Marisa Brown of
AllMusic gave the album 4 stars out of 5, commenting that it "mixes his socially conscious messages and his battle-honed cadence, healthy ego, and energetic production (courtesy here of Illmind, Dilla, J-Zone, and 9th Wonder, among others) into a palatable but intelligent creation that entertains as much as it educates." She added, "
Absolute Value has a few requisite tracks -- the melancholy 'Rain,' the sweet 'Back Home to You' -- but it also has a lot of sharp, thoughtful, fun material that knows how to keep the audience moving, both in body and mind." J-23 of
HipHopDX gave the album a 4.0 out of 5, saying, "you won't find anything on this album that will have you reaching for the skip button." Andrew Martin of
PopMatters gave the album 7 stars out of 10, calling it "a strong representation of Ak's versatility as an emcee." Max Herman of
XLR8R gave the album a 7.5 out of 10, writing, "the MC leaves the greatest impression when he balances his hard-hitting approach with focused subject matter as he does on the Little Brother-assisted 'Be Prepared,' a soulful examination of the rap game." ==Track listing==