The record is one out of three Elliott-produced additions to the partially re-worked "After the Storm" album, commissioned by J Records head and executive producer Clive Davis after Elliott's 2002 success with her fourth studio album, "Under Construction", and the delay of Monica's original third studio album, "All Eyez On Me", the year before. It was conceived during a studio session week in the Goldmind recordings studios in Miami in early 2003, with most of it being "done in probably three or four hours." Speaking about its sound, Monica said in an interview with "MTV News": "'So Gone' takes you back to when people first heard me. It's got that feeling like no holds barred, not trying to cater to any one audience." Initially recorded for the US re-release of "All Eyez on Me", it was later featured on the re-tooled "After the Storm" album only.