On March 29, 2018, Lil Durk announced the mixtape's title, artwork and release date.[3]
On April 11, 2018, in an exclusive interview with Billboard, Durk spoke on his departure from Def Jam Records amid creative differences and wanted to show fans the new and improved version of himself as an independent artist with the release of Just 'Cause Y'all Waited.[4]
On April 20, 2018, Durk was featured in an exclusive interview with Respect., in which he described the inspiration for the mixtape, by saying:
It's a fresh new sound and [it's] about me doing just what I want to do. The cover was inspired by just [having] natural swag, I [liked] the picture so I decided to make it the face of the project.[5]
Dean Van Nguyen of Pitchfork wrote "It's the only wasted motion on Just Cause Y'all Waited, which will likely go down as a minor release in Durk's canon. Even so, this mixtape is a reminder that he's one of his city's most compelling correspondents."
