The album, which mostly consists of unfinished songs and demos recorded between 2007 and 2013, was initially leaked and illegally sold through Bandcamp under the title Jai Paul on 13 April 2013.

Bait Ones received critical acclaim for Paul's unique production style, which was praised for its blend of various genres including electronic music, hip-hop, and R&B.

In a statement accompanying the official album's release, Paul said he was in "complete shock" after learning of the leak, and speculated that it may have originated from a "burned CD that got misplaced".

[15][21]Paul disclosed that the incident had greatly impacted his ability to work and only after "therapy of various kinds" had he begun to consider a return to music, stating that he did not want to deny people from hearing the project.

[22] Shaad D'Souza of The Fader said that the album "exists in no discernible scene or genre because it draws from many", and described the production as being "like Phil Collins produced by SOPHIE".

[14] Bijan Stephen of The Nation characterised Paul's raw production on Bait Ones as a combination of "fuzzed-out synths, chattering percussion, vocals almost buried in the mix, and a highly eclectic approach to sampling".

Lindsay Zoladz of Pitchfork praised the album as "brimming with ideas, innovation, and eccentric personality", and described Paul as "somebody moonwalking through the overcrowded digital world with a mysterious, elegantly curated grace.

"[6] However, Alex Macpherson of The Quietus panned the album, calling it "a load of old cobblers", criticising the "lack of mastering" and suggesting that the leak was a publicity stunt orchestrated by Paul and XL Recordings.

Rory Foster of The Line of Best Fit dubbed the album "one of the great records of the decade", and described Paul's style as a "mythic sound the likes hadn't been heard anywhere".

[33] Ryan Domal of Pitchfork praised Bait Ones as "a miracle of cultural synthesis, in which a young British man of Indian descent gloriously expands what pop music can be", and lauded its production as "the sound of borders breaking, of traditions mingling, of a utopian closeness that so often seems so far away.

"[37] In August 2014, Pitchfork ranked the bootleg at number 99 in "The 100 Best Albums of the Decade So Far", calling it "polyglot space-funk that sounds like it's being beamed in from another star".

"[39] Multiple artists, including Lorde,[7] Dijon,[40] Jungle,[41] Flume,[42] Mura Masa,[43] Kenny Beats,[44] Disclosure,[45] Dan Snaith,[46] Jadu Heart, Nao, Demo Taped and Kindness[29] have praised or cited Bait Ones as an influence on their work.