This context was controversial within the group, and strongly opposed by member Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, who threatened to wear black tape over her mouth on its accompanying music video.

They performed it during several live concerts and television events, and the track being used in films and TV series, and covered and sampled by artists including American rock band The Afghan Whigs and singer Zendaya.

[7] Latoya Peterson of Spin observed that feminism was being loudly maligned in music at the time of the song's release, and as a result more female artists like TLC, Salt-N-Pepa and Tori Amos began to "overtly defend themselves".

[8] According to Thomas, the theme did not come as much of a shock for them: I think when we first came out, it was very bold of us to have a song called "Ain't 2 Proud 2 Beg" with [the lyrics] "Two inches or a yard, rock hard or if it's sagging".

She threatened to wear black tape over her mouth in the song's music video to express her disagreement with its message, and its selection as CrazySexyCool's lead single, and in part because of the group's history of advocating for safe sex.

[26] Similar to their past works, "Creep" includes hip hop samples—particularly two 1989 singles, Slick Rick's "Hey Young World" and Shinehead's "Who the Cap Fits"—a heavy beat, with "forthright sex talk" lyrics with a kind of "playful sensuality" and "street aggression".

[29] Its production was built on a "deep" and "infectious" groove, around a wafting "late night"-style trumpet sample with quietly "jiggling" funk guitar and scratching sounds—all adding depth to the subversively "poppy" vocal chorus and accentuating the song's "slinky" hooks.

[32][13][28] Billboard's Larry Flick said that Watkins's vocals were "tightly woven" and "rife with raspy grit", which provided a nice contrast to the song's horn sample and funk guitars.

[28] Watkins recalled that LaFace Records' co-founder Antonio "L.A." Reid "flipped out" when he first heard "Creep"[2] and the track became CrazySexyCool's first single on October 31, 1994, despite Lopes's disagreement with the choice.

[36][5][35][37] Austin's and Untouchables' mixes featured a newly-written rap verse by Lopes, with a noteworthy lyric which warns: "Prenatal HIV is often sleeping in a creeping cradle.

[43] For the 2013 Japanese compilation TLC 20: 20th Anniversary Hits, Watkins and Thomas re-recorded "Creep", and a few other tracks, to celebrate the group's twenty years in the music industry.

[45][25][30] Steve Baltin from Cash Box noted, "Infused with a slight bit of drama in the intro, “Creep” just slinks through the airwaves, slithering into listeners’ minds where it wraps itself tightly, thanks to its low vocals and enticing backbeat.

"[46] "In many ways, TLC at least musically, were best when they were the most subtle", commented Complex's Michael Arceneaux, who found the track's content "refreshing" for displaying women who "muddy up right and wrong in a relationship".

[47] From the same publication, Benjamin Chesna and Edwin Ortiz credited the song with making infidelity sound "empowering" while praising Austin's "silky smooth production", adding: "[Watkins] forced you into the arms of another lady, now you just have to keep it on the down low".

[50] Ralph Tee from Music Week's RM Dance Update said, "It's not the anthem that 'Ain't Too Proud To Beg' was, but is still a quality mid-pacer with catchy tooting trumpet riff, scratch and static effects and cool laid-back vocals.

[52] Idolator's journalist Robbie Daw explained the song's "staying power" was because it is a "provocative" track that dared to expose the "taboo, down-low" aspects of a relationship.

In Charles Aaron's review for Spin, he used a short story:A young woman was walking through downtown Brooklyn the other day when a man approached her and asked mock-politely, "Excuse me, do you know where I can get some pussy around here?"

[54] Including it on her list of best tracks that make people dance, Bernadette McNulty of The Telegraph claimed: "The Dallas Austin groove on this is so deep, it might give you vertigo.

"[29] Ebony's writer Michael A. Gonzales agreed that the song "put the sonic scientist that much closer to [Austin's] dreams of making tracks as enticing and sexy as the ones his hero Prince created for Vanity 6 and Apollonia 6".

[96][19] Almost a decade after its debut, Mimi Valdés of Vibe said that the song lifted their "girl power movement" to new heights, with its female-empowerment theme inspiring works by many artists at the time, including Aaliyah, Missy Elliott and Destiny's Child.

[8][129] Lindsay Zoladz, a writer of Pitchfork, observed when most people think of TLC, their brains immediately go to the sounds and images of CrazySexyCool—"Waterfalls", "Red Light Special" and the silk pajamas in "Creep".

[130] Ebony's Michael A. Gonzales reminisced about the time when the video debuted on MTV, TLC returned as the "lipstick liberators", much to the surprise of a public used to their tomboy style.

[55] Like Gonzales, PopMatters' writer Quentin B. Huff also noticed the "striking" difference between the T-shirt and baggy pants look on their last video "What About Your Friends" and the new "silky nightgown come-ons" look on "Creep" and "Red Light Special".

[136] Keri Hilson's 2010 music video "Pretty Girl Rock" had the singer with two backup dancers dressed in silk pajamas imitating Watkins and the group from the original clip.

[146][147][148] Chicago Tribune's reporter Rohan B. Preston said their set "lit torches for female desire" their songs "Creep" and "Red Light Special".

[164][163][165] On October 16, 2013, TLC sang the song during their hit-medley on talk show The View with a separate televised live rendition of the track for VH1's Super Bowl Blitz concert at the Beacon Theatre on January 30, 2014, where they wore revealing black lace attire.

[170][171] Journalist Jason Ankeny from AllMusic said the rendition proved that "even if [band member Greg Dulli] doesn't possess a heart, he at least has a brain -- albeit in his pants".

[172] On the 2015 season of Idols South Africa contestants Mmatema Moremi, Busisiwe Mthembu and Nonhle Mhlongo performed the song during the show's Hell Week round.

[184] In 2010, "Creep" and "Waterfalls" were played in the comedy film The Other Guys, with a running gag that Michael Keaton's character would subconsciously reference TLC's lyrics without having any idea who the group is.

[185] In literature, South African poet and novelist Mandla Langa mentioned the trio's music video in his book The Memory of Stones in 2000, referring to them as "the legend".