"Cold Rock a Party" is the lead single released from American rapper

MC Lyte Lana Michele Moorer (born October 11, 1970), better known by her stage name MC Lyte, is an American rap music, rapper, Disc jockey, DJ, actress and entrepreneur. Considered one of the pioneers of female rap, Lyte first gained fame in the late 19 ...

's fifth studio album, '' Bad As I Wanna B'' (1996). While the original version of the song that appears on the album was produced by Rashad Smith and samples

Audio Two Audio Two was the Brooklyn, New York hip hop duo of emcee Kirk "Milk Dee" Robinson and DJ Nat "Gizmo" Robinson, most famous for its first hit " Top Billin'". History The duo's debut single, "Make it Funky", was released in 1987, but it was ...

's "

Top Billin "Top Billin'" is a single for American hip-hop duo Audio Two, released as the B-side of the single "Make It Funky" from the album '' What More Can I Say?'' It was released before First Priority Music inked a distribution deal with Atlantic Recor ...

", the single version features

Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott Melissa Arnette Elliott (born July 1, 1971), better known as Missy Elliott or Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliot, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. She embarked on her music career with R&B girl group Sista in the earl ...

, was produced by

Sean Combs Sean Combs (born Sean John Combs; November 4, 1969), also known by his stage names Puff Daddy, P. Diddy, Puffy, or Diddy, is an American rapper, actor, record producer, and record executive. Born in New York City, he worked as a talent directo ...

, and samples

Diana Ross Diana Ross (born March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. She rose to fame as the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown's most successful act during the 1960s and one of the world's best-selling girl groups o ...

' 1980 hit " Upside Down". The song became MC Lyte's second-highest-charting single in the United States (after her previous single " Keep On, Keepin' On"), peaking at 11 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and it received a gold certification from the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/ ...

(RIAA) for sales of more than 500,000 copies. To date, it is MC Lyte's last single to appear on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. "Cold Rock a Party" also became a hit in several other countries, including New Zealand, where it reached No. 1 for two weeks.

Critical reception

Larry Flick Larry Flick is an American journalist, former dance music columnist, single reviewer, and Senior Talent Editor for ''Billboard'' magazine, where he worked for 14 years. Now he produces and hosts Sirius XM radio shows. Flick started in the music ...

from ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' described "Cold Rock a Party" as "a classic party rocker", noting that it is combining "Lyte's melodic flow" with the high-powered instrumental to " Upside Down". Peter Miro from '' Cash Box'' declared it a "gem" of the '' Bad As I Wanna B'' album. A reviewer from ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...

'' rated the song five out of five, adding that the veteran female rapper "returns with a hip hop biggie", that is "already receiving big club and media exposure. A good bet for the charts."

Track listings

* US CD single # "Cold Rock a Party" (Bad Boy Remix—main version) – 4:37 # "Cold Rock a Party" (Bad Boy Remix—MC Lyte main version) – 4:37 # "Cold Rock a Party" (original album version) – 4:17 # "Have U Ever" (album version) – 3:33 # "Cold Rock a Party" (Milk Remix) – 3:19 # "Paper Thin" (album version) – 5:14 * US cassette single # "Cold Rock a Party" (Bad Boy Remix—clean radio edit) – 4:05 # "Have U Ever" (LP version) – 3:33 * European cassette single # "Cold Rock a Party" (Bad Boy Remix—clean radio edit) – 4:11 # "Cold Rock a Party" (original version—clean) – 4:17 * European and Australian maxi-single # "Cold Rock a Party" (Bad Boy Remix—clean radio edit) – 4:05 # "Cold Rock a Party" (Bad Boy Remix—main version) – 4:37 # "Cold Rock a Party" (original version—clean) – 4:17 # "Cold Rock a Party" (Milk Remix) – 3:19 # "Cold Rock a Party" (Bad Boy Remix—a cappella) – 4:17

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Authority control 1995 songs 1996 singles East West Records singles MC Lyte songs Missy Elliott songs Number-one singles in New Zealand Songs written by Bernard Edwards Songs written by Missy Elliott Songs written by Nile Rodgers Songs written by MC Lyte