A sequel to the song entitled "If It's Lovin' That You Want – Part 2", which features rap vocals by Cory Gunz, was included as a bonus track on Rihanna's sophomore album, "A Girl Like Me" (2006). The song was written by Samuel Barnes, Scott LaRock, Makeba Riddick, Jean-Claude Oliver, Lawrence Parker and was produced by the latter two under their production name, Poke & Tone of Trackmasters." The song was met with generally mixed reviews from music critics, who both praised and criticised Rihanna's vocal performance. Bill Lamb of About.com wrote that although the singer provides "simple, pleasant vocals", her voice sounds "too light" and "thin". Lamb continued to comment about the song, writing that although the song is "pleasurable" and "summery" to listen to and is not "offensive", it fails to re-capture the "killer hook of 'Pon de Replay". However, A. Vishnu of "The Hindu" had contrasting opinions with regard to Rihanna's vocal performance, writing the song further "exposes her versatility and vocal range". A reviewer for "Billboard" praised the song's composition and beat, writing "[If It's Lovin' that You Want'] reinforces Rihanna's tropical reggae signature with an itchy hook that, albeit monotonous, cannot miss." A reviewer of Take40 and Kelefa Sanneh of "The New York Times" were brief in their reviews of "If It's Lovin' that You Want", with the former writing that the song is more "low-key" compared to Rihanna's previous release, "Pon de Replay", and the latter simply writing that it is a "pretty good" song. "If It's Lovin' that You Want" peaked at number 36 on the Billboard Hot 100, failing to match the commercial success of Rihanna's previous single, "Pon de Replay", only peaking within the top ten of three national charts. In Australia, the song debuted and peaked on the Australian Singles Chart at number 9 on February 6, 2006. The song fell one position the following week to number ten, but managed to peak at number 9 again in its third week. In total, the song spent two non-consecutive weeks at number 9 and fourteen weeks on the chart. In New Zealand, the song debuted at number 12 on the New Zealand Singles Chart on December 19, 2005.