Produced by Babyface, the soundtrack features appearances by several prominent R&B artists, including Whitney Houston, Toni Braxton, TLC, Brandy, Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan, Faith Evans, Patti LaBelle, SWV and Mary J. Blige.
[12][13] The soundtrack album was certified 7× Platinum for shipping 7 million copies in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on September 4, 1996.
Hoden described him as "the most creative pop-soul musician since the prime of Stevie Wonder", and commented, "he has created a suite of songs that evoke women's emotional and sexual fantasies with an astonishing sympathy, directness and expressive range.
"[28] Pareles stated "Babyface gathers most of the sultriest female singers in current rhythm-and-blues and matches them with his own tender, gently pulsating songs.
"[22][23] Writing for New York Times on February 2, 1997, James Hunter called Waiting to Exhale Soundtrack "one of the commercial and artistic peaks of the new rhythm-and-blues.
"[29] Josef Woodard of Entertainment Weekly gave the album a B, stating "Babyface shows an uncanny ability to blend Houston's pleasant, soft-edged commerciality with the sexually explicit and cutting-edge hip-hop of TLC.
"[18] AllMusic's Craig Lytle paid more attention to female vocalists and their performances than lyrics or production for each track, calling the album "outstanding all-female set."
On the inspirational duet 'Count on Me,' with CeCe Winas, and both accomplished singers raise all hopes with their comforting vocals", and went to on comment "[on] three stellar selections by three divas ㅡ Aretha Franklin, Patti LaBelle, and Chaka Khan, their voices just defy time by soaring to admirable feats.
Billboard called the song "a surprisingly understated shuffle-ballad with soul and far more interesting vocal colors than all the shrieking can provide.
Using a pleasant mixture of plunking bass and synthesizer chords, [the song] proves that he has a grabbag of styles at his disposal.
"[16][44] Geoffrey Himes of Amazon.com commented, "Mary J. Blige stakes out a claim as the new diva on the block with an astonishing performance on the song.
[47] With first two singles from the album, when "Not Gon' Cry" was positioned in the top 10 on the Hot 100 and Hot R&B Singles chart in February 1996, which made Waiting to Exhale Soundtrack to set the record for the first film soundtrack to produce three simultaneous top 10 hits in history of Billboard charts.
[39][48] The fourth single from the soundtrack, "Count On Me" performed by Whitney Houston and CeCe Winans, was released in March 1996.
Stephen Holden, the music critic of the New York Times, called it "small pop coup" and added "Braxton snaps out the words with a choked intensity, her dark, grainy contralto conveying a potent mixture of fury and sensuality.
Stephen Holden of the New York Times wrote "Franklin rises to heights of letting-it-all-out pop-gospel anguish that she has rarely reached before.
"[28] Geoffrey Himes, in his review for the Washington Post, commented "the album's peak moment belongs to Aretha Franklin, who makes us hear in every note what the title of [the song] is talking about.
"[27] Babyface, in an interview on Billboard on the 20th anniversary of Waiting To Exhale soundtrack, says,"Then to be in the studio with Aretha for 'It Hurts Like Hell."
Christopher John Farley of the TIME magazine commented "Houston more than holds her own, particularly on [this], with its masterly balance of pop zip and soulful melancholy.