Critical reception
AllMusic editor Marisa Brown felt that "with songs that could fit equally on pop radio as they could R&B, Michael does his best Michael Jackson-meets-Prince-meets-Justin Timberlake (hardly a stretch) impression on his debut self-titled full-length. The results aren't wholly imaginative or unique, but Kevin Michael has a good enough voice, and a good enough production staff and group of writers behind him, to sound competent, even fun." [2] Christian Hoard from Rolling Stone wrote that "on his debut, Michael makes bright R&B for people who think Chris Brown isn’t pop-friendly enough. At his worst, the young Philadelphian sounds green, relying too much on vocal swoops and falsettos and over-employing cutesy singsong choruses. But on friendly jams like the lovestruck "Hood Buzzin" and the slinky, Prince-esque "We All Want the Same Thing," Michael is a confident hookmeister and born crowd pleaser." [5]
BBC Music critic Nick Street felt that Kevin Michael's problem was "that it seeks to cover many different vibes — several being thrown into one tune — but it doesn't remotely distinguish itself from other artists out there in this genre [...] It's a worthy attempt in a field that's already saturated. Let's just hope he can develop himself further in future." [6] Michael Endelman, writing for Spin , found that while "We All Want the Same Thing" was a "clever let’s-just-all-get-along party cut, powered by a chugging slide guitar vamp and a sprightly Lupe Fiasco rap," [...] the "rest of the album buries otherwise thrilling moments [...] amid a steady stream of generic R&B." [7] David Hilzendegen from laut.de noted that "dDespite appearances by Wyclef and Q-Tip, it remains pretty inconsequential." [3]
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