 West first collaborated with Jackson several months prior to the release of his debut album, The College Dropout (2004). West stated, "I don 't want to talk about it before it comes out, but it'll be unbelievable." John Legend, who co-wrote the track, also plays the piano on the track. Legend was an upcoming artist and relatively unknown at the time, having not yet released his debut album Get Lifted or any singles. The song was among Legend's first major credits along with Jay-Z's "Encore", West's remix of Britney Spears' "Me Against the Music", and The Black Eyed Peas'"The Boogie that Be." Legend commented, "I'm not going to focus on her breast like the rest of y 'all. I'm about the music. Since everyone's paying attention to her, it should bode well for her next single" Have Your Way With Me "which is gonna drop next week. We're just wrapping up the production now. It's produced by Kanye West and co-written by Kanye, Harold Lilly and yours truly. I played some piano on there too. It's a sweet, soulful song. I think it 'll be a smash." The song also features contributions from Israeli violinist Miri Ben-Ari. Simon Umlauf of CNN commented Ari's contribution "gently caresses" the song, providing "a dramatic edge you won 't find anywhere else."
