On June 26, 2024, while Young Thug was incarcerated, a post from his Twitter account came out that said: "whateva wham say goes".[4] Following his release from jail, he posted on November 3: "Wham let’s drop one on these rats peter". Shortly after the post, billboards reading "Whatever Wham Says Goes" began to appear throughout Los Angeles, California.[5] On November 11, Baby was seen with Young Thug, Future, and Travis Scott in a recording studio.[6] Five days later, Baby revealed that he got 21 Savage's "hardest verse ever".[7] On November 20, he shared a partial tracklist of the album, teasing several features.[8] On the same day, he took to social media to flex his $2.6 million custom jewelry that said "WHAM" in reference to the album's title.[9] Baby officially announced the release of the album and shared its pre-save link.[10][11] On December 21, he shared the album's official artwork and tracklist.[12] On December 31, Baby shared the album's official trailer before releasing a live performance of "Streets Colder" on the 4 Shooters Only YouTube channel on January 1, 2025.[13][14]
Upon the release of the album, Baby released a music video for the album's third track, "F U 2x".[15] On January 6, 2024, Baby released a music video for the album's sixth track: "By Myself", which features Rod Wave and Rylo Rodriguez.[16]
In a positive review, Clash's Robin Murray wrote that the record "distils Lil Baby’s potency down to a thick, unrelenting elixir". Murray continued that on the album, Baby is "continually switching up flows" and that "his trap-leaning sonic thirst has rarely been so unremittingly effective". Murray concluded that the album "feels both eclectic and uniquely defined".[17]
Yegor Mirnov of Medium considered the album to be "mediocre", giving the album a 5.7/10 and stated that more casual listeners of the music genres trap and hip-hop [would need to] prepare to be largely unmoved.[18] Mirnov also compared the album [WHAM] to American Dream by 21 Savage and stated that WHAM was "simple, but solid". Mirnov noted that the album's production "though simplistic and straightforward", doesn’t necessarily bore you like it did on Lil Baby's previous album: It's Only Me.[18]
