Fun Facts Babyface Shared About Creating The Waiting To Exhale Soundtrack

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This past weekend, those of us who are still social distancing were stuck inside. Thankfully, there was plenty to keep us entertained. In addition to the two Verzuz battles, Babyface also hosted his Waiting To Exhale soundtrack special. For those who don’t know, Babyface wrote and produced the entire soundtrack and during the special, which he hosted from his studio, he shared some little known behind the scenes stories from the process. Check out some fun facts from the special and [most] of the live on the following pages.

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Quincy Jones with the Hook Up

Quincy Jones is arguably the greatest producer, composer that every lived. And in the nineties, a film’s soundtrack was incredibly important. So it was only right that they would want to get the best. But whether it was a busy schedule, or something else, Jones wasn’t available to participate. But what he did do was recommend Babyface. Clearly, he was the man for the job.

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Sittin’ Up In My Room

Throughout the special, Babyface spoke highly of every single woman who was tapped to participate in the Waiting To Exhale project. But he was particularly glowing in his review of singer Brandy. He went on and on about her talent, saying that she was underappreciated as a vocalist in this industry.

His appraisal of her talent was supported by Whitney Houston herself who told Babyface, “This girl gon be me one day.”

Not Gon Cry

To introduce this song, Babyface played the clip from the movie where Angela Bassett is angrily ripping clothes out of her husband’s closet–to be burned later. Watching that scene, Babyface said he thought, “She’s way too made to cry.” He immediately felt that only one woman could sing this: Mary J. Blige.

Babyface shared that when he played the record for Andre Harrell, who is largely responsible for Blige’s career, he listened and said, “Yeah. I got that. Yeah umm hmm. Alright.”

But as the song ended, he said he didn’t know if it worked for Mary. He argued that because Mary hadn’t been married, she wouldn’t be able to relate to the lyrics. Babyface disagreed saying Mary “is the voice of pain, the voice of love.”

The song ended up being the first number one song of her career.

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My Funny Valentine

The one song Babyface didn’t write on the soundtrack was Richard Rodgers’, “My Funny Valentine.” Forest Whittaker, who directed the film, asked that the song be included and chose Chaka Khan to sing it. Babyface arranged her version. And he had some pressure on his shoulders. In addition to “Waiting to Exhale” being one of her favorite books, Chaka told Babyface, “This is one of my all-time favorites. I hope you ain’t messed it up.”

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Final Approval

Whitney was that girl in the eighties and nineties. And since she was attached to the film, she wanted to ensure that the women on the soundtrack were of her caliber in terms of artistry. To make sure that Whitney didn’t even know if she was going to do the soundtrack but had to approve everyone who would appear on the record

How Could You Call Her Baby

Because Whitney had control over the women selected for this project, she wanted someone from her label, Nippy Inc. to be represented. Enter Shanna Wylie, who was just 13-years-old when Houston began mentoring her.  Wylie sang “How Could You Call Her Baby.”

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Is Whitney going to participate?

While Whitney was granting approvals and putting her own artists on, Houston didn’t know if she was going to sing on the soundtrack. She held out for a long time. But whether it was the artists who signed on to participate or expectations from fans of her singing voice she ultimately signed on. She started with “Exhale (Shoop Shoop),” then wanted “Why Does It Hurt So Bad,” which we’ll get to later and lastly “Count On Me.”

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Hurts Like Hell

The inspiration for “Hurts Like Hell,” came from the letter James, Wesley Snipes’ character wrote to Bernadette. He was speaking about watching his wife die of cancer and said that it hurt like hell. The inspiration resulted in the song that Aretha Franklin killed in the studio. Babyface shared that she brought peach cobbler with her and recorded this song–the one we hear on the record, in one take.

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Ms. Franklin’s Dating Life

While Babyface was on the subject of Aretha Franklin, he wanted to share a personal story about her. He said that Franklin lived her life to the fullest. About five years ago, during a concert, in which he opened for her, Franklin came to him about dating advice. She was seeing a gentleman and wanted to know what Babyface thought about him. For whatever reason, he wasn’t sold on this man and he told Ms. Franklin so. Years later, Franklin came back to tell him that the gentleman wasn’t the one for her.

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My Love, Sweet Love

While most of the songs on the album deal with romantic love, “My Love, Sweet Love,” which Patti LaBelle sang, was inspired by the love Gloria, Loretta Devine’s character, had for her son Tarik. If you re-listen to the song, you’ll hear it sounds a lot like a lullaby. But this wasn’t the only song inspired by Gloria’s character arc. “Love Will Be Waiting,” by For Real, was also about her. Babyface said that with Gloria and Loretta’s spirit, it was no question that love was waiting for her. It was only a matter of time.

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Why Does It Hurt So Bad

To listen to this song, you might not realize that it was written well before the “Waiting To Exhale” era. Babyface said he first presented this song to Whitney and Clive Davis around the late eighties, early nineties when Whitney was releasing her “I’m Your Baby Tonight” single. But when she heard it, she told Babyface she didn’t get it. Thankfully, Clive Davis told Babyface to hold on to the song. He said she’d eventually come around. And she did. After she recorded, “Shoop Shoop,” Whitney asked to sing this song and that it be included on the soundtrack.

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Count On Me

After recording “Shoop” and “Why Does It Hurt So Bad,” Whitney wanted one more song and told Babyface. When he asked what it should be about, Whitney said sisterhood. Babyface said “CeCe Winans is the most spiritual person I ever met in my life. You can’t be around CeCe Winans and not feel closer to God. I watched her lift Whitney’s spirit while they were singing this record