How Many Licks? T. C. M. Tyree wrote that the focus on beauty standards in the video continued with Nicki Minaj's video for "Stupid Hoe". Lil' Kim rapped the first verses of "How Many Licks?" during a 2010 event at Irving Plaza. During the performance, she had a wardrobe malfunction and her top almost fell down. She also performed the song in 2012 as part of her Return of the Queen Tour, as well as during a one-night show at the Gramercy Theatre the following year, wearing a red bodysuit and long black hair. In 2013, American drag queen Alaska Thunderfuck sang a
How Many Licks? song as an example of how Sisqó pushed the envelope of sexuality in popular culture. Brittany Vincent of "Billboard" noted it as an example of how the rapper was unafraid of exploring sex in her music. An editor for Apple Music included the song on its "Lil' Kim Essentials" playlist, writing that Lil Kim' "more than held her own as an agile and self-possessed MC who pushed hip-hop toward its unalloyed id". However, African-American studies professor Mark Anthony Neal criticized the single for perpetuating the sexual objectification of women. Comparing "How Many Licks?" with American singer Tweet's 2002 song "Oops