[11] Jem Aswad of Variety praised the music for being "Black-centric and racially based, and forceful without being dogmatic or too in-your-face", with the lyrics exploring the experience of growing up as a minority in Britain.

[1] Stereogum listed Nine as the album of the week, with reviewer Ryan Leas also noted how the release discusses the band members' origins and using the music to dig into "complexities and layers of Black experience".

[13] Tarisai Ngangura of Pitchfork compares the "repetitive, earwormy melodies" paired with "ominous undertones" to children's rhymes; the review assess all tracks on the album pointing out the heavy lyrical themes and the band's ability to laugh through them.

[6] Sofie Lindevall of Gigwise scored Nine a nine out of 10 stars and points out the diversity of genres and the powerful social messaging, including the spoken word piece by Michael Ofo.

[7] The editorial board of AllMusic gave this release four out of five stars and included it as the "Best of 2021", with reviewer Andy Kellman speculating that the tracks are outtakes from the band's previous albums, leading to the eclectic mix of styles that "play out like fragments of a concept album about grim street life caused by a lack of opportunities and endangered by a surplus of looming threats", but notes that even if they are outtakes, they are "no slapdash addendum" to the band's catalogue.