Sting has reflected on how his solo career allowed him to move away from the competitive, conflict-ridden dynamics of The Police and pursue collaborations that mattered more to him creatively than commercially. He worked with jazz musicians, guitarist Dominic Miller and Stevie Wonder over the years, but it was his pairing with reggae and dancehall star Shaggy that he singled out as producing an unexpectedly deep personal bond rather than just a musical experiment.

The two first worked together on the track "Don't Make Me Wait", recorded in Los Angeles, before going on to release a full collaborative album, Duets. Sting described feeling an immediate kinship with Shaggy, calling their connection "a bromance" and saying he was "not ashamed" of the label. He credited Shaggy's distinctive voice and rhythmic phrasing with complementing his own smoky delivery, framing the partnership as an example of his broader appetite for genre-crossing collaborations throughout his solo career.