Waiting to Exhale: Original Soundtrack Album is a soundtrack for the film of the same name, released on November 14, 1995 by Arista Records. Written and produced by Babyface, the soundtrack features appearances by some of the biggest names in the industry, including Whitney Houston, Toni Braxton, TLC, Brandy, Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan, Faith Evans, Patti LaBelle, SWV and Mary J. Blige. The album remained at number one on the US Billboard 200 album chart for five weeks and Top R&B Albums chart for ten weeks, going 7x platinum, on September 4, 1996. It spawned two number-one hits on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart; "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)" and "Let It Flow", and three top-ten hits, "Sittin' Up in My Room", "Not Gon' Cry" and "Count on Me". "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)", "Let It Flow" and "Not Gon' Cry" also topped the R&B hits chart. All songs were written and produced by Babyface, except for "My Funny Valentine". The album also includes songs by lesser-known artists like Shanna and Sonja Marie.

The album received a total of eleven Grammy nominations in 1997, including Album of the Year and Song of the Year for "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)". Three songs were nominated for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance. It won the Grammy for Best R&B Song for "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)," written by Babyface. The soundtrack has sold over twelve million copies worldwide.