"How We Do (Party)" is a song by English singer

Rita Ora Rita Sahatçiu Ora (; born Rita Sahatçiu; 26 November 1990) is a British singer-songwriter, television personality, and actress. Born in Pristina, modern-day Kosovo, she rose to prominence when she featured on DJ Fresh's 2012 single, "Hot Rig ...

from her debut studio album, '' Ora'' (2012). The song was written by Andrew Harr,

Bonnie McKee Bonnie Leigh McKee (born January 20, 1984) is an American singer and songwriter. Her debut album '' Trouble'' was released in 2004 by Reprise Records. After being dropped, she took a musical hiatus and established herself as a songwriter. She ...

, Christopher Wallace, Hal Davis,

Jermaine Jackson Jermaine LaJuane Jacksun (né Jackson; born December 11, 1954) is an American singer, songwriter and bassist. He is known for being a member of the Jackson family. From 1964 to 1975, Jermaine was second vocalist after his brother Michael of the ...

, Willie Hutch and seven others, and produced by Kelly Sheehan, Kuk Harrell, the Monarch and the Runners. It was released as the

lead single A lead single (or first single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. A similar term, "debut ...

from the album for digital download and

streaming Streaming media refers to multimedia delivered through a network for playback using a media player. Media is transferred in a ''stream'' of packets from a server to a client and is rendered in real-time; this contrasts with file downl ...

by Columbia and

Roc Nation Roc Nation is an American entertainment company founded by Jay-Z in 2008. Headquartered in New York City, the company is a successor to his previous Roc-A-Fella Records label, with additional offices in Los Angeles and London. It serves as a re ...

in various countries on 20 March 2012. Sampling the

refrain A refrain (from Vulgar Latin ''refringere'', "to repeat", and later from Old French ''refraindre'') is the Line (poetry)">line or lines that are repeated in poetry or in music">poetry.html" ;"title="Line (poetry)">line or lines that are repeat ...

from

the Notorious B.I.G. Christopher George Latore Wallace (May 21, 1972 – March 9, 1997), better known by his stage names the Notorious B.I.G., Biggie Smalls, or simply Biggie, was an American rapper. Rooted in the New York rap scene and gangsta rap tradi ...

's " Party and Bullshit" (1993), it is a

dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

and

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

song, exploring the story of Ora warding off her hangover by falling in love with her love interest. The song received moderate responses from

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on ...

, who mostly applauded the music and sound, while others compared it to the works of

Jessie J Jessica Ellen Cornish (born 27 March 1988), known professionally as Jessie J, is an English singer and songwriter. Born and raised in London, she began her career on stage, aged 11, with a role in the West End musical '' Whistle Down the Wind ...

Katy Perry Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson (born October 25, 1984), known professionally as Katy Perry, is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. She is one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling music artists in hist ...

and

Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her image reinventions and versatility across the entertainment industry, she is an influ ...

. "How We Do (Party)" topped the record charts of Ireland, Scotland and the United Kingdom, and reached the top 10 in Australia, Japan and New Zealand. The song further peaked at number 62 on the US ''

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 ...

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...

and number one on the

Dance Club Songs The Dance Club Songs (also known as National Disco Action, Hot Dance/Disco Club Play, and Hot Dance Club Play) was a chart published weekly between 1976 and 2020 by ''Billboard'' magazine. It used club disc jockeys set lists to determine the mos ...

as well as number 68 on the

Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine. It was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007 as the standard record chart in Canada; a new chart ...

. It attained a platinum certification from the

British Phonographic Industry BPI (British Recorded Music Industry) Limited, trading as British Phonographic Industry (BPI), is the British recorded music industry's trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards; is home to the Mercury Prize; co-owns the Official Charts C ...

(BPI) in the UK and a gold certification from

Recorded Music New Zealand Recorded Music NZ (formerly the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ)) is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell recorded music in New Zealand. Membership of Recorded Mus ...

(RMNZ) in New Zealand, as well as a double platinum certification from the

Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival Records (Australia), Festival, Sony Music ...

(ARIA) in Australia. An accompanying

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

was directed by

Marc Klasfeld Marc Klasfeld is an American music video director. He has directed over two hundred music videos for artists such as Slipknot, Sum 41, Katy Perry, Jay-Z, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Britney Spears, Kid Rock, Michael Bublé, Nelly, Foo Fighters, Kelly ...

and released to

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

on 17 April 2012, depicting the singer with a group of people on a party in different settings. It attracted praise for Ora's signature-described appearance with red lipstick and platinum blonde hair. To promote the song, she performed it on several occasions, including ''

The Jonathan Ross Show ''The Jonathan Ross Show'' is a British comedy chat show presented by Jonathan Ross. It was first broadcast on ITV on 3 September 2011 and airs on Saturday evenings following the conclusion of Ross' BBC One chat show, ''Friday Night with Jona ...

'', ''

MTV Unplugged ''MTV Unplugged'' is an American television series on MTV. It showcases recorded live performances of popular music artists playing acoustic instrument, acoustic or "unplugged" variations of songs. The show aired regularly from 1989 to 1999. F ...

'' and

Isle of MTV Isle of MTV is an annual music festival organized by MTV, which is part of Paramount Global, Paramount. A key fixture in Europe's festival calendar, it has been held in Malta since 2007 while previous editions were held in Portugal, France, Spain ...

Background and composition

"How We Do (Party)" was written by Alexander Delicata, Andre Davidson, Andrew Harr, Berry Gordy Jr., Bob West,

, Christopher Wallace, Hal Davis,

, Kelly Sheehan, Osten Harvey Jr., Sean Davidson and Willie Hutch. ''Note: Click on the three dots on the right of the track to display the credits.'' Its production was handled by Sheehan, Kuk Harrell, the Monarch and the Runners. The song was released for digital download and

by Columbia and

on 20 March 2012 as the

from Ora's debut studio album '' Ora'' (2012). Several remixes, including ones by Gustavo Scorpio,

Laidback Luke Lucas Cornelis van Scheppingen (born 22 October 1976), better known under his stage name Laidback Luke, is a Filipino-born Dutch DJ and record producer. He notably remixed the Robin S. song, "Show Me Love (Robin S. song)#Steve Angello and Laidba ...

, Papercha$er and Sandro Silva, accompanied the single's release as part of an

extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

(EP). Musically, "How We Do (Party)" is a

and

song, sampling the

from American rapper Notorious B.I.G.'s single " Party and Bullshit" (1993). Ora's vocals in the song span from a low note of B₃ to a high note of E₅. The song is composed in time and the key of

G major G major is a major scale based on G (musical note), G, with the pitches G, A (musical note), A, B (musical note), B, C (musical note), C, D (musical note), D, E (musical note), E, and F♯ (musical note), F. Its key signature has one sharp (music ...

with a

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for 'time'; plural 'tempos', or from the Italian plural), measured in beats per minute, is the speed or pace of a given musical composition, composition, and is often also an indication of the composition ...

of 116 beats per minute and a

chord progression In a musical composition, a chord progression or harmonic progression (informally chord changes, used as a plural, or simply changes) is a succession of chords. Chord progressions are the foundation of harmony in Western musical tradition from ...

of G–C-Em-C. Singing over an

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked, its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

, its lyrics explore the story of Ora warding off her hangover by falling in love with her love interest, who is passed out on the floor. Lyrics include: "Cause when the sun sets, baby/ On the avenue/ I get that drunk sex feeling/ Yeah, when I'm with you/ So put your arms around me, baby/ We're tearing up the town/ Cause that's just how we do".

Reception

"How We Do (Party)" was met with moderate responses from

upon release. In reviewing ''Ora'', Fred Thomas from

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

deemed the song, along with " R.I.P." (2012) and " Shine Ya Light" (2012), as "meticulously constructed anthems of partying, empowerment, and romance". For

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

, Sam Lansky described the song as an "irresponsibly infectious celebratory anthem", while Rebecca Thomas from the same website opined that "the infectious tune dares you ..to dance along". Mary H.K. Choi of '' GQ'' commended the song's appeal as "ear-wormy, clubby, and girl-power anthemic". For

Digital Spy Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its initial launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television pro ...

, Robert Copsey declared the song a "global-reaching party tune" and went on to praise it for getting better with every listen. He further viewed the song as somewhere between "the carefree nature of

's ' Just Dance'

008 008, OO8, O08, or 0O8 may refer to: * "008", a fictional 00 Agent In Ian Fleming's James Bond novels and the derived films, the 00 Section of MI6 is considered the secret service's elite. A 00 (pronounced "Double O") is a field agent who ho ...

and the addictiveness of

's ' Last Friday Night' 011. On a similar note, Laurence Green from ''

MusicOMH ''MusicOMH'' (stylized as ''musicOMH'') is a London-based online music magazine which publishes independent reviews, features and interviews from across all genres including classical, metal, rock and R&B. History ''MusicOMH'' was founded an ...

'' further compared it to "Last Friday Night" as well as to

's "

Domino Dominoes is a family of tile-based games played with gaming pieces. Each domino is a rectangular tile, usually with a line dividing its face into two square ''ends''. Each end is marked with a number of spots (also called '' pips'' or ''dots'' ...

" (2011), stating that it is "so similar you'd be forgiven for thinking a computer managed to subsume and replicate the two songs into this". Chris Richards for ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' felt that "it's sweetly disorientinglike a

Kesha Kesha Rose Sebert (born March 1, 1987), formerly stylized as Ke$ha, is an American singer and songwriter. Her first major success came in 2009 when she was featured on rapper Flo Rida's number-one single, "Right Round". Kesha's music and ima ...

lyric trapped in a

Miley Cyrus Miley Ray Cyrus ( , born Destiny Hope Cyrus, November 23, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and director. Regarded as a contemporary pop icon, Cyrus has been recognized for her evolving artistry and image reinventions. She is ...

melody". "How We Do (Party)" debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart issue dated 25 August 2012. The song became Ora's third chart-topping single in the United Kingdom and spent a total of 19 weeks on the chart. In 2014, it received a platinum certification from the

(BPI) for sales and streams of 600,000 units in the country. The song further reached number one on the Irish and Scottish Singles Charts in August 2012, respectively. In Australia, "How We Do (Party)" entered the

ARIA Singles Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...

at number 41 and reached its summit at number 9 on the chart dated 24 June 2012. The song performed better in New Zealand and reached number five on the

New Zealand Singles Chart The Official Aotearoa Music Charts, formerly the Official New Zealand Music Chart (), is the weekly New Zealand top 40 singles and albums charts, issued weekly by Recorded Music NZ (formerly Recording Industry Association of New Zealand). The M ...

issue dated 21 May 2012. It received a gold certification from the

(RMNZ) in New Zealand and a double platinum award from the

(ARIA) in Australia for selling 7,500 and 140,000 units, respectively. In the United States, "How We Do (Party)" spent three weeks on the ''

Bubbling Under Hot 100 Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (also known as Bubbling Under the Hot 100) is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The chart lists the top songs that have not yet charted on the main ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Chart ...

chart, before entering the

at number 96 and reaching its summit at number 62 on the chart dated 7 July 2012. The song also peaked atop the

chart and reached number 22 on the

Mainstream Top 40 Pop Airplay (also called Mainstream Top 40, Pop Songs, and Top 40/contemporary hit radio, CHR) is a 40-song music chart published weekly by Billboard (magazine), ''Billboard'' Magazine that ranks the most popular songs of pop music being played o ...

and number 28 on the Rhythmic rankings. In Canada, "How We Do (Party)" reached number 68 on the

Canadian Singles Chart The Canadian music charts are a collection of record charts reflecting the music consumption of people in Canada. '' RPM'' and '' Billboard'' are the biggest publications to have published Canada's official charts for decades. However, the first ...

issue dated 28 July 2012, after debuting on the chart in June. Elsewhere, the song reached number 5 in Japan, number 31 in the Netherlands, number 35 in Austria, number 40 in Denmark and Germany, respectively, number 41 in Switzerland and number 62 in Romania.

Promotion

The official

for "How We Do (Party)" was uploaded to Ora's

channel on 17 April 2012, preceded by the release of a teaser, approximately a week before. Behind-the-scenes footage from the song's video was published on the singer's channel on 10 August. Directed by American director

, Ora stated that the music video was a big party with "no judgment" along with a bunch of people in there, saying "It's definitely about embracing anyone who wants to come to a party." The video commences with a group of partying people, dancing in a dark-coloured setting and sporting bright clothes. In the following scene, Ora enters the setting and begins to sing the song. Further interspersed shots show the singer partying on several other settings, alternating between a "lush" garden at twilight, a foil-wrapped bedroom and a white-cube space filled with guests, where she uses their torsos as "paint brushes". Thomas from MTV labelled the video as "effervescent" and compared Ora's appearance throughout the video to that of American singers

Faith Evans Faith Renée Evans (born June 10, 1973) is an American R&B singer, songwriter, and actress. Born in Lakeland, Florida, and raised in New Jersey, she relocated to Los Angeles in 1991 in pursuit of a recording career. Evans initially performed as ...

and

Gwen Stefani Gwen Renée Stefani Shelton ( ; born October 3, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter and fashion designer. Stefani rose to fame as a member and lead vocalist of the band No Doubt, whose hit singles include " Just a Girl", " Spiderwebs", an ...

, writing that "with a red knit cap pulled down over platinum-blond curls, racalled to mind a cross between ..Evans and Stefani". For the aforementioned website's Lansky, the video has everything, ranging from Viking hats and American flag-embroidered leather jackets to "ferocious" purple suede heels and dip-dyed coloured bathing suits, including Ora in her "signature" red lipstick and "platinum" blonde hair. On 1 May 2012, Ora performed an acoustic version of the song on Billboard's ''The Juice'' episode. At another occasion, the singer presented the song at BBC Radio 1's Hackney Weekend at the

Hackney Marshes Hackney Marshes is an area of open space in London's Lower Lea Valley, lying on the western bank of the River Lea. It takes its name from its position on the eastern boundary of Hackney, the principal part of the London Borough of Hackney, an ...

, London, on 23 June 2012. On 18 August 2012, she gave a performance of it on ''

''. Another performance took place at the Jingle Bell Ball concert in London on 9 December 2012, closing her performance with the song. Further footage of Ora performing "How We Do (Party)" was broadcast during MTV's ''

Unplugged Unplugged may refer to: *Acoustic music, music not produced through electronic means * "Unplugged" (B.A.P song), 2014 * "Unplugged" (''Modern Family''), a 2010 episode of ''Modern Family'' Albums and EPs * ''Unplugged'' (5'nizza album), 2002 * '' ...

'' series on 17 September 2012 as well as on the 11th edition of the

Floriana Floriana ( or ''Il-Floriana''), also known by its title Borgo Vilhena, is a Floriana Lines, fortified town in the Port Region, Malta, Port Region area of Malta, just outside the capital city Valletta. It has a population of 2,205 as of March 2014 ...

, Malta, on 23 June 2013.

Copyright lawsuit

In 2016, American writer

Abiodun Oyewole Abiodun Oyewole (born Charles Davis, February 1948), is a poet, teacher and member of the African-American music and spoken-word group The Last Poets, which developed into what is considered to be the first hip hop group. Critic Jason Ankeny w ...

, a founding member of

the Last Poets The Last Poets is a poetry collective and musical group that arose in the late 1960s as part of the African-American civil rights movement and black nationalism. The name was inspired by revolutionary South African poet Keorapetse Kgositsile who ...

, filed a

copyright infringement Copyright infringement (at times referred to as piracy) is the use of Copyright#Scope, works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the c ...

suit against Ora, rapper Christopher Wallace known as the Notorious B.I.G. and several other songwriters and producers over their use of the phrase "party and bullshit". The phrase appeared on Wallace's single "Party and Bullshit", which Ora sampled on "How We Do (Party)". Oyewole alleged that " heypublish dand distribute ..the crescendo, hook, text, lyrics and sound" of his single "When the Revolution Comes" (1968) without his permission. He further stated that the phrase is meant to "challenge[] and encourage[] people to NOT waste time with 'party and bullshit', but to move towards success". On 4 September 2019, the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, United States District Court for the Southern District of New York judge

Robert Katzmann Robert Allen Katzmann (April 22, 1953 – June 9, 2021) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. He served as chief judge from September 1, 2013, to August 31, 2020. Early life and educati ...

ruled that the artist's use of the line did not constitute copyright infringement and that Ora and Wallace were well within their rights to use it in their songs. The court further stated that "Party and Bullshit" and "How We Do (Party)" "sufficiently transformed the purpose of he linefrom something to be condemned or shunned 'to something glorified', and one embracing and enjoying the 'party and bullshit' culture".

Track listing

*Digital download and streaming #"How We Do (Party)"4:06 *Digital download and streamingExtended play (EP) #"How We Do (Party)"4:06 #"How We Do (Party)" (Gustavo Scorpio Club Mix)7:33 #"How We Do (Party)" (Papercha$er Club Remix)6:11 #"How We Do (Party)" (Sandro Silva Extended Club Mix)5:36 #"How We Do (Party)" (Laidback Luke Club Remix)5:12

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2012 debut singles 2012 songs Rita Ora songs Song recordings produced by Kuk Harrell Song recordings produced by the Monarch (production team) Songs written by Andre Davidson Songs written by Andrew Harr Songs written by Berry Gordy Songs written by Bonnie McKee Songs written by Jermaine Jackson (hip-hop producer) Songs written by Kelly Sheehan Songs written by Sean Davidson Songs written by the Notorious B.I.G. Columbia Records singles British dance songs Irish Singles Chart number-one singles Music videos directed by Marc Klasfeld Number-one singles in Scotland Roc Nation singles Songs involved in plagiarism controversies UK singles chart number-one singles