The Makings of Me is the fifth studio album by American singer Monica. It was released by J Records on October 3, 2006 in the United States. Built upon the hip hop, gospel and modern quiet storm styles of its predecessor, "After the Storm" (2003), Monica envisioned her follow-up project to sound as close knit and intimate as her previous project. Consequently, she enlisted frequent collaborators Missy Elliott, Bryan Michael Cox, and Jermaine Dupri to work with her on the album, with the latter serving as its executive producer, as well as new partners such as The Underdogs, Tank, LRoc, Swizz Beatz, and Sean Garrett.