Upon the release, Jennifer Bowles from
Associated Press named the song a "plea for racial tolerance".
Larry Flick from
Billboard magazine felt it takes in "a more edgy direction" than in the past for the group. He remarked that placed "within a driving, guitar-anchored
pop/rock setting, the group attacks well-crafted lyrics on racism with unrelenting passion and its trademark harmonies. Will jolt many at first, but will ultimately open many eyes." Dave Sholin from the
Gavin Report commented, "Attacking prejudice head on, The Funky Divas offer advice to those who judge others by looks rather than action. Harmonies don't get any better than when these four incredible voices combine their talents." Connie Johnson from the
Los Angeles Times felt the song was a "pleasant surprise", "which confronts the prejudice even a funky diva faces, be it from store clerks—'I can't look without being watched!'—or those who don't understand that while they 'might date another race or color, that doesn't mean I don't like my strong black brothers'." Pan-European magazine
Music & Media noted that "the "Jackies" of all trades are breaking all the barriers in radio land", describing the song as "
funk rock" and a "
George Clinton cover as colourful as his dyed hair". Gerald Martinez from the
New Sunday Times called the song "storming", and said it "combines
hard rock riffng with
funk while En Vogue wail away with awesome power." Parry Gettelman from
Orlando Sentinel wrote, "'Free Your Mind' owes a small lyrical debt to George Clinton and a large musical debt to
LaBelle – not bad places from which to borrow. There's a brief, funny spoken intro that parodies an
In Living Color sketch, and the quartet slams into a denunciation of prejudice of all sorts: 'I might date another race or color/ Doesn't mean I don't like my strong black brothers'." A reviewer from
People viewed it as a "the
Pointer Sisters-meet-
Van Halen rocker".
Danyel Smith from
Rolling Stone described it as "guitar-ravaged"
Cheo H. Coker from
Stanford Daily felt En Vogue's "foray into
rock 'n' roll [is] completely unsuited for the group, reminiscent of
Janet Jackson's '
Black Cat'. While the song has great message, black
rock is better left to the black rockers."
Retrospective response In a 2017 retrospective review, Quentin Harrison from Albumism described "Free Your Mind" as "a searing rock number that challenged racism, sexism and other social phobias head on was all at once, smart, sexy and provocative."
AllMusic's review critic, Jose F. Promis, voted the single very favorable and rated the
Funky Divas album its highest rating at five. He also declared the track as a "hard rock smash". In his 2009 review, Daryl Easlea for
BBC remarked that the song borrows from "heavy metal". In 2007,
Laura Checkoway from
Vibe called it a "rock-ish anthem with a George Clinton-lifted chorus". ==Commercial performance==