About Here

"Here" is the debut single by Canadian singer Alessia Cara. It is the lead single for her extended play (EP) Four Pink Walls (2015) and her debut album Know-It-All (2015). The song was released on April 30, 2015. Created around a sample of "Ike's Rap II" by Isaac Hayes from the album Black Moses, "Here" is about people who secretly hate parties. The song slowly gained popularity, and became Cara's first US Billboard Hot 100 chart entry debuting at number 95 for the week of August 22, 2015. It later became her first top five single on the chart and reached the top of the US Pop Songs chart after a historic 26-week climb which broke a record held by Cee Lo Green's "Fuck You" and Demi Lovato's "Give Your Heart a Break". "Here" has charted in the top 40 in Australia, Canada, Netherlands, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. The official remix features American rapper Logic. The song was featured on the third season of the comedy-drama television series Younger.

While working on her debut album in 2014, Cara attended a house party. She told NME, "Everyone seemed to know each other, but not me. It was sweaty, there was a guy and girl passed out with vomit all over her, people were just stepping over them." The party caused her so much discomfort that she called her mother asking to take her home. Cara discussed the party with co-writer Sebastian Kole who then came up with the first line of the song. Her record label, Def Jam, initially persuaded her to release another song that was more friendly for radio, but Cara pushed for the release of "Here" as she felt the other song would not have made her stand out from other singers. "Here" samples "Ike's Rap II" by Isaac Hayes from the album Black Moses, which had also been sampled in Portishead's "Glory Box" and Tricky's "Hell Is Round the Corner". Oak Felder and Pop Wansel argued about wanting a Portishead or Hayes sample for the song, both unaware it was the same one.