“Tribe” is the ninth official collaboration between J. Cole and his Dreamville Records signee Bas. It was released as the second official single from Milky Way two days before the album’s release. The song was released alongside its music video.

Bas first previewed J. Cole’s portion of the song on July 15, 2018, during his set at the 2018 Woo Hah! Festival. He previewed his own contributions on August 6, 2018, on his Instagram story. He later released a trailer on August 17, 2018, featuring footage from the studio recording session.