In a retrospective review, AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine perceived the album's music as "rich enough to compensate for some thinness in the writing" and called it "a startling assured, successful debut that deserved its immediate acclaim and is already aging nicely". Barry Walters wrote in a later article for "Rolling Stone", "the album has aged well – excepting a drum-machine beat or two, it feels timeless." In the "Encyclopedia of Popular Music" (2011), Colin Larkin said Keys had fused urban R&B, hip hop, and blues on what he called "a minor classic of modern soul". "Songs in A Minor" is regarded as an influential and distinctive album of its era.