It was later certified gold for selling half a million copies and paved the way for her pop breakthrough in late 1984 with the dance hit "New Attitude".

In 1981, when her Epic contract expired, she signed with Philadelphia International Records, and released the album, The Spirit's in It, which produced some success and convinced the label to come up with a follow-up.

LaBelle began recording her second PIR album in 1982 at the famed Sigma Sound Studios in Philadelphia with producers Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff and Dexter Wansel.

At around the same time, LaBelle kept herself busy by participating in Broadway plays and various musical theatre productions, including Your Arms Too Short to Box with God, For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf and Working, as well as filming her role on the film, A Soldier's Story, which halted the second album's production.

That same year, LaBelle had undergone plastic surgery treatment on her nose, to which she claimed, was only to "sing higher notes".

After a break from working on A Soldier's Story, LaBelle went back to finish the album in 1983 sessions, producing the dance song "I'll Never, Never Give Up".