Songfacts®:

• This song in which Carey tries her hand at Jamaican patois, features Damian Marley, the youngest son of Bob Marley. Damian Marley is best known for his hit single "Welcome to Jamrock ."
• Carey co-wrote this with songwriter and back-up singer Cri$tyle (Crystal Johnson) and producer Jermaine Dupri. The New York recording artist said about this song: "'Cruise Control' was the second trip I took to Atlanta to work with Jermaine. What it really means is, it goes [sings] 'Might need to go slow, I don't know, Why ease up on the break, Every time I see his face.' Basically, you need to slow down, because every time you're around this guy, you're going a little too fast, 'cause he's the wrong type of guy for you to be with, but you know that, but you don't know how to handle that. So it was cool to kinda co-write that with JD and with Cri$tyle, because you know, it's coming from a woman's point of view and also coming from JD's point of view of making the track really hot."
• This appears on Carey's 11th studio album, E=MC2. Carey originally intended to embark on a world tour in support of the album but canceled it when she discovered she was pregnant. Sadly, she suffered a miscarriage but went on to give birth to twins Moroccan and Monroe in 2011.