Block Music garnered positive reviews from music critics praising Shawnna's improvement as a rapper in terms of lyrical content and tonal delivery. Andy Kellman of AllMusic gave high praise to Shawnna's ability to portray different emotions and deliver topics with complex writing over energetic production, saying that, "With a surprising level of depth and a more complementary set of productions, Block Music makes Worth tha Weight – a decent album in its own right – seem like a clumsy warm-up."[1] Alvin Blanco of XXL also commended Shawnna for side-stepping her usual sex-filled braggadocio to reveal more introspective material delivered in both hard-hitting and soft-spoken styles, concluding that "Offering up more of herself this go-round, Shawnna shows considerable growth. Maybe now she can finally get some… props."[5]PopMatters contributor Quentin B. Huff wrote: "Shawnna's song arrangement effectively binds the various topics of her tunes because she's convincing. Sure, there's some posturing and, yeah, she's exaggerating reality a bit. But, just like the movies, where you know an actor or actress isn't performing all the stunts, the trick is to make you suspend your disbelief. And in this regard, Shawnna plays her part with gusto while demonstrating that, sometimes, you get more than what you see."[2] Conversely, Steve 'Flash' Juon of RapReviews was unimpressed by Shawnna's lyrics consisting of "every major gangster rap cliche" over quality beats, concluding that: "There's nothing profound about "Block Music" other than how profoundly UNENJOYABLE I found listening to it to be. In fact I think the only enjoyment one could find out of this album would be that if you got horny enough you could masturbate to Shawnna's pictures – that's about it."[3]Robert Christgau graded the album as a "dud",[4] indicating "a bad record whose details rarely merit further thought."[6]
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