Anytime is the third studio album by American singer Brian McKnight. It was released by Mercury Records on September 23, 1997 in the United States. Following his moderately successful second album I Remember You (1995), McKnight consulted a wider range of collaborators to work with him on the album, including producers Sean Combs, Keith Thomas, Poke & Tone and songwriters Diane Warren, and Peter Black. While McKnight would provide most of the material by himself, Anytime deviated from the urban adult contemporary sound of his older work, with the former acts taking his music further into the hip hop soul genre. Upon its release, the album garnered generally mixed reviews from music critics and broke into the top 20 on the US Billboard 200, while becoming McKnight's first album to top the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. A steady seller, it was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), indicating sales in excess of 2.0 units, and spawned several singles, including the top 20 hit "You Should Be Mine (Don't Waste Your Time)". Anytime marked McKnight's last record with Mercury Records before moving to Motown Records. Background Anytime marked McKnight's third studio album with Mercury Records. While his previous album I Remember You (1995) was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), it only sold half as much as its predecessor Brian McKnight (1992). Feeling initially pressured after what he called "the pseudo-failure of the I Remember You album,” McKnight, who was used to writing and producing most of his music by himself, decided to work with a wider range of musicians on the Anytime, including Sean "Puffy" Combs, Keith Thomas, Poke & Tone, Diane Warren, and Peter Black. With Anytime exposing McKnight to a wider audience, McKnight elaborated in a 2012 interview: "If Anytime was the spark, then Back at One became the fire. I was doing things then that I had never done before, that an audience had never heard or seen." Critical reception Anytime garnered generally mixed reviews from music critics. Stephen Thomas Erlewine from Allmusic felt that McKnight "continues with the mellow, romantic urban R&B that has become his trademark, but there's a new twist [...] McKnight hasn't exhausted its possibilities yet – Anytime is as strong as its predecessor – but "You Should Be Mine" and "Hold Me" suggest that he may be better off pursuing a new, hip-hop-influenced