It was serviced to contemporary hit radio on May 3, 2016, through Interscope Records as the fourth and final single from her second studio album Revival (2015).
As production coordinators, Andrew Luftman, Zvi Edelman, Astrid Taylor, and Seif Hussain assembled Antonina Armato and Tim James, known by their production name Rock Mafia, and Benny Blanco to assist Gomez in writing and producing "Kill Em with Kindness".
"Kill Em with Kindness" is a dance and electro house song with a tropical house production, and incorporates elements of euro-dance, EDM and electro music.
Lyrically, the track gives advice for dealing with critics and revolves around the theme of magnanimity.
The song was inspired by the fat-shaming Gomez endured from news outlets and social media users after pictures of the singer on a beach in Mexico surfaced online.