"Don't Stop the Music" is a song recorded by the Barbadian singer Rihanna for her third album, Good Girl Gone Bad (2007). It was released worldwide on September 7, 2007, as the album's fourth single by Def Jam Recordings. The song was written by Tawanna Dabney and its producers Stargate. Michael Jackson also received a songwriting credit for the sampling of the line "Mama-say, mama-sa, ma-ma-koosa" from his 1983 single "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin". Both Rihanna and Jackson were sued by Cameroonian musician Manu Dibango, who asserted that the hook originated in his 1972 song "Soul Makossa". "Don't Stop the Music" is a dance-pop track that features rhythmic devices used primarily in hip hop music.
Many music journalists praised the sampling of the "Mama-say, mama-sa, ma-ma-ko-ssa" hook. The song received a number of accolades, including a Grammy Award nomination for Best Dance Recording. "Don't Stop the Music" reached number one in ten countries, including Australia, France, Germany, and Switzerland. In the UK, it reached number four on the UK Singles Chart and was certified triple platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). The single peaked at number three on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the US Billboard Dance Club Songs charts. Certified sextuple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), as of 2015, it has sold more than 3.7 million copies in the US.
Anthony Mandler filmed the song's music video in Prague. In the video, Rihanna and her friends sneak into the back of a candy store that contains a secret club, and she parties with club-goers. The singer performed "Don't Stop the Music" at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards and the NRJ Music Awards in 2008, and included it on her Good Girl Gone Bad, Last Girl on Earth, Loud and Diamonds World Tour set lists. The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) recognized it as one of the most-performed songs of 2009. English recording artist Jamie Cullum released a cover of the song as the second single from his 2009 album The Pursuit, and his version charted in several European countries.
Development and release
"Don't Stop the Music" was written and produced by the Norwegian production duo StarGate, with additional songwriting by Tawanna Dabney. Michael Jackson received a songwriting credit for the sampling of the line "Mama-say, mama-sa, ma-ma-ko-ssa" from his 1983 single "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin". Tim Sturges and Phillip Ramos provided additional production for the song. It was recorded at Battery Studios in New York City and Westlake Recording Studios in Los Angeles by Mikkel S. Eriksen and Al Hemberger. Phil Tan and Josh Houghkirk mixed the single, and StarGate provided vocal production and instrumentation.
In February 2009, Cameroonian musician Manu Dibango filed a lawsuit claiming that "Don't Stop the Music" and "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin used the "Mama-say, mama-sa, ma-ma-ko-ssa" hook without his permission. According to Dibango, the line is from his 1972 single "Soul Makossa". Agence France-Presse reported that Jackson admitted that he borrowed the line for "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin and settled out of court. When Rihanna asked Jackson in 2007 for permission to sample the line, he allegedly approved the request without contacting Dibango beforehand. Dibango's attorneys brought the case before a court in Paris, demanding €500,000 in damages and asking for Sony BMG, EMI and Warner Music to be "barred from receiving 'mama-say mama-sa'-related income until the matter is resolved". The judge ruled that Dibango's claim was inadmissible: a year earlier, a different Paris-area judge had required Universal Music to include Dibango's name in the liner notes of future French releases of "Don't Stop the Music", and at the time of this earlier court appearance, Dibango had withdrawn legal action, thereby waiving his moral right to seek further damages.
"Don't Stop the Music" was the fourth single from Rihanna's third album, Good Girl Gone Bad (2007). Before its release, two promotional remixes of the song (Solitaire's More Drama and the Wideboys Club Mix) were added to digital outlets in Canada and the United States on August 7, 2007. On September 7, an EP of the single was released via the iTunes Store in some countries including Australia, Italy, New Zealand and Spain. The EP contains the Wideboys Club Mix and instrumental and album versions of the song. That day, "Don't Stop the Music" was released as a CD single in Germany with the same material as the EP and the song's music video. The following month, it was released as a CD single in France. Def Jam Recordings provided the song to contemporary hit radio stations in the United States on January 15, 2008, and to rhythmic contemporary stations a week later. Nine remixes, including the album version of the song, were released on May 14 to digital outlets in territories including Australia, Germany, New Zealand and Spain.
Composition
"Don't Stop the Music" is a four-minute, 27-second dance-pop song, written in the key of F minor in common time, with a moderate tempo of 123 beats per minute. Rihanna's voice ranges from F3 to A4. The syncopated song samples a variety of layered rhythms, with hip-hop rhythms and a heavy bass drumbeat predominating. The sampled chant "Mama-say, mama-sa, ma-ma-ko-ssa" was added to the arrangement as a complementary throbbing motif, becoming the main background vocals.
Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine described "Don't Stop the Music" as having a bouncy feel similar to Rihanna's 2006 single "SOS". According to Fraser McAlpine of the BBC's Chart Blog, Rihanna's vocals on the song sound as if she recorded them to a different backing track, "then gave them to some nerdy beatmatcher with an extensive collection of dark electro and classic pop." McAlpine compared the verses' vocal melody to that of Aaliyah's single "Try Again", the chorus to Madonna's "La Isla Bonita", and the base track to Eric Prydz-style trance music. After the release of Rihanna's single "Only Girl (In the World)" in 2010, many critics compared its composition and structure to "Don't Stop the Music".
Critical reception
Music journalists praised the sampling of the "Mama-say, mama-sa, ma-ma-ko-ssa" hook. For Pitchfork Medias Tom Breihan—who characterized "Don't Stop the Music" as "an amazing bit of euroclub insanity combined with synth and bass"—the hook from Jackson's track smoothly blends into the song's powerful beat. Nick Levine of Digital Spy called "Don't Stop the Music" "brilliant and unwitting", and said that it was the best single with a Jackson writing credit since his 1997 "Blood on the Dance Floor". PopMatters Quentin B. Huff wrote that "the Michael Jackson-sampling 'Don't Stop the Music', inspires the type of tail feather shaking you can only produce when you're chanting, 'Mama-say, mama-sa, ma-ma-ko-ssa.
McAlpine called Rihanna's vocals "emotionally removed, a little distant and naughty, but a smidge melancholy and tearful". According to a New York Times reviewer, in "Don't Stop the Music" Rihanna "[found] exuberance in a ... severe techno beat". In 2012, Billboard ranked the song 13th on its list of "Rihanna's 20 Biggest Billboard Hits" of all time; they wrote, "we defy you to get the hook from this pounding 2007 dancefloor favorite out of your mind."
"Don't Stop the Music" won the Best International Song award at the 2008 NRJ Music Awards. It was nominated for Single of the Year at the 2008 Teen Choice Awards, losing to the Jonas Brothers' "When You Look Me in the Eyes". The song was nominated for Best Dance Recording at the 50th Grammy Awards, losing to Justin Timberlake's "LoveStoned/I Think She Knows". At the 2009 Kids' Choice Awards "Don't Stop the Music" was nominated for Favorite Song, losing to Beyoncé's "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)". At the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers Pop Music Awards, ASCAP recognized it as one of 2009's most-performed songs. "Don't Stop the Music" was a winning song at the 2009 BMI Pop Awards. In 2014, David Drake of the magazine Complex called the single "one of the earliest shots fired in the mainstreaming of dance music" compared with typical 2007 top-forty fare.
Commercial performance
"Don't Stop the Music" debuted at number 94 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart in the issue dated December 8, 2007, and peaked at number three on February 16, 2008, becoming Rihanna's fourth top-three single. It topped the US Dance Club Songs chart (Rihanna's sixth number-one single), reached number two on the Pop Songs chart and number 74 on the Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs chart. "Don't Stop the Music" had sold 3.7 million digital copies in the US as of June 2015 and was certified six-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in May 2022. The song reached number two on the Canadian Hot 100, remaining on the chart for a total of 52 weeks. It was Rihanna's second song to reach the chart's top three, following "Umbrella".
In Australia, "Don't Stop the Music" debuted at number 22 on February 3, 2008. After three weeks, on February 24, the song peaked at number one and remained there for four weeks. It was Rihanna's third number-one single in the country, after "SOS" and "Umbrella", remaining on the chart for 27 weeks. "Don't Stop the Music" charted at number 12 on the 2008 year-end Australian Singles Chart. In 2026, the song was certified 12× Platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) for 840,000 equivalent units. The single debuted at number 31 in New Zealand on December 10, 2007. After fluctuating for four weeks, it peaked at number three for a week and spent a total of 22 weeks on the chart. "Don't Stop the Music" was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ) in April 2008 for sales of over 15,000 digital copies.
In the United Kingdom, the song debuted at number 68 on December 15, 2007. After seven weeks on the chart, it peaked at number four. In October 2025, the song was certified triple-platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for sales and streams of over 1,800,000 units. The single was 24 on the 2008 year-end UK Singles Chart. "Don't Stop the Music" debuted atop the French Singles Chart on October 27, 2007, Rihanna's first number-one single on the chart, as well as her first number-one debut. Remaining at number one for two weeks, the song spent a total of 36 weeks on the chart. On the German Singles Chart, it debuted at number two on September 24, 2007. After two weeks, it reached number one, staying there for two consecutive weeks. "Don't Stop the Music" was certified five times gold by the Bundesverband Musikindustrie for sales/streams of over 750,000 units. It was successful on the Swiss Singles Chart, peaking at number one for five weeks. The song reached number one in Austria, Flanders and Wallonia in Belgium, Hungary and the Netherlands.
Music video The song's music video was directed by Rihanna's regular director, Anthony Mandler, in May 2007 and filmed in a nightclub in Prague, the Czech Republic. The video was digitally released on iTunes on July 26, 2007.
In the video, Rihanna and two friends get out of a yellow taxi in Bělehradská 120, Prague to go at a nightclub and they enter a candy store where a boy is standing with his mother. Rihanna tells the boy not to tell anyone where they are going, and the singer and her friends sneak into the back of the store (where there is a secret nightclub entrance). The narrative is intercut with Rihanna singing the song against a wall and dancing in the club. After she enters the club, she checks her makeup in a restroom as she sings.