As the video progresses, she attends a house party where she meets a man with whom she is eventually riding off through Los Angeles, watching the rising full moon.

After the end of the promotional tour for her second studio album Never Say Never (1998), the cancellation of her UPN sitcom Moesha (1996–2001), and a flurry of tabloid headlines discussing her nervous breakdown in November 1999,[1] Norwood went on a lengthy hiatus to reflect and take some introspective looks.

[2] 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.

[2] While Rodney Jerkins, the main producer of her previous album, and his team had been working on several new songs for her then-upcoming project in hopes of recreating the winning chemistry of Never Say Never,[4] Norwood wanted to make sure that she was gaining more creative control over the project, thus arranging meetings with all her writers and musicians to discuss the lyrical topics and sounds she wanted for the album.

[5] Although Norwood and City crafted several more songs, they were insecure about "Full Moon" being included on the final track listing since it differentiated stylistically from what she had recorded before.

[6] "I'm glad it did because it really showed where I was coming from musically and vocally [...] and I could relate to the lyrics of the song", Brandy said the following year in an interview with MTV News, adding: "It took him a while to understand my crazy ideas, but [...] he really challenged himself.

Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine felt that Norwood afforded "the tired love at first sight genre new life" on the song.

[12] Chuck Taylor of Billboard noted that the song portrayed "how a few years off have allowed [Norwood] to evolve and grow" and called it "another hit destined for the R&B and pop saturation".

[13] He found that "the best part of the song is in the verses, which Brandy delivers with a rich, bassy sensuality" while he declared the chorus as "sing-songy and on the repetitious side, but multiple layers of creamy harmonies help it rise above the mundane".

[17] The song peaked at number 18 after ten weeks on the chart, on the issue dated July 6, 2002, becoming Norwood's second single from Full Moon to enter the top 20.

A music video for "Full Moon" was directed by Chris Robinson and filmed on various locations throughout Los Angeles, California on March 1–2, 2002.

[26] The same year, Grant Rindner from Oprah Daily included it in his Brandy's 20 Best Songs listing and noted: "The hook is one of her most creative, with staccato vocal runs stacked atop harmonic swells.

[28] In her commentary, editor Jaelani Turner-Williams wrote: "Equally grown up, "Full Moon" solidified Brandy as "the Vocal Bible," her deep tone fluttering and trilling over Mike City’s bouncy, piano-driven production.

"[28] In 2023, In celebration of Black Music Month, R&B singer Coco Jones performed a special live rendition of "Full Moon" for Revolt's The Link Up.