It was primarily produced by West and longtime collaborator Mike Dean, who also provides a guitar solo, with additional production from Arca and Noah Goldstein.
In the song, West stumbles into an ex-girlfriend's home for reckless sex, with lyrics that contain references to substance abuse and issues with relationships and self-image.
[2] "Hold My Liquor" was written by West, Mike Dean, Vernon, Chief Keef, Elon Rutberg, Che Smith, Malik Jones, Alejandra Ghersi, Cydel Young, and Derrick Watkins.
His lyrics reflect issues with substance abuse, relationships, and self-image and contain references to Deepak Chopra and Tupac Shakur.
"[12] Longtime collaborator Mike Dean contributed guitar on the track, which was compared to the work of American electronic rock band Ratatat.
[15] Andrew Unterberger from Popdust also praised the song, claiming the instrumental was reminiscent of the Drive soundtrack and labeling West's verse a highlight.
[11] Jon Dolan of Rolling Stone described the song as "an elegantly wasted house ballad, with Justin Vernon of Bon Iver as dyspeptic diva crooning under the amber waves of drank and teenage Chicago rapper Chief Keef playing the sad gangsta.
[18] Despite not having been released as a single, "Hold My Liquor" managed to debut at number six on the US Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 and remained on the chart for only one more week.
"[15] According to Jordan Sargent of Spin, "her backing band kept the beat's shrieking punctuations and played up the bass drum's insistent, almost techno-level thump.
[29] A revamped version was released by BJ the Chicago Kid on October 7, 2014, titled "Can't Hold My Liquor", which kept several important components of the original.