[7] Mikael Wood from Entertainment Weekly said that Rudolf "steps out with a weirdly infectious debut that mixes his rap-track know-how with his love of guitar-god theatrics.

"[10] AllMusic's David Jeffries highlighted the Lil Wayne and Rick Ross-featured tracks but felt the album overall was filled with "cringe-worthy" lyrics and "so-so filler", concluding that: "In the City gets by on hooks and hugeness, like an irony-free Andrew W.K., Timbaland working with Aerosmith, or a jaded version of the Jonas Brothers now willing to drop the F-bomb.

"[8] Alex Sheremet of RapReviews wrote that: "In the City offers good production, excellent melodies, and – of course – the same song, idea(s), and kinds of guest appearances many times over.

"[15] Rolling Stone's Christian Hoard said that despite the Lil Wayne-assisted single, he found the rest of Rudolf's debut to be "a middling rock record dressed up in sleek digital clothes.

He has some solid ideas and keen sense of production; the problem is that his solo songs, by and large, suffer from a frightening lack of creativity and a remarkably shallow lyrical outlook.