Lil Pump first teased a snippet of what would go on to be "Butterfly Doors" on December 18, 2018. The South Florida rapper posted a video of himself miming to a clip of the song to his social media accounts. It included a lyric referencing Chinese basketball player Yao Ming ("They call me Yao Ming 'cause my eyes real low"). After a later repetition of the line, Lil Pump ad-libbed "ching chong" and also pulled at the sides of his eyes. Pump's gesture was directed towards Asians - there was an immediate backlash because of the racial slur.

A week later, Lil Pump apologized in an Instagram video. He also tweaked the lyric before the song's release on January 4, 2019 removing the offensive lines.

The song title is a reference to high-performance cars, some of which have "butterfly doors."

Butterfly doors
Space coupe look like a UFO

Butterfly doors move up and out via hinges along the A-pillar and open vertically. When opened, they look like a winged insect, hence their name.