[16][17] "Sabotage" was written by Dan Wilson, Dylan Wiggins, Martin McKinney, Merna Bishouty, Michael Sonier, Chika and Joanna "JoJo" Levesque for the latter's long-awaited upcoming fourth studio album.

Sajae Elder from The Fader magazine called the track "similarly vulnerable", in comparison to JoJo's previously released singled "Joanna".

[19] Noah C of HotNewHipHop praised its "dark bassline that creeps across the verses and accumulates a groove in the chorus" while also coining the song as "another soaring bop".

[17] Madeline Roth from MTV News provided a positive review for the "soulful confessional" tune, praising the song's content as "equally raw" as the previously released "Joanna".

Roth went on to praise CHIKA's "introspective bars of her own", while concluding that "there's something beautifully old-school about 'Sabotage,' and it's refreshing to hear a pop artist really dive into honest self-awareness".

[22] Bianca Betancourt of Teen Vogue praised the song's "refreshingly intimate lyrical direction from JoJo while not sacrificing the sultry, powerhouse vocals she's been owning her entire career".

[13] Idolator’s Mike Wass called JoJo a "vocal queen" stating that "self-reflection is a rare commodity in popular music" and describing the song as "achingly honest".