It was written and produced by Carl Sturken and Evan Rogers, and features an interpolation of the 1983 song "Blue Monday" by the British band New Order, whose members Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook, Stephen Morris, and Gillian Gilbert received songwriting credits.

"Shut Up and Drive" was received with mixed reviews from music critics, who labeled its lyrics as fluffy and goofy.

Its accompanying music video was directed by Anthony Mandler and was shot in several places in the Czech Republic, such as airship hangar in Příbram or junkyard in Sluštice near Prague.

"Shut Up and Drive" was produced by Carl Sturken and Evan Rogers, and its composition is credited to Sturken and Rogers as well as the members of New Order (Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook, Stephen Morris and Gillian Gilbert), whose 1983 song "Blue Monday" forms a partial basis for the song.

[7] Tom Breihan from Pitchfork Media wrote that the song "begins with über-processed new wave guitars that sort of sound like the Cars".

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'".

[13] 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.

"[13] Quentin B. Huff from PopMatters wrote that "Shut Up and Drive" is a sassier version of Aretha Franklin's "Freeway of Love" and Michael Jackson's "Speed Demon".

[12] Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine found that the song did not live up to its campy title,[14] while Rodney Dugue from The Village Voice described it as simultaneously "goofy and sexually daring".

[15] Andy Kellman from AllMusic also referred to it as "a sleek, forthcoming proposition...as undeniable and rocking as Sugababes' 2002 UK smash 'Freak Like Me'".

[18] "Shut Up and Drive" peaked at number 11 on the US Billboard Pop Songs and became Rihanna's seventh top 20 single on that chart.

[27] Rihanna filmed the music video for "Shut Up and Drive" in an airship hangar in Příbram and in a makeshift junkyard placed in Sluštice, the Czech Republic.

Near the end of the video, Rihanna dances and sings the song on a microphone together with her band, while wearing a black dress with white stars.

She performed the song for first time at the BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend on May 21, 2007, held in Preston, United Kingdom together with "Umbrella" and "Breakin' Dishes".

[31] Rihanna performed "Shut Up and Drive" at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards held at The Palms in Las Vegas.

[34] According to Gil Kaufman from MTV, the performance featured "a chair dance, lots of funky wah-wah and screaming guitar solos, and graphics of spinning rims and neon speed gauges on the mega screens".

[36][37] In a review of one of the shows from the Loud Tour, Jonathan McCambridge from Belfast Telegraph commented about the performance, "'During Shut Up And Drive', a car appeared from underneath the stage and a number of dancers then proceeded to pretend to batter the hell out of it for no obvious reason.

Ned Raggett of AllMusic praised Weep's interpretation in his review of Worn Thin, calling it a "revelation, turning the machine pop of one style into another with ease".