Coincidentally, other songs on that were later released as singles from the soundtrack ("Exhale" by Whitney Houston and "Sittin' Up in My Room" by Brandy) also received nominations in the same category.

The lyrics of the song are inspired by a storyline in the movie Waiting to Exhale revolving around one of the films main characters, Bernadine (portrayed by actress Angela Bassett), who gets abandoned by her philandering husband.

Larry Flick from Billboard felt "Not Gon' Cry" is "one of the strongest numbers" of the Waiting to Exhale soundtrack and "is finally given a crack at chart success."

He added "Blige's worldly delivery breathes palpable depth and empathy into Babyface's composition tracing the bitter split of a relationship.

She convincingly builds from white-knuckled anger to cathartic resolution in the space of four minutes, riding a slowly grinding R&B groove etched with quiet blues colors.