Produced by T-Pain himself, it was released on February 20, 2007, as the lead single from his second studio album, Epiphany.

T-Pain said during a USA Today interview that "Buy U a Drank" was "the first record where I was trying to make a hit song.

On the same Billboard magazine issue date, "Buy U a Drank (Shawty Snappin')" became T-Pain's highest-charting single on the Billboard Hot 100 to date, surpassing the number 5 peak of "I'm 'n Luv (Wit a Stripper)".

The song was less popular in the United Kingdom, failing to appear on the official UK Singles Chart.

The song, which spent its chart run in each of the top 12 positions of the Hot 100, broke the record of "Truly Madly Deeply" by Savage Garden, which previously had been the only single in the history of the Hot 100 to spend time in each of the top 10 positions on the chart during its run.

It premiered on April 9, 2007, on MTV and features cameos from various artists such as E-40, Gorilla Zoe, Huey, Tay Dizm, Ryan Shaw, Shawnna, Jay Lyriq, Kardinal Offishall, Brandon T. Jackson and many others.