Nelly characterized Sweat as "more up-tempo" and "energetic" while describing Suit as more of "a grown-up and sexy vibe [...] it's more melodic".

"My Place" and "Over and Over" were certified gold and platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), for shipments of 500,000 and one million copies, respectively.

Suit topped the US Billboard 200 chart in its opening week, selling 396,000 copies, becoming Nelly's third consecutive US number-one album.

[1] On April 27, 2004, Nelly's representative initially described the upcoming albums as thematically dissimilar, "one is more melodic and party-oriented in the vein of records like "E.I."

[7][8] The lead single "My Place" interlopes composition from "Isn't It a Shame" by girl group Labelle and Randy DeBarge's 1982 "I Like It".

[9] It also samples elements of the Del-Vikings' 1957 soul ballad "Come Go with Me", which Jason Birchmeier of Allmusic recognized as a large influence to the song.

[12] Other tracks that bare similar characteristics to "My Place" include "Paradise" (which also utilizes a "finger-picked guitar" throughout),[13] "Pretty Toes" and "She Don't Know My Name".

[10] "'N' Dey Say" samples Spandau Ballet’s 1983 "True";[9] lyrically, the track and "Paradise" both engage in the themes of "hope and the promise of something better".

[13] "Nobody Knows" featuring Anthony Hamilton was chosen as the "most sonically inventive track" on Suit by Todd Burns of Stylus Magazine, who depicted its "orchestral stabs" and MIDI strings, which "interweave uneasily".

Browne went on to further praise specific songs including the "summer-breezy" "Play it Off" and the "cozy hip-hop soul" housed "In My Life".

[11] Jason Birchmeier of Allmusic was hesitant of the simultaneous release of two album's, as they may suffer from being one dimensional, but liked the musical content within both Suit and Sweat, noting the former's to be more diversified.

"[10] In a mixed review, Jason King of The Village Voice wrote that tracks on Suit have the "sole intention of ending up as your next ringtone".

[35] King noted some songs to "crumble" due to their "simplistic approach", while tracks like "Flap Your Wings" as "addictive".

[13] In a negative review, The Guardian's Alexis Petridis showed distaste for both Nelly's vocal technique and Suit's tracks.

[30] Petridis described the album's songs as "gummy R&B ballads", while noting Nelly's egotism to overtake his abilities as an artist.

[37] In its opening week, Suit debuted atop the US Billboard 200 chart, selling 396,000 copies, becoming Nelly's third consecutive US number-one album following Country Grammar (2000) and Nellyville (2002).

He is the second artist, following American hard rock band Guns N' Roses, to achieve the same feat but on the Billboard 200 chart.

[38] The following week of Suit's release, it fell to number 2 on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 160,000 copies, being replaced by Green Day's American Idiot (2004).

[44] On November 1, 2004, Suit went on to be certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), denoting shipments of 500,000 copies.