It was written by Anderson, Rayshawn Sherrer, Chris Dawley, and Mike City and produced by the latter.

Released as the album's lead single on February 27, 2001, it reached the top ten on both the UK Singles Chart and the US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart while peaking at the number 18 on the Billboard Hot 100.

In 2006, a remix version of "Heard It All Before" featuring fellow R&B singer Brandy was leaked onto the internet.

The duet was recorded during a session when producer Mike City was working with both singers in 2001 but remained unused.

[1] In March 2016, City released a high quality version of the duet to his SoundCloud account.