Gill promises to "rub you the right way" in this swaggering uptempo R&B song from Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. This was Gill's first single since leaving New Edition earlier in the year, and it landed at #1 on the R&B chart.
For Jam and Lewis, Gill was a reminder of all the R&B greats who came before him. "We think of Johnny as a 1990s version of a lot of classic singers," Jam told Billboard magazine. "I think he has some of the Stevie Wonder nuances, some of the Teddy Pendergrass aggressiveness, and some of the Donny Hathaway inflections in his voice. So when we write songs for him, we go back and borrow ingredients from the things that made those singers great. 'Rub You the Right Way' came about from that kind of thinking."
It was the Teddy Pendergrass influence, in particular, that got Jam and Lewis thinking, especially the uptempo cuts written and produced by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff in the '70s mixed with the sexiness of bedroom ballads like "Close the Door" and "Turn Off the Lights." Jam explained: "'Run You the Right Way' came from thinking, 'What would Teddy do if he were going to do an uptempo, aggressive song?"
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