So High

"So High" is the debut single by American rapper and singer Doja Cat. She originally self-published an early version of the song exclusively to SoundCloud on November 8, 2012 at the age of 17. On March 13, 2014, it was repackaged and commercially released as the lead single from her debut EP Purrr! under Kemosabe and RCA Records. The musical base of the track is the song "Falling Leaves" by French producer Evil Needle. Doja Cat herself has since expressed retrospective disdain towards the record, citing the lyrics and vocal performance as cringeworthy. Background and recording In 2011, Doja Cat began teaching herself how to sing, rap and use GarageBand after dropping out of high school at age 16 while in eleventh grade. She revealed that she never had intentions of singing or rapping until she dropped out and needed a job. Doja Cat would spend a lot of time browsing YouTube for beats and instrumentals which she would add vocals to using the built-in microphone on her MacBook, all while sitting on the mattress on her own bedroom floor. She would eventually use GarageBand to sample "Falling Leaves", a single by French producer Evil Needle, officially released on October 16, 2012. Doja Cat shortly uploaded "So High" to SoundCloud on November 8, 2012, later revealing that this would be the first permanent track on her account to not be deleted shortly afterwards unlike its precursors. She recalls crying after the track amassed 12 views and two likes on the platform. "So High" would eventually catch the attention of Kemosabe and RCA Records, where she signed a joint record deal as well as a temporary artist management partnership with Roc Nation. While under the two record labels, Doja Cat made her solo debut by releasing a repackaged studio version of "So High" on March 13, 2014. An official music video for the song was released a few days later, and somewhat helped gain the song moderate public attention online. It would serve as the lead single for Doja Cat's debut EP Purrr! (2014), but would also later lose traction when her Roc Nation partnership ended and she failed to find a "solid team". Doja Cat entered a somewhat of a commercial hiatus for several years, but would continue to upload tracks to her SoundCloud account, while the music video for "So High" would also continually gain views during this time.