At the time of its release, critics noted that the collaboration helped bolster Kingston's evolving musical profile. While some listeners were divided on the heavy use of auto-tune—a common criticism for Lil Wayne's work in 2009—the track was widely considered a "hot joint" that merged Kingston's island-pop style with Wayne's dominant hip-hop influence. Sean Kingston – War Lyrics - Genius

: Lil Wayne’s verse leans heavily into the soldier theme, referring to himself as "Captain Carter" and describing his heart as a "grenade". He also gives a "salute to all the veterans" within the romantic context of the lyrics. Reception

The track first surfaced in January 2009 as a anticipated single for Kingston’s second studio album, .

: Kingston sings about being "at war" for the one he loves, expressing a willingness to "take a bullet" or go through "World War II" to be with them.

: While the version featuring Lil Wayne gained significant traction on blogs and mixtapes, a solo version titled simply " War " was included on the final tracklist of the album Tomorrow , released on September 22, 2009.

: The song was produced by J.R. Rotem , Sean Kingston's frequent collaborator and the producer behind his breakout hit "Beautiful Girls".