Dominique Nique Xavier began rapping at the age of 8, but his first official release, Get Off My Cloud, was not until 2013, when he was 19. His next project, 6 AM, wasn't released until 2015 and garnered Nique much more attention than any of his previous releases. In November 2016, he released his first for-sale project, the EP titled Dazed & Confused. This release was noticeably darker than his previous releases due to the death of his brother and elevated drug use. Brandon Caldwell of A Day & A Dream wrote, "If Dazed & Confused was recorded in darkness, its easy to believe." Prior to the release of the EP, Nique went on the internet radio show The Tuesday Special w/ Kels and admitted to being clinically diagnosed with major depressive disorder, anxiety, and PTSD. The first track on Dazed & Confused was named "PTSD", as an ode to the demons Nique had faced throughout 2016. The rapper went on to release a slew of videos in 2017, including visuals for "High Rise" and  "40," which both garnered a large following. In July of 2017 Nique was the sole performer at the Summer Vibes '17 concert in Laredo, TX, which exceeded capacity with over 500 people in the audience.