Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite was not an immediate commercial success, but it was helped by the release of its second single "Ascension (Don't Ever Wonder)" in July 1996, and the album eventually became a million-seller.

It was also a success with critics, who praised it as a departure from the mainstream, hip hop-oriented R&B of the time, while earning Maxwell several accolades and comparisons to soul singers of the past, particularly Marvin Gaye and Prince.

Along with D'Angelo's Brown Sugar (1995) and Erykah Badu's Baduizm (1997), the album provided commercial exposure to neo soul and has since been cited by several critics as Maxwell's greatest work.

[2] Raised in the borough's East New York-section, Maxwell's previous musical experience included his beginnings as a singer in the congregation of his Baptist church,[3] which had become an integral part of his life after the death of his father in a plane crash.

[2] During the recording sessions, Maxwell worked extensively with collaborators, including Matthewman, soul singer-songwriter Leon Ware, and funk guitarist Melvin "Wah-Wah Watson" Ragin.

[7] Production assistance and instrumentation from such veteran session musicians contributed significantly to Urban Hang Suite's vintage overtones and classic R&B influences.

[8] After the recording sessions ended in March 1995,[3] Urban Hang Suite was mixed by P.M. (Peter Mokran) and audio engineer Mike Pela, after which it was mastered by Tom Coyne at Sterling Sound in New York City.

[22] Rolling Stone editor David Fricke compared the album's concept to that of Marvin Gaye's 1978 record Here, My Dear, which dealt with his divorce, saying that Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite had been reworked as a treatise on monogamy.

[4] Maxwell told Interview's Dimitri Erhlich that his main muse for Urban Hang Suite was women, and further elaborated on his inspiration, stating: I think creativity is innately feminine.

[16] Roni Sarig wrote that their "early '80s full-band R&B and jazz pop grooves are reminiscent of Maze's brightest days and Steely Dan's coolest nights.

[25] Co-written by songwriter Itaal Shur,[8] "Ascension (Don't Ever Wonder)" opens with a funky groove and bass line, and features a forceful rhythm and rough funk sound.

[26] Cited by Blender magazine as one of the "Greatest Make-Out Songs of All Time", "...Til the Cops Come Knockin'" contains sexually explicit lyrics and a slower tempo than its preceding tracks.

[3] The album's front cover art also features a picture of a pair of golden women's shoes on the floor of a hotel room, with the bar coding prominently displayed.

[29] In the period before its release, Maxwell wrote and demoed songs for a subsequent studio album, and embarked on an African American college tour with Groove Theory and the Fugees.

[30] The gold-certified single "Ascension (Don't Ever Wonder)", which had shipped 500,000 copies in the US by October,[31] was considered by music journalists to be a significant factor in consumers' increased interest in the album.

[3] Writing for Vibe, OJ Lima said the record was a "refreshing detour from hump-bouncin' '90s R&B",[17] while Dimitri Ehrlich from Entertainment Weekly wrote that Maxwell "smooths hip-hop's and soul's edges, proving that black dance music doesn't automatically mean ghetto culture.

[45] In American Visions, Michael George wrote, "In an age where young, black artists are criticized (often rightly so) for misogynistic lyrics, Maxwell's focus on commitment is refreshing.

[43] In The Village Voice, Robert Christgau jokingly accused Maxwell of "expiring of Afrocentric texturitis",[47] while rating the album a "dud",[48] which indicated "a bad record whose details rarely merit further thought".

[49] At the end of 1996, Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite named one of the year's 10 best albums in lists published by Rolling Stone, Time, and USA Today.

[53] Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite heralded the arrival of a top-of-the-class graduate of the old school of soul, one who could sing about romantic aspiration and tribulation with heart-wrenching emotion.

[2][55] Along with D'Angelo's Brown Sugar (1995) and Badu's Baduizm (1997),[55] Urban Hang Suite has been recognized by writers for beginning neo soul's popularity and helping the genre obtain commercial visibility.

[4] On Maxwell's emergence with Urban Hang Suite, writer Carol Brennan cited him, along with the Fugees, D'Angelo and Tony Rich, as neo soul musicians that "exhibited the identifying characteristics of this new breed of R&B artists: lyrics that give voice to intense personal expression, creative control over the music, and a unexpectedly successful debut.

"[4] In his book A Change Is Gonna Come: Music, Race & the Soul of America (2006), Craig Hansen Werner lists Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite as important in neo soul, including it along with R. Kelly's R. (1998), D'Angelo's Voodoo (2000), the Young Disciples' Road to Freedom (1991), Aaliyah's self-titled final release (2001), Faith Evans' Keep the Faith (1998) and "anything by Seal" as among "the starter kit" for the genre.

[4][11] He was described by critics as "part of a new generation of smooth soul crooners", and he obtained a reputation among fans as a sex symbol, which according to one journalist, was due to his "wild" afro and "extravagant cheekbones".

The magazine highlighted Maxwell's showmanship, "down-to-earth" attitude and body movements including dropping down to his knees, swiveling his hips in a "slow grind", and crawling across the stage while singing.

[4] In Contemporary Musician (1998), Mary Alice Adams examined the personal impact of his debut album on listeners: To his fans, Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite lures them into the heart of a romantic encounter that ends with a marriage proposal.

[42] Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite has since been cited by several critics as his best album,[43][42] including Stephen Cook from AllMusic, who said it was "destined to become a classic contemporary R&B disc".