"Self Care" is a song recorded by American rapper

Mac Miller Malcolm James McCormick (January 19, 1992 – September 7, 2018), known by the stage name Mac Miller, was an American rapper. He began his career in Pittsburgh's local hip hop music, hip hop scene in 2007, at the age of 15. In 2010, he signed ...

for his fifth studio album ''

Swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...

'' (2018). It was written by Miller, Destin Route, Erica Wright, Jahmal Cantero, Devonte Hynes, and its producers Dacoury Natche, Eric Dan, Tyler Mason, and Peter Mudge. The track was released on July 13, 2018, as the second single from the album. Musically, "Self Care" is a two-part song, described as a "self-guided tour through iller'spersonal rehabilitation" by ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

''s Sheldon Pearce. "Self Care" peaked at number 33 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 after Miller's death in September 2018, becoming his highest-charting song as lead artist at the time. The song was

certified Certification is part of testing, inspection and certification and the provision by an independent body of written assurance (a certificate) that the product, service or system in question meets specific requirements. It is the formal attestatio ...

triple platinum in the United States. Its

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

, which references the film '' Kill Bill: Volume 2'', shows Miller escaping a coffin after being buried alive.

Background and composition

"Self Care" was released by

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label. A subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division ...

on July 13, 2018, as the second single from

's fifth studio album ''

''. It is a two-part song, split between "Self Care" and "Oblivion". The first part was written by Miller, Destin Route, Devonte Hynes, and its producers Dacourny "DJ Dahi" Natche and Peter "Nice Rec" Mudge; it also contains an excerpt from " On & On" by

Erykah Badu Erica Abi Wright (born February 26, 1971), known professionally as Erykah Badu, is an American singer and songwriter. Influenced by rhythm and blues, R&B, Soul music, soul, and hip hop, Badu rose to prominence in the late 1990s when her debut al ...

, which was written by Badu and Jahmal Cantero. The second part was written by Miller and its producers Eric Dan, Tyler "Nostxlgic" Mason, and Mudge. * Online version: Each part was recorded separately in 2017, at

Conway Recording Studios Conway Recording Studios is a recording studio in Hollywood, California. People and awards Conway started in the early 1970s as a mastering studio. In 1976, the studio began recording albums, including projects by Elton John and Stevie Wonde ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

and

ID Labs ID Labs is a commercial recording studio and production facility, opened in 2003, owned and operated by Pittsburgh-based producer and engineer, Eric Dan. The engineer and producer team, composed of Jeremy "Big Jerm" Kulousek, Eric "E. Dan" Dan a ...

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

, respectively. "Self Care" contains elements of R&B,

space Space is a three-dimensional continuum containing positions and directions. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions. Modern physicists usually consider it, with time, to be part of a boundless ...

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

and

cloud rap Cloud rap is a subgenre of hip hop music that has several sonic characteristics of trap music with a hazy, dreamlike and relaxed production style. Rapper Lil B and producer Clams Casino were early pioneers of the style. The term "cloud rap" is ...

. The song begins with "watercolor synth washes", as Miller croons its affirming chorus. Around halfway through, it abruptly switches to an "airy synth and glitchy" beat, turning its vibe "from claustrophobic to weightless." ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

''s Gil Kaufman said the song "chronicles an emotional spiral, with Mac spinning out into 'oblivion,' which sounds like exactly the place he wants to be." Sheldon Pearce of ''

'' described it as a "breezy, self-guided tour through iller'spersonal rehabilitation."

Commercial performance

In the United States, "Self Care" debuted at number 24 on the ''Billboard'' Bubbling Under Hot 100, and peaked at number 5 on the chart dated August 18, 2018. After Miller's death in September 2018, "Self Care" was propelled to number 33 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, surpassing " Loud" (2012; number 53) as his highest-charting song as lead artist at the time. It also reached his highest peak as lead artist in Australia at number 83 on the

ARIA Charts The ARIA Charts are the main Australian record chart, music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA beca ...

, in Canada at number 38 on the

Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine. It was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007 as the standard record chart in Canada; a new chart ...

, and in the United Kingdom at number 61 on the UK Singles Chart. His peaks set by "Self Care" were later surpassed by " Good News" in 2020. In December 2024, "Self Care" was certified 6× platinum by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA) for combined sales and streaming data in excess of six million units in the United States.

Music video

A music video for "Self Care" was released on the same day as the song. Directed by Christian Weber, it begins with Miller buried alive inside a coffin. He raps his verses while smoking a cigarette, and carves "''

Memento mori (Latin for "remember (that you have) to die")

''" (Latin: "remember (that you have) to die") into the coffin using a pocket knife. After punching a hole into the coffin and emerging from the dirt, explosions send him flying. The video is an homage to a scene from the 2004 film '' Kill Bill: Volume 2''.

Personnel

Credits adapted from ''Swimming''s liner notes and Tidal. * Malcolm McCormick – lead vocals (as Mac Miller), songwriting * Peter Mudge – additional production, additional programming (as Nice Rec) * Ben Sedano – engineering assistant * John Armstrong – engineering assistant *

Manny Marroquin Manny Marroquin (born September 21, 1971) is a Guatemalan-American record mixing engineer. He has been credited on albums for high-profile pop, R&B, hip hop and rock acts. He has worked with artists including Rihanna, Kanye West, Katy Perry ...

– mix * Chris Galland – engineering mix * Robin Florent – engineering mix assistant * Scott Desmarais – engineering mix assistant *

Mike Bozzi Mike Bozzi is an American mastering engineer at Bernie Grundman Mastering in Hollywood, California. He won a Grammy Award for Record of the Year for mastering Childish Gambino's " This Is America", and is a six-time nominee for the Grammy Award fo ...

– mastering "Self Care" * Dacourny Natche – production, programming (as DJ Dahi) * Devonte Hynes – songwriting, additional vocals * Destin Route – songwriting, additional vocals (as JID) * Erica Wright – songwriting * Jahmal Cantero – songwriting * Vic Wainstein – recording "Oblivion" * Eric Dan – production, programming, recording (as ID Labs) * Tyler Mason – production, programming (as Nostxlgic)

Charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 2018 singles 2018 songs Mac Miller songs Warner Records singles Songs written by Erykah Badu Songs written by DJ Dahi Songs written by Dev Hynes Songs written by JID Songs written by Mac Miller