The song contains prominent 2 tone, dance-pop, reggae fusion, rocksteady and ska musical characteristics.

In order to promote the song, All Saints performed "Rock Steady" live on various television shows, including Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway, Popworld and Top of the Pops, and was subsequently performed on their Red Flag Tour (2016) and Testament Tour (2018).

[4] On 20 September 2006, the group revealed that the title of their 'comeback single' was "Rock Steady" and that it would be released on 6 November, accompanied by two B-sides: "Dope Noize" and "Do Me".

[8] John Hudson was Kurstin's recording assistant for the track and Jasper Irm, Simon Hayes and Toshi Minesaki were involved in its engineering.

[11] In an interview with MTV UK, group member Blatt sarcastically responded to the accusation: "'Jump (for My Love)' is so where I wanna be.

[12]However, Girls Aloud member Sarah Harding rubbished reports of the feud, saying: "[...] It was taken out of proportion, twisted and they [All Saints] retaliated.

"[12] John Murphy from musicOMH was positive in his review of the song, saying it was a good example of how at ease the group sounded with their new direction.

He called it "fresh and cool", and also complimented the Appleton sisters' backing vocals, noting they "fit in beautifully".

[9] Matthew Chisling of AllMusic described the song as a "kicking track" and "solid dance hit with enticing grooves".

[14] Virgin Media's Hamish Champ mentioned that "one can't help feeling that the quartet has made a conscious decision to move into Girls Aloud territory".

[15] Leon McDermott from the Sunday Herald also gave the song a positive review, saying: "An updated take on the sound they made their own, it adds cheeky nods to Jamaican-inspired two tone, ska and rock steady the genre that provides the title for their skanking, jumping comeback single".

[18] In the United Kingdom, "Rock Steady" debuted on the UK Singles Chart at number 11 on the issue dated 11 November 2006.

It was the second highest new entry in the chart for that week, behind U2 and Green Day collaboration single "The Saints Are Coming", which debuted at number six.

[26][27] The song peaking at number 15 in Ireland, becoming All Saints' eighth top 20 hit in the country and spending a total of five weeks in the chart.

[29] On 12 November 2006, "Rock Steady" debuted and peaked at number 10 in Spain, spending a total of three weeks on the chart.

[31] Weeks of planning went into shooting the music video for "Rock Steady" in Cuba: booking flights for all staff, hiring equipment and arranging locations.

[34] The music video is set in black and white, with occasional streaks of yellow or red visible for dramatic emphasis.

Blatt, last, is wearing a European-styled black cap with her hair curled to volume and is depicted throughout the video reading The Thief's Journal by Jean Genet.

A scene is then focused around the atmosphere outside a fictional bank named "La Banca dei Fortunati", as the girls begin to arrive.

In another scene, Nicole removes her hat, and begins crawling to escape the bank whilst Blatt is waiting outside.

Natalie and Lewis are now in the bank area where they make use of a whip to frighten the civilians, who put their hands in the air and begin doing an almost robotic dance routine.

All Saints performed "Rock Steady" live on Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway, on 21 October 2006.

[39] Chris Elwell-Sutton of the Evening Standard reviewed the performance saying "'Rock Steady' was another energetic, commercially viable highlight".

[37] James McNair of The Independent gave the gig a five star rating, saying: "The superb new single 'Rock Steady' shifts things up a gear, All Saints nailing their dancehall influences to the mast and engaging in some neat, microphone-swapping choreography".