As with most of its parent album Trench, "The Hype" was written by Tyler Joseph, the lead singer of Twenty One Pilots, and produced by him alongside Paul Meany of the alternative rock band Mutemath.

The songwriting process and recording took place in secret in Joseph's basement studio in Columbus, Ohio, while the track was mixed by Adam Hawkins and mastered by Chris Gehringer at Sterling Sound, New York City.

[4][1] In an interview with Coup de Main Magazine, Joseph revealed that while writing the track, he intended for its production to sound like that of which he found in his childhood.

"[10] A clip from the first episode of their web series documenting their tour in support of their second album Regional at Best is sampled during the bridge, with the audio snippet relating to their reliance on technology during live shows, following the departure of the band's two original members, Chris Salih and Nick Thomas.

After singing the chorus for the second time, Joseph climbs a ladder, opens a door in the ceiling, and the duo performs on the house's roof.

The video ends with Joseph on the street closing the flap on his shirt and Dun giving him a cup filled with a strawberry drink.

Gary Ryan of NME opined that "The Hype" was one of the songs off Trench "strong enough to exist outside of any story," referring to the narrative found on the record.