"[8] Eric Diep of HipHopDX wrote, "Magic 3 is another chapter that doesn't quite surpass the original, but it's the swan song before his decision to retire.

"[9] Mitch Worden of Sputnikmusic wrote, "Magic 3 is everything special about [Nas and Hit-Boy's] 6-LP run and certainly an excellent effort from modern rap's most surprisingly stellar partnership, and it's everything that might have been left behind.

David Crone wrote that, "The ground on which Nas stands here is so effortlessly self-assured that you'd be forgiven for thinking rap was easy.

Bars are constructed loosely but never carelessly, rattled out at a headstrong pace and tossed around like playthings, jeweled with slick double entendres and the wisdom of decades behind the mike.

The vast weight of the MC's legacy is the bedrock behind the words, but his snapshot living is as high-life as ever, with New York luxuries coursing like paper trails through the wordsmith's verses.