It was mainly met with positive reception from music critics, who praised the song's genre-shifting production and the empowering message in Kelis' lyrics.

The video was also produced in digital 3-D. "Scream" was performed live on The Alan Titchmarsh Show and the Summer Sets concert series for Vevo.

[5] Many other critics stated how the song's composition could be split into different sections, sometimes like "a beat-free beach house piano-based meditation"[1][3] while at other times, sounding like "haughty electroclash ingenue".

[1] Nick Levine from Digital Spy noted that "Scream" had distinct shifts in genre, from house verses to electronica choruses.

[6] In the song's bridge, the main melody "evaporates" before returning with "staccato notes" and Kelis speaking, instead of singing, over a midsection with electronic percussion.

Pitchfork Media's Jess Harvell gave the song a mixed review saying "All of this subgenre synthesizing is a bit shameless.

[12] Sarah Bee of BBC Music agreed compared the song to works by Dutch house DJ Fedde Le Grand, saying that the overall effect was "Wow!".

[3] David Buchanan of the New York City and Chicago-based online music publication Consequence of Sound said "Scream defies its namesake by coming off like a plea for optimism and kindness set to alternating piano and dance beats; Kelis never drops the ball on her seamless rhythm here, though her vocals (which precede her own name in the fame game) tend to be locked in on a single delivery of keys that come across layered into the techno rather than sung upon it.

[16] The video begins with Kelis running on a treadmill, facing the camera, on the Wendling Estate in Gospel Oak, London, UK.

"There are various shots of Kelis in some OTT fashion ensembles (huge fake eyelashes, lace winged hat, chains) with a recurring image of her in a human body suit, jogging in place.