Cole enlisted a variety of producers, such as Darhyl Camper, Harmony Samuels, Rodney Jerkins, T-Minus, Vidal, and Wonda.

It features guest appearances from Lil Wayne, Meek Mill, Ashanti, Elijah Blake, and Robin Thicke.

[8][9] On March 30, 2011, Cole announced via Twitter that she had recruited a management team in place of Halley and also had plans to work on a follow-up album to Calling All Hearts.

[13][14] In October 2011, Cole hosted a Ustream session where she previewed snippets of then newly recorded material and songs, some of which were eventually included on the album.

[15] On August 1, 2012, Cole appeared on the BET countdown show 106 & Park and revealed that the album would be released in fall 2012, alongside her reality television series Keyshia & Daniel: Family First.

[20][21] In 2011, Cole began early stages of production, working with producers Boi-1da, Cool & Dre, Earl Powell, Toxic, and Dean.

[32] Lyrically, the song revolves around a man who has been unfaithful in a relationship and has told multiple lies, as Cole sings on the refrain, "It pays to tell the truth, look at what you had to lose / Should think before you do / Did you not know the rules?

"[34] Described as a "post-breakup anthem",[35] the third track, "Missing Me", is a smooth upbeat song where she reflects on a past relationship and is angry that things did not work out.

[29][30] The song includes an ambient instrumentation combined with a soul jazz sound that "builds tension" once she starts singing the chorus of "Trust and believe me, she'll never be me / I'm so over you, go get lost / boy I don't know who you think you are".

[3][38] "Next Move" features guest vocals from Robin Thicke, and centers around a standoff between a woman and a man with a complicated history, who do not want to admit their desire for each other.

[56][57] On November 16, 2012, Cole performed at WGCI's Big Jam event, where her setlist included "Enough of No Love" and "Trust and Believe".

[59][60][61] Cole performed "Zero" for the first time at An Evening of Stars: Educating our Future, an annually-held event promoted by UNCF, which aired through BET on January 27, 2013.

[66] Prior to the inception of the tour, Cole expressed her desire to include strong vocalists as support acts, such as Brandy and Melanie Fiona.

[39] The first leg consisted of 18 dates, visiting venues in North America,[66] while the second row of shows comprised seven concerts throughout Europe.

[70] It received positive commentary from music critics; reviewers complimented Cole's vocals and the song's catchy chorus.

[74] It depicts Cole in a state of emotional distress as she sings the song while sitting in a padded cell and Lil Wayne rapping his verse sat atop a piano.

[77] Its music video, directed by Benny Boom, was released on November 8, 2012, and features Cole playing the role of a woman who finds out that her lover and her best friend are having an affair.

[77] Its black-and-white music video, directed by Ethan Lader, displays a story of Cole being in love with two men and struggling to choose the one whom she ultimately wants to be with.

[83] Tanner Stransky of Entertainment Weekly felt that the album served as a "time machine to the sweet, soulful R&B of the late '90s" and praised her vocal delivery on the highlighted songs.

"[88] The Boston Globe's writer Ken Capoblanco elucidated the album as "a record from the heart that speaks on a universal level" and viewed the songs as "uniformly good".

[89] Ben Ratliff of The New York Times found the recording to be "an R&B almanac of shaky romance [with] nearly every song [being] a first-person narrative with gnarled details, endlessly recombining data about suspicion, jealousy, pride, punishment, self-respect, the lead-up, the aftermath".

[2] Writing for The Guardian, Alex Macpherson noted that the singer "ranges through suspicion, frustration and anger, [with] her voice as heavy with emotion as ever".

[90] In a favorable review for SoulTracks, Melody Charles described the album as "a collection of songs that are an equal mix of her present contentment and past turbulence and turmoil", and considered it among Cole's best work.

[38] Starrene Rhett Rocque of Jet suggested that the album "shows off her growth as an artist and a person as well as a fresh openness about herself".