The song was written and produced by Beyoncé Knowles, Shondrae "Bangladesh" Crawford, and Sean Garrett for the singer's third studio album I Am... Sasha Fierce (2008).

The song boasts a beat and a bassline similar to those of another Bangladesh 2008 production, "A Milli" by American rapper, Lil' Wayne; critics coined "Diva" as a "female companion" to the latter.

The video received mixed response from critics, who were not pleased by its concept as they believed it portrayed Beyoncé's alter ego Sasha Fierce ineffectively.

[1] According to an interview that Bangladesh gave with Rap-Up, the song was originally intended to be included on the track-listing of his own mixtape[2] after choosing a female artist to contribute vocals to "Diva".

[5] However, the release of "Ego" was scrapped and replaced with "Diva",[6] which was taken from a different disc of I Am... Sasha Fierce to "Halo"; the intention was to demonstrate the concept that Beyoncé has conflicting personalities.

[22] The song marks a change of direction for Beyoncé; she raps in cadences[22] over a Roland TR-808 machine, kick drums, and fewer instruments than her usual tracks.

[17][23] As stated by Andy Kellman of Allmusic, "Diva" aurally resembles Beyoncé's own 2006 songs "Freakum Dress" and "Ring the Alarm".

[25] Adam Mattera of The Observer noted "Diva" could be "a perfect independent women anthem";[26] its lyrics reflect a message of courage and determination.

According to Nick Levine of Digital Spy, Beyoncé's alter ego Sasha Fierce also salutes her earning power and proclaims herself as the "number one diva in the game".

"[30][31] After singing the third verse and the chorus for the third time, Beyoncé adopts her initial chipmunked vocals to end the song, chanting, "I'm a, I'm a, a diva".

[31] Leah Greenblat of Entertainment Weekly wrote that "Diva" can make a good feminine companion to "A Milli" thanks to their use of similar music instruments.

Freedom du Lac of The Washington Post chose it as one of the best songs on I Am... Sasha Fierce, calling it a "fun, [and] tuneless, gender-twisting play".

[15] Greg Kot of Chicago Tribune commented that the "menacing rhythm and chanted vocals" on "Diva", mark the album's biggest departure.

[33] Adam Mazmanian of The Washington Times felt that the song was influenced by Beyoncé's husband, American rapper Jay-Z as it has a "bad soft-core gangster rap".

[29] Similarly, Daniel Brockman of The Phoenix remarked that the song is "particularly intriguing" as it progresses through "hard-knockish robbery scenarios" which does not resemble Beyoncé's clean public image.

[23] The Village Voice's Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond described Sasha Fierce as "suffer [sic] no such identity crisis, brassy, big-headed, confrontational, and witty...", reflected on "Diva".

[38] The Observer's Adam Mattera described the song as a potential source of inspiration to drag queens, however concluded that it can also leave many persons confused and bewildered.

[26] Alexis Petridis of The Guardian, also reviewed the song negatively, stating, "The sonic trickery on the most experimental track, 'Diva', isn't interesting enough to distract you from the absence of a tune.

[59] The music video is conceptually similar to that for "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" in the sense that it was filmed in black and white, shows Beyoncé as alter ego Sasha Fierce, who dons her metal glove and performs choreography with two back-up dancers with more formal leotards.

Beyoncé wears a Gareth Pugh design in the video,[60] a custom Brian Lichtenberg bodysuit,[61] as well as a couple of vintage Thierry Mugler Haute Couture pieces, including a leather bodice and a reptilia inspired gown.

[65] However, she chose the C-3PO-inspired mannequins, the lack of Beyoncé's robot hand and the "obnoxious camera work or car explosion" as the worst parts of the video.

"[30] Slezak further described the set as a "trunk full of mannequins, Cylon-y fringed sunglasses, and angry-lady dancing on display in the accompanying video".

[72] On October 7, 2012, Beyoncé appeared at Jay-Z's concert at the Barclays Center and performed "Diva", "Crazy in Love" and "Young Forever".

In 2023, Beyoncé performed "Diva" once again during her Renaissance World Tour, this time mashed-up with Lil Uzi Vert's "Just Wanna Rock".

[74] Alex Newell, Heather Morris, Jenna Ushkowitz and Darren Criss covered the song in the eponymous episode of the fourth season of the American television series Glee which aired on February 7, 2013.

[75][76] In a review of the episode, Daniel Sperling of the website Digital Spy, described the performance of the song as one of the "plenty of fierce moments" adding that it was "posy, [and] pouty".