2017 while still in high school, recording in her family home with just a ukulele and a laptop. 

Her songs quickly found an audience online, and in 2018, she released her debut EP plum blossom. She followed it a year later with her debut studio album the masquerade, which featured the single “prom dress”. The song became a streaming success, going viral on TikTok and establishing mxmtoon as one of the leading voices of the emerging bedroom-pop genre. 

Maia started expanding her creative career, releasing the EPs dawn and dusk in 2020, exploring themes of loneliness, optimism, and self-discovery during the COVID-19 pandemic. That same year, she launched the podcast 365 with mxmtoon, in which she highlighted historical events associated with each day of the year. She also published her first graphic novel, The Adventures of Mxmtoon: The Masquerade, expanding the lore and world-building of her debut album. 

She continued to evolve her musical sound with her second studio album, Rising, which she released in 2022. It reflected a confidence in her songwriting and production, exploring themes of adulthood, relationships, and personal independence. She later contributed to the song “True Colors” to the soundtrack of the video game Life is Strange before releasing her third album, liminal space, in 2024. Alongside her music, mxmtoon has remained active across YouTube, Twitch, and social media, where she regularly shares gaming content and converses with fans. 

Maia came out as bi in 2017, later joking during an interview with Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me! in 2025 that she experienced “two coming outs” that year: first as bi, and later as someone choosing music over college. She recalled that becoming a musician was actually the more difficult conversation with her parents, both of whom are educators. 

Maia has also spoken openly about how her sexuality has influenced both her life and her music. While speaking with Them in 2020, she explained that Ramona Flowers from Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World was the first explicitly bi character she remembers seeing on screen. While grateful that the character introduced her to the idea that bisexuality existed, she criticized the film’s suggestion that bisexuality could be dismissed as “a phase”, and explained that the experience motivated her to create better representation through her own work so that young bi people would not experience the same uncertainty she felt growing up.

In a 2024 interview with Archer Magazine, she also reflected on growing into her identity, saying that much of her early career involved:

Coming into being bisexual….and unpacking what it meant to be a mixed-race woman in music.

Outside of her music career, Maia has consistently used her platform to advocate for LGBT rights, racial equality, and mental health awareness. She has spoken openly about being “a young bi woman of color from a family of immigrants”, emphasizing the responsibility she feels toward her fans who share those identities. Through her music, livestreams, and interviews, she continues to encourage young people to embrace every part of themselves rather than viewing their identities as obstacles to overcome.