[3][4] “Make Me Say It Again, Girl” originally appeared on the Isley Brothers’ 1975 album The Heat Is On as a two-part movement: “Make Me Say It Again Girl (Part 1 & 2).” The Heat Is On was met with immense success, with certifications for two million copies sold in the United States, becoming the group's first No.
Coincidentally, the opening track from Destiny's Child’s eponymous 1998 debut studio album, “Second Nature,” sampled “Make Me Say It Again Girl (Part 1 & 2).” Nearly 25 years later, Destiny's Child singer Knowles and Ronald Isley were able to co-ordinate their schedules and collaborate, with Knowles imitating some of her previous 1998 harmonies as backing vocals throughout the song, climaxing in a "quintessentially Queen Bey a cappella outro... harmoniz[ing] with herself over multiple layered vocal tracks.
"[5][6] The duet was first teased in 2021 alongside a potential collaboration with Drake when the parent album was announced on American music magazine website Variety as well as Rap-Up.
Isley's wife, Kandy, added, “Tina Knowles-Lawson [Beyoncé’s mother] was very influential in getting this record started and getting it to the point where we are now.
[11] Althea Legaspi of Rolling Stone lauded Knowles' "dreamy backing vocals" throughout the track, as well as Isley's "buttery smooth tenor.