Songfacts®:

• "Silence" is a collaboration between the helmeted DJ/producer Marshmello and the emotive Texas singer Khalid at a time when both were emerging artists. The song was released on August 11, 2017, a year after Marshmello broke onto the scene with "Alone" and Khalid with "Location." The song, a dance ballad, shows a different side to both of them and was a global hit, pulling in fans of both artists. The pair teamed up again in 2022 on "Numb."
• The song finds Khalid learning to overcome his fears so he can develop meaningful relationships - he's not trapped by silence anymore. He told 92.3 AMP Radio: "It's one of my favorite songs I've ever written because it's so personal and it's about accepting loneliness and using that to your advantage and becoming creative and expressing yourself. You know, finding peace in violence."
• Khalid told the Minneapolis Star Tribune the line "I found peace in your violence" is about "all the noise and disruption I experienced being an outcast, and finding peace in it and using it to form my creative vision."
• The collaboration came about after Khalid stayed at Marshmello's house during Coachella and the two became friends. Both artists are introverts in an industry that rewards constant accessibility and sharing. Marshmello has explained that producers like him spend most of their time alone with machines, so performing isn't their natural state. He can relate to someone like Khalid who doesn't crave the spotlight.