"He Loves U Not" received a mixed reception from
music critics who praised the production and lyrics but felt that it was derivative compared to other songs of its ilk.
Billboard praised the song for having a street edge in its production, the group's performance and compared the lyrics positively to
Brandy and
Monica's duet "
The Boy Is Mine", concluding that "With Bad Boy's genius and solid talent here, "He Loves U Not" has a good shot at becoming a dream come true."
AllMusic's
Stephen Thomas Erlewine highlighted the song as a "Track Pick", giving credit to P. Diddy's team of producers and songwriters. Arion Berger of
Rolling Stone praised the song for exuding bright attitude, saying that it has a "whipping elasticity and sass to spare."
David Browne of
Entertainment Weekly called the song "an utterly derivative piece of song-and-dance pop-R&B," but did highlight the rhythm and guitar sounds as "intriguing" and the lyrical catfight for having "enough hiss in it to be interesting." A writer for
People, reviewing the album, was less positive towards the song's adult content and preferred the tracks "
Mr. Telephone Man" and "How Long" for how "the girls sound their age." The song gave them a
Soul Train Lady of Soul Award nomination for Best R&B/Soul or Rap New Artist, Group, Band or Duo but lost to
3LW's "
No More (Baby I'ma Do Right)". ==Commercial performance==