Written by Christopher Kelly and Will Baker, the Hammond organ-driven R&B song is a pensive reflection on lost love produced by John Howcott and Donald Parks.

Before "Lately" was written, producers John Howcott and Donald Parks, who had previously worked with American singer-songwriter Keith Sweat, formed a company called Urban Vibe.

Alongside his longtime friend, Christopher Kelly, Baker wrote the track about his days in high school, when he and his girlfriend, whom he eventually married, explored the dynamic extremes of their relationship.

When Red Ant Entertainment founder Ruben Rodriguez heard the song's demo tape, he expressed interest in the composition and took it to Divine, a female music trio he had recently signed to the label.

The group, consisting of Nikki Bratcher, Tonia Tash, and Kia Thornton, recorded the song across three locations, including Indianapolis.

[2][15] Tom Breihan of Stereogum reviewed the song in his "The Number Ones" column, calling the track "good" and praising its vocals and sound.

He went on to write that some of the lyrics are "banal", particularly the line "If loving you is right, then I don't wanna go wrong," but stated that the overall mood is the more crucial focal point of a track like "Lately", rating it 7 out of 10.

[1] In Radio & Records magazine, Stan Branson wrote that the track is a "deserved" number-one hit, complimenting Divine's vocals and comparing them to those of the Emotions and the Jones Girls.

[23][24] On December 7, 1998, the song was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipping over one million units domestically, selling about 100,000 more copies by the end of January 1999.

[33] In late 1999, the song reached the top 50 in Australia and New Zealand while also appearing on the singles charts of the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

[51] After Mumba's initial close-ups, she turns her head, and the video pans to an Asian man's photo hanging on a wall, which continues to show up throughout the clip.