Kid Cudi’s Spin on Grind Mode’s “I’m So High” Tops His Apple Music Profile 17 Years After Release
A DatPiff-era Kid Cudi smoker’s anthem bubbled on TikTok in September, and has since swiftly moved to the top of his Apple Music and Spotify profiles. If you’ve seen anyone dangling from crosswalk signs on your For You Page, you’ve already come across this sleeper hit, but as always, there’s more Hip Hop history here than meets the ear.
“Maui Wowie” is a memorable standout off Kid Cudi’s breakthrough offering — A Kid Named Cudi — a 2008 mixtape loaded with 2000’s era remixes and flips of so many legends: J Dilla’s “Wild”, Outkast’s “Chonkyfire”, and Grind Mode’s “She’s So Fly (I’m So High)”. In a time where the allure of distinct regional music trends feels like a thing of the past, the hidden gems and B-sides of any hip-hop region are more novel than ever before.
Simultaneous to Pitbull and Hurricane Chris hitting airwaves everywhere, a lesser known Floridian supergroup took the form of Grind Mode. “She’s So Fly (I’m So High)” is a deliriously catchy, regional club hit parading in euphoric synths and ecstatic drums, both epitomizing the Tampa-Miami jook movement of the 2000s, and cementing Grind Mode in hip-hop’s history books. Jook (the genre) and jookin’ (the dance) are pieces of Hip Hop rooted in genres like New Orleans Bounce, Miami Bass, and Jersey Club. Ultimately, the genre’s ethos was brought to life by Miami club-hopping, pill-popping, and hours sweating on the dancefloor, and Grind Mode are remembered today as the group that best capitalized on this era.
Grind Mode flew highest in the early stages of the social media boom, and this explains “I’m So High” making it to Kid Cudi’s keen ear, just months ahead of his debut tape. A Kid Named Cudi would mark the start of a series of more internationally seismic changes in Hip Hop, but it was more “Day N’ Nite” than “Maui Wowie” carrying the momentum. Still, Cudi’s ear for underground classics on every coast was a subtle harbinger for the budding age of artists more influenced by music far from home than ever before.
Fast forward to late 2025 — the recent virality of “Maui Wowie” has invoked some retrospective interest in the track. A select few chime in on comment sections everywhere to reminisce on the sample’s equally intoxicating and nostalgic bliss. Anyone finding themselves interested in more upbeat, ecstasy- laden Southern Hip-hop, should start with these other contemporary classics:
Ball Greezy – Shone
Desloc Piccalo, CJ, & Reggie Cash Flow – Stick Drill
The sound migrated in countless directions within the South, but arguably no destination was more notable than Lloyd’s 2007 radio hit, “Get It Shawty.”
Lloyd – Get It Shawty
SoundFynd 