In an interview with
Ryan Seacrest, Minaj said about the song: "Toward the end of the album I wanted something more melodic that I could give to urban radio and that pop radio could enjoy as well. I actually had the beats for like 3 months just sitting in my computer and then I said, 'You know what? This sounds like a summer, R&B classic joint' and I just could not hear anyone else on it but Chris Brown. So I reached out to Ester Dean and I said, 'Could you write something for Chris Brown?' Because she's amazing with writing and especially for his voice, she has a great skill to write for his tone and she sent it, I fell in love with it, you know 'cause everybody has had a relationship like this song is talking about, [so] I went in and I wrote my rap, cause I'm rapping and singing in the song, and when we put it all together and let people hear it, everybody was like, this is a hit, release this ASAP." "Right by My Side" is an upbeat take on a
downtempo ballad. The song is also heavily influenced by
pop, and features a "glossy", "bubbly" production. Some critics found similarities between "Right by My Side" and other songs by fellow female R&B artists, specifically
Jordin Sparks and
Rihanna. Both Justin Ray of
Billboard, Andrew Hampp of
Billboard, and Robbie Daw of
Idolator found the lyrics and themes similar to those of Sparks 2008 single "
No Air" which also featured Brown, Andrew Unterberger of Popdust felt the song was a more successful version of
Rihanna's "
You da One". ==Critical reception==