"With U" is a song recorded by American singer Janet Jackson for her ninth studio album, 20 Y.O.. It was written by Johnta Austin, Jackson, Jermaine Dupri, Manuel Seal, Jr., James Harris III, and Terry Lewis, with production handled by the latter five. It was released exclusively to selected urban radio formats on December 11, 2006 as the fourth overall single from the album by Virgin Records. "With U" was considered a follow-up to Jackson's single "Let's Wait Awhile", in which two characters postpone intimacy. However, "With U" takes place after the act, resulting in "romantic confusion". The song received positive reviews from most music critics, called a "smooth and lushly" ballad. The song reached number 65 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs.
Background and composition
Following Jackson's eighth album released in 2004, Jackson began recording a new album project the next year. Her then-fiancé, record producer Jermaine Dupri, was eventually commissioned to executive produce the project. Producer Jimmy Jam revealed Jackson became more confident with her writing ability during recording, doing the bulk of the album's writing. He commented, "We're all kind of back in there doing it again together, which I really enjoy." It's the physical nature of sitting in the same room and really hashing it out. It's like, 'You're not going to leave until we have a lyric,' so it's fun." Jackson further commented about working with Dupri, Lewis and Terry, saying:
"It was really a collaborative effort, and that's what made it so nice. Jermaine would run into the studio and talk about the songs Jimmy and Terry had done on someone's album. Then Jimmy would start playing the song, and Jermaine would say, 'You know what? Let's do something kind of along those lines as a base.' He understood them, he understood me and vice versa."
"With U" was written by Jackson, Jermaine Dupri, Manuel Seal, Jr., Johnta Austin, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, while production was handled by Jackson, Dupri, Seal, Jr., Jam and Lewis. It was described as "the follow-up to 1986's 'Let's Wait Awhile'", where two people postpone intimacy. "With U" takes place after the act, which results, according to Jackson, in "romantic confusion". Dupri called the song "a bona fide smash."
Critical reception
The song received generally positive reviews from most music critics. Andy Kellman of AllMusic picked "With U" as one of the album's highlights. Jon Pareles from The New York Times called it a "lushly harmonized ballad," while Don Baiocchi of Blogcritics named it "a stripped-down ballad that recalls the forgotten beauty of 1990's "Come Back to Me" with a modern sound that Mariah should be jealous of." Johnny Loftus writing for Metro Times wrote that on "With U", Jackson "sounds like Mariah Carey covering classic Michael Jackson." Chuck Arnold from People magazine also enjoyed the ballad, describing it as "a smooth and creamy ballad that plays like a sequel to Control's 'Let's Wait Awhile'." Spence D. of IGN commented that the song "continues the strange intersection where Janet sounds like Michael on the verses and then gets her voice obviously treated for the choruses, dipping into the feminine whirl that she's so famous for." Glenn Gamboa, writer for Newsday, expressed a positive reaction, calling it "a nice quiet-storm ballad." Adversely, Angus Batey of Yahoo! Music wrote that Jackson "sounds disturbingly like her most famous sibling" and "seems oblivious" on the track.
