 "Shut Up and Drive" received mixed reviews from contemporary music critics.Bill Lamb from About.com commented that there are better songs on "Good Girl Gone Bad", but "Shut Up and Drive" captures "the spirit of summer just as well as Rihanna's first hit 'Pon de Replay'".Lamb further continued, "The lyrics are pure fluff, and the vocals have the now familiar thin and reedy quality common to many of Rihanna's efforts.