Following the release of Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded, critics suggested that the track "Stupid Hoe"[4] may have contained attacks directed at Kim.

Lil' Kim later suggested in an interview with 105's Breakfast Club that the song "Automatic" was similar to her unreleased material, also calling Minaj "obnoxious" and "catty".

[8] It is introduced with a series of digital effects and ominous strings, which Matthew Wilkening of AOL Radio compared to "some old video game".

[11][12] After the introduction, the song quickly starts with "a hiccuping series of computerized samples pushed forward by sporadic, tinny electronic drums" and only rests during "occasional baths of warm keyboards brightening.

[13] The production for the track is mainly surrounded by pulsating strings that allows for both rappers to exchange verse's in violent ways, and adds to the drama of the song.

[16] Critics found Minaj's lyrics as intense and incisive,[16] but Eminem's rap has been noted as being similar to his earlier work and contains misogyny and homophobia.

[17] Many critics questioned Minaj's alter-ego, Roman Zolanski, as being an "angry gay male" because it was expected that the rappers would go toe-to-toe in-between verses.

David Jeffries of AllMusic called the song the key track of the album, referring to Minaj as a savage as she "roars like a tiger" while standing up to Eminem.

"[21] Margaret Wappler of Los Angeles Times complemented Minaj's "huffing and puffing" at Eminem's alter-ego, while both characters exchange violent lyrics.

"[13] Jesse Cataldo of Slant dissected the track while attempting to understand Roman Zolanski as a "less carefully identified sliver of herself than the embodiment of what makes her appealing."

Idolator positively reviewed the song as an "experiment," while praising the verses of Minaj while dismissing Eminem's "typical misogyny and homophobia.

"[17] Marc Hogan of Spin praised the song for noting Minaj's capabilities to "compete with the big boys" in rap.

"[14] Zach Baron and Rich Juzwiak of The Village Voice both debated on the track, praising it as well as dismissing the anti-gay lyrics by Eminem.

[18] Rich Juzwiak approached the song as the gay-male-alter-ego Roman Zolanski versus the anti-gay Slim Shady, and praised Minaj/Zolanski for "winning the battle.

[11] Mariel Concepcion of Billboard dissected the song stating "Nicki Minaj's highly-talked about "Roman's Revenge" track hit the net over the weekend, and the Harajuku Barbie appears to be taking jabs at Lil' Kim.

Minaj also subliminally took jabs at rapper Keys with "I see them dusty ass Filas, Levi's/ Raggedy Ann's/ Holes in your knee highs".

"[26] In response to "Roman's Revenge", Lil' Kim released "Black Friday" which debuted on DJ Absolut's Hot 97 show on Thanksgiving Day.

The song was prominently featured as a diagetic part of the soundtrack to Judd Apatow's This Is 40 (2012) where it is explicitly presented as a young, current, female, pop favorite of the protagonist's wife and daughter, which contrasts with the old, classic, male, rock music he favors.

[38] The remix, named "Roman's Revenge 2.0" was officially released to the iTunes Store in the United States on January 19, 2011, and later released as a bonus track on certain European versions of the iTunes Store deluxe edition of Pink Friday, before ultimately appearing on the complete edition re-issue of Pink Friday for its 10 Year anniversary.

[40] Jayson Rodriguez of MTV stated that after Wayne's jail-sentencing, he "made up" for his absence by assisting Minaj on a remix of one of her best cuts off Pink Friday.