Christian rapper Trip Lee says The Waiting Room is based on a lyric from his 2012 album The Good Life, describing the struggles experienced in this lifetime while anticipating what’s next. An optimism based in religious faith pervades the album, yet it remains grounded in humbling reality; melancholy tracks like the slow, guitar-laced "IDK" wrestle with loneliness, while the trap claustrophobia of "Lord Have Mercy" laments brutal reality. The striding "Too Cold" offers a purposeful, driven symphonic funk to help followers face an unfeeling world.