Bitter

Pitchfork's Ivy Nelson traced the album to the aftermath of Peace Beyond Passion, which Ndegeocello felt had been misunderstood by her label, radio and music television. She had threatened that it would be the last Meshell Ndegeocello album and said at the end of its promotion that she needed a break because she hurt. She wrote a few songs with David Gamson, then hired Craig Street, who had just recorded a standards album with k.d. lang, to make a record that was played rather than composed. Greg Calbi mastered it at Sterling Sound.

Players included Lisa Coleman on piano and keyboards, Wendy Melvoin, Doyle Bramhall II, Chris Bruce, David Torn and Ronny Drayton on guitars, Greg Leisz on pedal steel, Abraham Laboriel Jr. on drums and strings arranged by Steve Barber. Joe Henry sings on Wasted Time. The one cover is Jimi Hendrix's May This Be Love.

Billboard called it a modern masterpiece, the New York Times said its rhythms flowed in patterns guided by her bass, and Vibe named it album of the year. The Chicago Tribune thought it one long bittersweet downer and the Hartford Courant found it dull. It reached 105 on the Billboard 200 and 40 on the R&B albums chart. Pitchfork added that Newsweek also called it album of the year for 1999, but that Maverick gave it little promotion and sales stayed quiet. Pitchfork's Sunday Review in 2023 called it her masterpiece, and the review quotes Wendy Melvoin saying that Ndegeocello does not pay too much attention to being male or female.