The mixtape was first teased by many hip hop personalities such as DJ Skee, Angela Yee and Ernest Baker. On September 19, 2015, Drake posted on his Instagram and confirmed the mixtape's title, album art, and the release date of September 20.
The album's cover art was an image of a cluster of uncut diamonds taken by Christina Tisi-Kramer and was purchased through Shutterstock.
On April 29, 2016, Drake would reveal in an interview with Zane Lowe of Beats 1 that Future and himself had recorded the song "Digital Dash" first for one of Future's projects but Drake had also recorded vocals and they decided to both create a mixtape together and include it on What a Time to Be Alive. The last song recorded for the album was "Jumpman".
