Composition
"Pon de Replay" is a dance-pop and R&B song, which infuses a reggae style. According to the digital music sheet published at musicnotes.com, the song is written in the key of F-sharp minor and is set in common time with a moderated dance groove, with a metronome of 100 beats per minute. Rihanna's vocal range in the song spans from the low note of F♯3 to the high note of C♯5. Lyrically, the song is about asking the DJ to play the protagonist's favorite song, as well as the fulfillment of dancing in a club. Doug Rule of Metro Weekly commented on the lyric "Hey Mr. DJ, won't you turn the music up?" and that it follows in the footsteps of recent songs which also incorporated "Hey Mr. DJ", including Madonna's "Music" and Jennifer Lopez's "Play".
In an interview with Kidzworld, Rihanna explained the lyrical content of the song, saying: "It's just language that we speak in Barbados. It's broken English. Pon is on, de means the, so it's just basically telling the DJ to put my song on the replay." Jason Birchmeier of Allmusic wrote about the songs composition and musical influences, " is driven by booming dancehall-lite beats and a reggae vocal cadence (and title spelling), it's a simple dance-pop song at its core, with standard English-language singing as well as a can't-miss singalong hook." Barry Walters of Rolling Stone also commented on the song's composition and concurred with Birchmeier's opinions of the song, writing that the song is "a poppy piece of dancehall reggae with slapping, syncopated beats recalling big-band jazz".
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