Building on the teasers' popularity, "Million Dollar Baby" garnered immediate commercial success upon its April release, becoming Richman's breakthrough hit.

After having moved from his hometown of Woodbridge, Virginia to Los Angeles in 2022, Richman quickly garnered attention for his "signature production style" without being confined to "genre labels".

[11][12] It features staccato synth lines, a "ridiculously bouncy" bassline and trap percussion; Richman's multi-tracked vocals range from a "pitched-down chant" to a "soaring falsetto".

[13] On the chart dated May 11, 2024, the song debuted at number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, with "38 million streams, 302,000 in radio airplay audience and 4,000 sold", behind Taylor Swift and Post Malone's "Fortnight".

[14] This became Richman's first entry, setting a record as the highest debut from an artist with no prior history on the chart since "Rich Men North of Richmond" by Oliver Anthony Music the previous year.

[23] Eric Skelton of the same publication praised its concise fullness, likening it to "dessert for dinner"; he also singled out the variety and production of Richman's vocals, commenting that "the Virginia singer layers his own voice on top of itself... in an endearingly self-indulgent way".

[9] Likewise, Carl Lamarre at Billboard also thought the track was a "song of the summer" contender with its "funky sound" and "seamless vocal riffs".

[24] Writing for HotNewHipHop, Gabriel Bras Nevares pointed out the "creative blend of classic Southern trap" and "poppy" vocal passages with "melodic leads".