Maybe in Nirvana

On October 28, 2022, Smino released his third album Luv 4 Rent through his Zero Fatigue label, under license to Motown. Seven months later, in May 2023, Smino tweeted about a deluxe version of the album, revealing that the reissue would be "actually a whole new album" that would possibly feature 12 new songs.^[4][5] Between 2023 and 2024, Smino would release loose singles and freestyles, also initially planning to release a sequel to his mixtape She Already Decided mixtape entitled She Always Dancing on April 20, 2023.^[6] Months after the release of the non-album singles "Mister Misfit but Ain't Missed a Fit in Months" and "Polynesian", Smino would officially announce his fourth album to be entitled Maybe in Nirvana, in an interview with Sway Calloway on his radio show Sway in the Morning.^[7] He explained that the album was made before Luv 4 Rent as a "closure project" for the time, and that he would never be at peace if he did not release this album.

The album's artwork and tracklist was revealed on December 2, 2024, four days prior to its release.