Lil Jon conceived the idea of recording "Lovers and Friends" after continuously hearing the original song by American singer Michael Sterling and noticing the positive reaction it received when played in strip clubs.

TVT Records had not intended to commercially release "Lovers and Friends" as a single due to legal paperwork complications, such as Sterling's compensation for the song's chart success.

[2] In a 2004 interview with Billboard, Lil Jon described "Lovers and Friends" as a "classic booty shake record" from the "Keith Sweat era" and revealed he deliberately chose Usher to appear since nobody would expect him to sing the song.

[20] USA Today writer Steve Jones described "Lovers and Friends" as "smooth",[7] while Caramanica stated that any R&B artist "would be grateful" to include the song on their album.

The Augusta Chronicle writer C. Samantha McKevie stated that the song alters the pace of the album and "show[s] a softer side" of Lil Jon.

[22] Orisanmi Burton of AllHipHop wrote that it "disrupt[s] the rhythm" and is "contrived",[23] while Heather Kuldell and Craig Seymour of Creative Loafing described "Lovers and Friends" as "something they [would] play at an eighth-grade dance" and noted that a Chris Rock introduction is the "lead-in".

[24] Writing for The New York Times, Kelefa Sanneh critiqued that the previous song is a Rick Rubin produced "head-banging, Slayer sampling rant" which segues into "an almost comically light piano ballad".

Cyclone Wehner of the Herald Sun negatively compared "Lovers and Friends" to Usher's 2004 B-side ballad "Red Light", expressing a desire for it to be more similar to "Yeah!".

[10] Writing for PopMatters, Lee Henderson stated that the slow jam is "an ode to ass-fucking" and believed that Lil Jon insulted hip hop admirers.

[28] "Lovers and Friends" debuted at number 16 on the US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart dated November 27, 2004, which was attributed to high airplay despite the lack of a retail release.

[37] American actor and singer Trevor Jackson sampled it on the 2020 song "Just Friends",[5][6] which was released as the lead single from his debut studio album The Love Language (2021).