Underground Luxury received generally mixed reviews from
music critics. At
Metacritic, which assigns a
normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an
average score of 51, based on 6 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Steven Goldstein of
HipHopDX gave the album two out of five stars, saying "
Underground Luxury does have its rare moments. “Paper Route” sees B.o.B. marathoning dissenting bars over rising synth and crashing percussion, and “John Doe” is an honest attack on infidelity and addiction. But neither do enough to buoy an album that starts and ends with unimaginative materialism. In post-Macklemore mainstream, burdening the position of alternative Hip-Popper or even nice-guy rapper is weighty, and it’s hard to blame B.o.B. for wanting to acclimate himself to a different scene. But the startling lack of creativity he exercises in doing so makes
Underground Luxury easy to write off, and the duality that once powered crossover appeal is now hard to detect." David Jeffries of
AllMusic gave the album three out of five stars, saying "Cobble out the stellar EP inside or consider it a pre-mall mixtape because the puzzling
Underground Luxury mixes mack daddy music with mall rat tracks, even if B.o.B's conviction throughout suggests he sees them as equals." Miranda J. of
XXL gave the album an L, saying "Furthermore, it seems as though B.o.B has made a name for himself in being an hip-hop artist who can adapt to every genre his creativity explores. Every record on
Underground Luxury possess a multi-atmospheric feel, as the beats dip in between many genres of music and really places him in another rap league. It’s apparent that B.o.B isn’t trying to intimate other MCs. Clearly, when he boasts that
Underground Luxury is more “hip-hop heavy,” he isn’t lying. The album certainly delivers." Erin Lowers of
Exclaim! gave the album a six out of 10, saying "If
Underground Luxury is the best representation of where Bobby Ray's sound stands, it's seems confused, but with luxury rap taking heed in hip-hop, B.o.B may just be the underdog worthy of an up-next title." Jon Dolan of
Rolling Stone gave the album two and a half stars out of five, saying "At times, his third LP goes for playalistic realism; "Paper Route" meditates on the perils of rapping about politics ("Look what happened to the Dixie Chicks"). But tracks with Future and 2 Chainz highlight his limitations on the mic, and without the Dr. Luke-assisted buoyancy of 2012's
Strange Clouds, the album falls flat – moments of well-meaning ambition not withstanding." Niki Gatewood of
AllHipHop gave the album an eight out ten, saying "Overall, it’s the near balance of the thought-provoking, the party-educing, and the unabashed confident lyricism that constitutes the solid effort of, B.o.B.’s,
Underground Luxury." Ken Capobianco of
The Boston Globe gave the album a mixed review, saying "The multi-talented B.o.B sounds like he can’t figure out just what kind of artist he wants to be on his third record. The rapper/musician born Bobby Ray Simmons Jr. tries to recapture the pop success of his debut with smartly conceived hooky songs while also churning out overly familiar trap-informed grooves. The latter dilute his charm and vision. When he focuses on spinning his autobiographical tales about his early struggles and the lessons of success over tightly arranged melodic tracks (“Nobody Told Me,” “Paper Route”) he hits the mark." ==Commercial performance==