Following the release of her second studio album Whitney (1987), Houston became the first woman ever to debut atop the Billboard 200; despite this, critics deemed it safe and formulaic.

For I'm Your Baby Tonight, Houston chose to work with Reid and Babyface, who had previously produced her then-boyfriend Bobby Brown's 1988 album Don't Be Cruel.

The accompanying music video was directed by Julien Temple and showed Houston sporting a more "rebellious" look, and emulating the style of figures such as Audrey Hepburn, Marlene Dietrich, and the Supremes.

[2][3] At the 1989 Soul Train Music Awards, where Houston was nominated in the category of Best R&B/Urban Contemporary Single – Female, audible jeers were heard after her name was announced alongside the other nominees.

[10][15] According to Stereogum's Tom Breihan, it was composed to "showcase" Houston's vocals but, unlike her past songs, it doesn't build up toward one "massive howled-out money-note".

[10] Other lines include I can do anything for you, baby/ I'll be down for you, baby/ Lay all my cards out tonight/ Just call on me, baby, which are sung with "raw" vocals and an "ecstatic sense of need"; Breihan held that it is the word tonight that does "a lot of work [as] it lets us know that this is a temporary arrangement".

[21] Upon release, "I'm Your Baby Tonight" was met with generally positive reviews from critics: author Gerrick Kennedy referred to it as a "sassy [...] fiery track with a throbbing kick [...] bursting with the sort of brash hip-hop energy" that would go on to become a staple of Houston's future work.

[10] Rolling Stone's James Hunter singled out Houston's vocals; "L.A. and BabyFace have led her into new, less formal territory, where she sheds her gowns, swings and sounds confident, rhythmically challenged and very much at home".

[23] Another positive review came from the staff of Music & Media, who called the song a "sure hit" and applauded its "moody dance beat" and usage of piano, which "form[s] the basis for La Houston's chilling vocals".

"[6] In a more critical review, Entertainment Weekly's David Browne opined that the song "tries too hard to follow in the footsteps of Michael Jackson's 'The Way You Make Me Feel', [...] but at least it has a discernible melody".

[25] Less favorable was Duncan Holland from Music Week, who said that, "['I'm Your Baby Tonight'] fails to rescue [Houston's] crown from Lisa Stansfield and Mariah Carey.

[27] Retrospective reviews have been positive; Paul Grein from Billboard considered "I'm Your Baby Tonight" Houston's 12th best song, deeming it a "stylish smash".

[28] Alexis Petridis from The Guardian placed "I'm Your Baby Tonight" at number seven of his ranking of Houston's songs, praising its "catchy as hell" refrain.

[29] The staff of Entertainment Weekly concluded that, despite having a "grittier, more street-oriented" sound, Houston's voice "remained a technical marvel"; they named it her 18th best song.

[30] Slant Magazine's Andrew Chan deemed it Houston's second best song, saying the track was a "relentless whirligig of rhythm, drenched in synths [...] a vocal tour de force, one that demonstrates how much pleasure Whitney could wring out of doing battle with a sick beat".

[19] The music video for "I'm Your Baby Tonight" was directed by Julien Temple and filmed at a park on the Hudson River on New York's West Side, and at a nightclub called Tatou.