The worldwide success of the band's previous album Blood Sugar Sex Magik (1991) caused guitarist John Frusciante to become uncomfortable with their popularity, eventually quitting mid-tour in 1992.

Vocalist Anthony Kiedis, who had resumed addictions to cocaine and heroin in 1994 after being sober for more than five years, approached his lyricism with a reflective outlook on drugs and their harsh effects.

Bassist Flea sang lead vocals on "Pea", as well as the outro of "Deep Kick" and the chorus of the album outtake "Stretch".

[12][15] Upon returning to Hollywood, the band placed an ad in the L.A. Weekly for open guitar auditions, which Kiedis considered to be a waste of time.

Kiedis made a trip to Grand Rapids, Michigan, in December for Christmas, where his family realized he'd resumed an active addiction once again.

[23] Considering Kiedis had resumed heavy drug use and Frusciante was no longer present for collaboration, songs were written at a far slower rate.

With the writing process taking too much time and Kiedis returning to his drug habit, for the first time on any of the band's albums, Flea, besides contributing music as usual, wrote some of the lyrics, including "Transcending", his tribute to River Phoenix along with the intro and outro to "Deep Kick", a song that told the story of his and Kiedis's youth.

Also, Flea sang lead vocals (to "Pea") for the first time on any album, as well as singing the outro to "Deep Kick" and the chorus of the outtake "Stretch".

[12][24] Stylistically, One Hot Minute diverged from the Chili Peppers' previous records, especially Blood Sugar Sex Magik.

[27] Continuing a trend that started on Blood Sugar Sex Magik, Kiedis diverged even further away from his signature rapping, only doing so on a few tracks.

Many of the songs were known by alternate/working titles during the recording/writing process: "Swirly" ("Warped"), "Music is My Aeroplane" ("Aeroplane"), "Psychedelic" ("Deep Kick"), "Baseballs" ("Coffee Shop"), "The Pea Song" ("Pea"), "Gang of Four" ("One Big Mob"), "Epic" ("One Hot Minute"), "Frog" ("Shallow Be Thy Game"), "River" ("Transcending"), "Evil" ("Let's Make Evil"), "Punk Blender" ("Blender") "Stretching You Out" ("Stretch"), and "Melancholy Mechanics of My Mind" and "Velvet" ("Melancholy Mechanics").

Flea mentioned in interviews that "The Intimidator" was inspired by Miles Davis"[33] while it has been speculated from comments made by Chad Smith that "Slow Funk" was a working title for "Falling Into Grace".

[35] Warner Bros., however, saw the video and instantly wanted it thrown away, considering it to be unmarketable and that the kiss and the homoerotic imagery would alienate a large portion of the band's fan base.

[35] The band came to a consensus to let the kiss remain on the final cut, prompting a backlash from the college segment of their audience, who took offense at the action.

[35] One Hot Minute was not as universally well received as Blood Sugar Sex Magik, and was ultimately considered to be a poor follow-up.

Daina Darzin of Rolling Stone said "One Hot Minute dives into the emotionally deep end of drug addiction and loss", and that the album "is a ferociously eclectic and imaginative disc that also presents the band members as more thoughtful, spiritual—even grown-up.

"[46] David Browne of Entertainment Weekly said that "One Hot Minute wails and flails like a mosh-pit workout tape, but it also has moments of outright subtlety and maturity."

Browne, however, criticizes the band for "attempts at cosmic philosophy which often trip up on hippie-dippie sentiments", and some songs "fall back on tired frat-funk flop sweat.

"The incoming Navarro rarely fails to deliver the goods and upfront the taut ball of energy going by the name of Anthony Kiedis still makes for a suitably rubbery-lipped frontman, if not exactly a lovable one.

"[45] Q also included One Hot Minute in its 'best of the year' roundup: "A bulging, blistering blend of a skewed ballads and physically intimidating workouts that charge around like a bull on a promise.

[50] "My Friends" was considered by Erlewine to be a blatant attempt to hold on to the mainstream audience gained by "Under the Bridge", and that in contrast, "the melodies are weak and the lyrics are even more feeble."

"[25][40] Rolling Stone, on the other hand, said the song was "lovely", and incorporated a "vaguely folky chorus, and sports the same sad wishfulness of 'Under the Bridge' and 'Breaking the Girl'."

The article went on to praise "Warped" claiming it "mixes harrowing lyrics with a multi-toned, layered intro and a whirling dervish of noises and big-rock rhythms surfing through and over big, funky hooks.

He tripped over a monitor and fell off the stage, ending up hanging by his calf from his microphone cable, resulting in a cast which he wore for the next two months.

[54] Kiedis reflected that it "was nice to see that people were still interested in coming out to see what we do," as there'd been a four-year gap since the release of Blood Sugar Sex Magik.

[54] The band was then asked to play in the North Pole for roughly 100 contest winners of a concert set up by Molson, a Canadian beer company.

Following discharge from the hospital, he was forced to wear a full-arm cast for several months, resulting in the cancellation of all remaining scheduled concerts.

"[59] The band made an attempt to begin writing for a follow-up and had written and began recording a song titled "Circle of the Noose", but it was never completed.

The song, the last to feature guitar work from Navarro, was a tribute to the late qawwali-devotional singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.

Chad Smith was asked by fans during a February 2014 online interview about the band's reasons for not performing the songs, and he responded by saying "We don't really feel that connected to that record anymore.