In a conversation with publication Vulture that was later adapted into a Time retrospective on Thriller, producer Jones mentioned the record paid homage to jazz saxophonist John Coltrane.
“Jazz is at the top of the hierarchy of music because the musicians learned everything they could about music.”[4][5][6] Billboard described the song as "...upbeat, danceable and punctuated by twittering keyboards and punchy horn fills.
"[7] In a 2016 retrospective for Billboard, writer Andrew Unterberger lauded the song [and other non-single "Baby Be Mine"] as "earn[ing] every bit of the real estate they command on the biggest nine-track album in history.
"[9] On a Billboard 2022 ranked list of the entire album, the song placed eighth, with writer Chuck Arnold noting the record "shimmers with a soul-disco swag" before highlighting the "smooth, roller-skating groove that the late Heatwave honcho [also] brought to “Rock with You” on Off the Wall.
"['Wanna Be Startin' Somethin’'] holds up for six minutes and two seconds, during which Jackson and Quincy Jones mix the tension of rock'n'roll with the rapture of disco and hit perfection.