On “Fetish,” Selena acts as the object of affection of an obsessive sexual partner. She first teased the single at the end of the music video for her previous single “Bad Liar,” with about 17 seconds of the “Fetish” video.

Although she was in a relationship with The Weeknd during recording of this track, it is not built around their relationship. Selena commented on this topic during a June 9, 2017 interview on The Zach Sang Show:

I think for me, I like to keep that really separate. … So as much as that has been inspiring … the moment I start doing something because I’m influenced by someone else, it just doesn’t work out.

Selena revealed the official date release and the artwork for the track on Twitter and Instagram.