What Ifs

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What Ifs is a country song by Kane Brown featuring Lauren Alaina from his debut album, Kane Brown. It was released as the album’s second single on February 6, 2017. The song, written by Kane Brown, Matt McGinn, and Jordan Schmidt, runs 3 minutes and 8 seconds and was produced by Dann Huff and Kane Brown.

The lyrics talk about a couple who keep asking “what if” about what could happen in their relationship. Lauren Alaina, a school friend of Brown’s, sings the duet part. Brown didn’t plan for it to be a duet at first, but he chose Alaina when they decided to add a female voice.

Musically, What Ifs is in the key of G minor with a tempo of about 126 BPM, using the chords Gm, B-flat, and F. Brown’s vocal range on the track spans from F2 to B-flat4.

The song helped drive strong commercial success. It sold 6,000 downloads in the week the album arrived, peaking at number 37 on the US Hot Country Songs chart. It entered the US Country Airplay chart at number 60 in early March 2017. What Ifs climbed to number one on Hot Country Songs in October 2017, ending Sam Hunt’s long run with Body Like a Back Road, and it was a first country-chart-topping collaboration for both Brown and Alaina. The following week, it also led the Country Airplay and Country Streaming Songs charts.

With the deluxe edition of the album and the release of another track, Heaven, Brown became the first artist to have simultaneous number ones on all five major country music charts. What Ifs was one of the most-used country songs of 2017, with about 1.55 million units in 2017 (combining sales and streaming). By January 2019, it had sold 889,000 copies in the US. On February 26, 2025, the single was certified Diamond by the RIAA for more than 10 million units in the United States.

The official music video, directed by P. R. Brown, shows Brown and Alaina singing along the California coast at The Inn at Newport Ranch and was released on May 14, 2017. A lyric video came out earlier, on May 4, 2017.