Songfacts®:

• "Don't Cha Wanna Ride" hears British soulstress Joss Stone getting flirtatious with a guy, although he's too self-obsessed to notice her advances. Stone wrote the song with the American hit-making legend Desmond Child alongside Betty Wright, Michael Mangini, and Steve Greenberg.
• This song is built around a sample of "Soulful Strut" by Chicago jazz band Young-Holt Unlimited. Originally the backing music to "Am I the Same Girl" by Barbara Acklin before being issued as a stand-alone instrumental in 1968, "Soulful Strut" was a huge hit in the US and Canada, peaking at #3 and #1, respectively.
• Despite being one of her most popular hits, Stone isn't a big fan of this song. Speaking to the Daily Mail in 2008, she confessed: "I swear I'd do hundreds of interviews and they'd ask me about 'Don't Cha Wanna Ride' and I'd say, 'I don't like it!' But it washed over them. They just said, 'Ah, bless.'" Stone added: "'I know you got the Hummer for the summer, baby/But I got your number, baby.' What the f--k kind of lyrics are they?"
• The music video was directed by American filmmaker Wayne Isham. The summer-tinged clip shows Stone cruising down the Pacific Coast Highway in a white floral-print Volkswagen Beetle 1302 Cabriolet and performing with her band at sunset beside Santa Monica Pier.
• "Don't Cha Wanna Ride'' was the fourth and final single released from Stone's sophomore album, Mind Body & Soul, after "You Had Me," "Right To Be Wrong," and "Spoiled." It reached #20 and spent five weeks on the chart in the UK. Mind Body & Soul was also a commercial success, peaking at #1 in the UK. Consequently, at 17 years and five months old, Stone became the youngest female to top the chart. She held this record until 2019, when Billie Eilish, at 17 years and three months old, reached #1 with her debut album, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?.