Upon its release, "Rock the Boat" received generally favorable reviews from music critics, with many praising Aaliyah's vocals, the song's lyricism, and overall production.

[1] It was written at least two years prior to its release, but was held off from being recorded at that time due to Aaliyah's label thinking that she wasn't ready "for that type of song.

"[4] Seats "beefed" up the development process of the track by calling Dave Foreman and Rapture Stewart to add a guitar and strings to the instrumental.

[14] According to producer Bud'da, Aaliyah debated about the song including the line "I feel like I'm on dope" because she didn't want to send a wrong message to her fans.

"[6] In the book Diva: Feminism and Fierceness from Pop to Hip-Hop (2023), author Kirsty Fairclough said of the lyrics, "One could argue, in the context of third wave feminism, that the song articulates a pro-sex, counter-patriarchal reversal of gendered norms – in that it is now the female who instructs, and instructs for herself alone (in that litany of 'me's):' you make me float', 'you get me high', 'you serve me', 'change positions for me', 'stroke it for me' and so on".

[3] Aaliyah fought with the label and pushed for "Rock the Boat" to become the second single; producer Eric Seats recalled hearing her say: "No, it's this one.

"[4] Consequently, Blackground and Virgin serviced "Rock the Boat" to rhythmic contemporary radio in the United States as the second single from Aaliyah on August 21, 2001.

[22] Khal from Complex described the accompanying music video for "Rock the Boat" as "a thing of beauty, with tropical visuals properly matching the laid back vibe of the instrumental.

"[23] James Poletti from dotmusic felt that Aaliyah's "breathy vocals become stutteringly suggestive as the track squelches and pops its way to a rather lovely place.

[28] Ernest Hardy from Rolling Stone, said "Rock the Boat" was the highlight of the album, and felt that the song showed Aaliyah coming "into her own as a woman".

"[11] Russell Baillie from The New Zealand Herald described the song as "boudoir-instructional" and felt that "Aaliyah's voice weaves through the sparse but punchy arrangements with a mix of sultriness".

[31] In a retrospective review, Billboard felt that due to issues surrounding "Rock the Boat", that it "will always carry near-mythical significance".

[61] Preparation for shooting "Rock the Boat" began weeks in advance, with director Hype Williams contacting Aaliyah's stylist and choreographer "separately to discuss his vision for the video".

[62] According to Aaliyah's former choreographer Fatima Robinson, "The whole concept was Hype's ,The song has such a wonderful, sensual, sexual vibe to it, and we wanted to play along with that.

"[62] Speaking about the filming locations, Derek Lee Aaliyah's former stylist stated, "He said, we're shooting here, here, and here, and that's all, Back then, when you worked with an artist all the time, directors didn't really say too much.

"[62] On August 21, 2001, Aaliyah appeared on BET's 106 & Park, and announced that the accompanying music video for "Rock the Boat" was to be directed by Hype Williams and that filming would begin the following day.

[63][64] In a 2021 interview with The Dr. Oz Show,[65] Aaliyah's uncle and record label boss, Barry Hankerson stated that he did not want to use Hype Williams for the video shoot.

[62] The following day, Aaliyah and employees of Virgin Records America flew to the Bahamas on two flights using a Fairchild Metro III, chartered through Sky Limo.

[62] "The dancers loaded onto the catamaran in the morning, then changed into their all-white costumes to film choreography", which differed from the look and feel of the green screen dance moves.

[62] In the video, Aaliyah wore various outfits, including a tie-dye skirt, which was fabric her stylist Derek Lee bought on Fifth Avenue and simply tied together, with an orange crop top he purchased at Patricia Field's shop in the East Village.

She is wearing a red top, dangling hoop earrings and shimmering gold eye shadow as she sings the slyly suggestive lyrics of "Rock the Boat".

[74] Fairclough, felt the use of "the catamaran as a floating performance space, in the music video, reclaims the repurposing of the yacht as a method of male kidnap or seduction of the female".

[74] Author Ytasha L. Womack argued in her book Afrofuturism: The World of Black Sci-Fi and Fantasy Culture (2013), that the floating scene from the video is an archetypical reference to ancient Egyptian goddess Isis and water spirit Mami Wata.

[43] Rebecca Milzoff from Billboard praised the video, saying: "The video for Aaliyah's sinuous 'Rock the Boat' might have easily gone down as just one of the many examples of the beloved singer's preternatural cool and low-key sex appeal, featuring Aaliyah leading an all-female ensemble in understatedly sexy moves mirroring the song's hypnotic, undulating melody.

[82] Aaliyah and eight others on board–Morales, hair stylist Eric Foreman, Anthony Dodd, security guard Scott Gallin, family friend Keith Wallace, make-up artist Christopher Maldonado, and Blackground Records employees Douglas Kratz and Gina Smith–were all killed.

Kathleen Bergen, spokeswoman for the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in Atlanta, identified the aircraft as being owned by Florida-based company Skystream.

[90] Aaliyah was credited as a featured artist, alongside Ne-Yo, on American rapper Rick Ross' 2010 song "She Crazy", which sampled "Rock the Boat".

[91] Excerpts of Aaliyah singing on "Rock the Boat" were used on Canadian singer The Weeknd's song "What You Need" from his debut mixtape House of Balloons (2011),[92] and American rapper T.I.

[93] American rapper Kanye West lyrically interpolated "Rock the Boat" in the song "Fade" from his seventh studio album The Life of Pablo (2016).

[96] South African singer Tyla noted the sexual lyrics in her song Water (2023) was inspired by "Rock The Boat".