After the end of her promotional touring for her album "Never Say Never" (1998), the end of her UPN sitcom "Moesha" and a flurry of tabloid headlines discussing her nervous breakdown in November 1999, Norwood went on a lengthy hiatus to reflect and take some introspective looks. In mid-2000, she started reconsecrating herself on her musical career, contributing songs to albums such as "Urban Renewal" (2001), which introduced a scratchy, evocative edge to Norwood's voice, now having a deeper and warmer tone with a textured lower register and notably stronger falsetto. In fall 2000, Norwood finally began conceiving ideas for a third studio album with the Atlantic label. While Rodney Jerkins, the main producer of her previous album, and his team, had been working on several new songs for the singer's upcoming project in hopes of recreating the winning chemistry of "Never Say Never", Norwood wanted to make sure that she was gaining more creative control over the project and thus, arranged meetings with all her writers and musicians to discuss the lyricals topics and sounds she wanted for the album.