Between 2020 and 2023, Timberlake did not release any solo singles, only appearing on collaborations such as "Stay with Me", "Sin Fin" with Romeo Santos, and on Timbaland's "Keep Going Up" alongside Nelly Furtado.

[6] The song was written by Timberlake, Amy Allen, Henry Walter, Theron Thomas, and Louis Bell.

[9] Billboard compared the track to Timberlake's previous lead singles saying it "is actually much more unassuming" describing it as "a honeyed, ornately produced mid-tempo ballad built on warmly groaning organs and a bossa nova drum machine," and while lyrically "not exactly a brand-new sentiment" for Timberlake, it is "one sweet enough that it's hard to really get up much hate for.

[11] Consequence gave the song a widely negative review, calling it "a turd" and stating that "'Selfish' isn't even bad enough to be interesting, and it's certainly not ambitious; it's like he was aiming squarely for mediocre and still came up short.

[13] The Daily Beast also compared "Selfish" to Jonas's song, and said it "seems to be mature, radio-friendly, well-produced, and, yes, ambitionless pop.

[17] On January 19, 2024, Timberlake performed a free one-night-only concert at the Orpheum in Memphis where he live-debuted the new single after teasing a new project on social media in previous days.