Background and Release
In 1994, Houston signed with 20th Century Fox to play the role of Savannah Jackson in the film Waiting to Exhale, which was adapted from the novel of the same name by Terry McMillan. Initially, she had no interest in recording songs for the film's soundtrack, as she wanted to concentrate on her acting. The film's director, Forest Whitaker, hired Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds to compose the film score and the accompanying soundtrack. Though Babyface visited the set of the film and tried to convince her, Houston was determined not to record songs for the soundtrack. She finally agreed after hearing Babyface play one of the songs she liked. In an interview with Fred Bronson, Babyface explained the development of the song:
"When Whitney first heard the song, she figured I'd lost it—I couldn't come up with words anymore. And, actually she's right. I couldn't think of anything for that particular part. It felt like it should groove there. But I knew it couldn't groove without any vocals, so I started humming along with it and that's what happened. The 'shoops' came. But they felt so good, I thought 'Why not?' It doesn't have to mean anything."
Babyface produced the song, and it was released as the lead single from Waiting to Exhale soundtrack on November 7, 1995, through Arista Records. The b-side of the single includes four songs: "Dancin' on the Smooth Edge", which was initially included as the b-side to "All the Man That I Need" (1991), "Moment of Truth", "Do You Hear What I Hear", which Houston recorded for the compilation A Very Special Christmas album (1987), and her duet with Aretha Franklin, "It Isn't, It Wasn't, It Ain't Never Gonna Be" (1989). "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)" is also featured on Houston's compilation albums Whitney: The Greatest Hits (2000), Love, Whitney (2001), The Ultimate Collection (2007), and The Essential Whitney Houston (2011).
Read more about this topic: Exhale (Shoop Shoop)
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