In November 2021, Steve Lacy broke up with his boyfriend of seven months. This song details how following their breakup, his ex-lover struggled with empty feelings and resorted to self-medicating with ketamine as a form of escape. While Lacy's ex remained "static," the bisexual singer moved on and wanted his next romantic partner to be a girl. Lacy elaborated on the song's meaning in a 2022 interview with W magazine: "That song's about going through a breakup and not trying to run away from the pain of it. 'New boyfriend ain't gonna fill the void' is kind of like saying, a rebound isn’t gonna help. You can't just put a Band-Aid on it. I'm not gonna run away from the pain. I'm about to feel this sh-t."

"Static" is the opening track of Gemini Rights. Lacy's breakup informed much of the album. "I just felt like I tried, I kept trying, I kept wanting to try, and nothing was working," he told The Guardian of the split. "[I wanted to] just communicate openly, but it was just hard. But I made a great record, and I love him, it's all good." Lacy said the couple tried to revive their relationship but it didn't work out.

Asked what his ex makes of an album that's all about him, Lacy replied: "He liked it – there were certain lines where he was like, hmmm?"