 The song received acclaim from many music critics, who praised the song's complex production and Roots Manuva's embracing of his own culture, in contrast to the American themes dominating hip hop music at the time.Christian Hopwood of BBC Music praised the lyricism and noted that it was "hard to imagine any MC from the West Side issuing forth... [such] lactose truth[s]", whilst AllMusic's John Bush lauded it as "the best British rap single since Tricky's "Aftermath"" (1994).Nin Chan of RapReviews cited its backing track as an example of the "absolutely sterling" production found on "Run Come Save Me", and claimed that it would "incite bouts of hip-shaking on any dancefloor".