[13] Allmusic editor David Jeffries complimented its "literate but loose rhymes, free spirits, and dope beats" and wrote in conclusion, "the album barely crosses the 40-minute mark and it doesn’t bother pleasing the crowd, but it rewards its core audience with a freestyle feel and an uncompromising allegiance to true hip-hop".

[11] HipHopDX writer William Ketchum noted Sean Price's and Guilty Simpson's "hard-nosed rhymes with a twist of dark humor", and wrote that Black Milk "eschews his usual soulful, electronic-influenced soundbeds for a collection of tailor-made gritty, percussive bangers".

[14] However, Pitchfork Media's Martin Douglas viewed that the album "feels carelessly phoned in at times" and stated, "the verses are reliably good, but the tedium of clock punching replaces the spirit of competition".

[3] Okayplayer's Niela Orr called Random Axe "a release that’s thematically consistent if not repetitive and evocative of the three’s surefire chemistry" and dubbed Black Milk's production "probably the most positive (feeling-wise) attribute of the album, even though the beats are moody, dark, and gritty".

[6] Jesse Serwer of Time Out wrote that Black Milk "finds complementary foils in surly Brooklyn rapper Price (of Boot Camp Clik and Heltah Skeltah fame) and Simpson, a J Dilla disciple whose flow is as intimidating as his name suggests".