Kesha contributed guest vocals to the song, but was uncredited in the United States and Canada during its run atop the charts.

The song was a commercial success, reaching the top ten of the music charts in nineteen countries worldwide.

In the United States, it became Flo Rida's second number-one single (staying at number-one for six consecutive weeks) and broke the record for first-week sales (636,000 downloads) when it was released to digital retailers; eventually, this record was broken by Adele's "Hello", which sold 1.11 million copies in its first week.

Bruno Mars stated that the song was the first "big hit" he and his songwriting team, The Smeezingtons, had the chance to write: "We wrote “Right Round” for Flo Rida.

was Flo Rida's second studio album, he wanted to show listeners musical growth by "broaden[ing] my horizons," which was why he decided to record the song.

[11] In the same night the song was written Aaron Bay-Schuck, Bruno Mars and Philip Lawrance decided to go to the studio and make the initial recording.

Bay-Schuck was playing to Bruno and Philip some tracks and wanted to come up with something big for Flo Rida, and they were just throwing out 1980s ideas.

[19] In a review of R.O.O.T.S., Ken Capobianco of The Boston Globe stated, "His music is pure ear candy that must make Britney [Spears] envious, yet he wants to come off as a thug."

He added that "Right Round" is "[f]illed with more misogyny than a 1970s working men's club", and called it "an unpleasant affair that's only saved from the trashcan by its sample."

Fletcher concluded, "The fuzzy synths, electro beats and infectious chorus hook sung by Kesha are almost enough to fool the casual listener into enjoying themselves.

"[21] Simon Vozick-Levinson of Entertainment Weekly called the song "a horrendous rap remake of Dead or Alive's 'You Spin Me Round (Like a Record).'"

One such review came from Fraser McAlpine of BBC, who opened, "It's one of the fundamental laws of pop, anything which tips a nod to 'You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)' by Dead Or Alive is going to be worth a listen."

He continued, "Even though this is just a song written from the perspective of a randy man watching a pole-dancer and bragging about how much money he has [...] in a manner which would make Akon blush, there's just something kind of cute about the whole thing."

However, he noted that while pop music fans would appreciate it, hip hop listeners would likely dismiss it, and he added that "[i]t's not groundbreaking by any means".

[24] In its third chart week, issue dated February 19, 2009, it jumped fifty-seven positions to the top spot, becoming Flo Rida's second number-one hit after 2007's "Low".

[33] The song debuted at the top of the Australian ARIA Singles Chart and maintained its position for seven non-consecutive weeks.

[24] Elsewhere in Europe, the song reached the top ten in Austria (where it was certified gold by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry),[42] Belgium (number one in Wallonia, number two in Flanders), Denmark, the Netherlands, Finland, France, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Germany.

'"[45] The video begins with Flo Rida standing on a revolving circular platform, while his name appears in gold on a screen behind him.

During the first verse, the screen behind him alternates between images of a rotating globe and locations such as Tokyo, Paris, London, and New York City.

As the video ends, Flo Rida is seen once again on the circular platform while the screen behind him shows a red background with a gold Poe Boy Entertainment sticker.