A pre-divorce album with heavy adult contemporary trap sounds,[3] Blige co-wrote most of the album with American musicians Brandon "B.A.M" Hodge and DJ Camper, while additional production was provided by BadBadNotGood, Bigg D, Hit-Boy, Kaytranada, Lamb, and Neff-U.

Strength of a Woman's subject matter was inspired by her personal journey of marital struggle and heartache which culminated in her separation from her manager Kendu Isaacs in 2016.

The album was released to positive reception from music critics, who complimented its current but faintly retro production and Blige's emotionally transparent songwriting.

Strength of a Woman produced four singles, including "Thick of It" and "U + Me (Love Lesson), both of which peaked atop the US Adult R&B Songs chart, with the former spending a record-breaking 16 consecutive weeks at number-one.

[7] Inspired to branch more seriously into acting, she subsequently moved to Los Angeles, where she signed on to co-star opposite actress Carey Mulligan in director Dee Rees's historical drama Mudbound (2017) and began work on her next studio album for she reached out to producers Brandon Hodge and DJ Camper.

[5] While the separation resulted in a "nasty court battle" between her and Isaacs, the events leading up to it largely inspired the material that Blige had penned for the album.

[30] Chuck Arnold from Entertainment Weekly felt that the album was "missing a killer cut or two; the empowering title track is the closest thing to a classic MJB anthem [...] The tone is more muted and melancholy than you might expect from a scorned Blige.

[24] Alluding to theme of the album, Kylie Eustice from HipHopDX wrote: "Pain is practically synonymous with art, so it’s not surprising Blige has delivered another round of raw, gritty and emotionally transparent songwriting.

"[28] Clash editor Ammar Kalia felt that "running at 16 full-length tracks, Strength of a Woman can seem overindulgent.

"[25] Kate Hutchinson of The Guardian gave a mixed review of the album, criticizing the song "Glow Up", calling it too similar to other artists such as Rihanna, and Beyoncé.

[29] Strength of a Woman debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200 on the issue dated ending May 20, 2017, with 78,000 album-equivalent units, (including 72,000 standard copies) in its first week.