The music video for the song, directed by Randy Barbato and featuring RuPaul in various outfits cavorting around New York, became a staple on MTV.

Singer Kurt Cobain of Nirvana cited the song as one of his favorites of 1993, and the two were photographed together at the MTV Video Music Awards that year.

"[5] Larry Flick from Billboard wrote, "New York City club and drag personality returns to the recording world with a festive twirler that aims to lengthen the life of the voguing phenomenon.

"[6] In 2018, Jim Farber from Entertainment Weekly described it as a "pivotal single/lifestyle slogan", adding that it "became an instant club classic, italicized by a plethora of snap-ready tag lines, including "you better work", "I have one thing to say", and "Sashay/Shantay!"

"[7] Caroline Sullivan from The Guardian declared it as "a seventies-style disco workout containing every hysterical cliche of that era, from soaring violins to sonorous groans from Ru.

"[8] In his weekly UK chart commentary, James Masterton viewed it as "an unremarkable dance/pop tribute to the world of the supermodels sung by the larger than life Rupaul, drag queen extraordinaire.

[11] Mandi James from NME wrote, "Rupaul is a dominatrix drag queen, nearly seven foot in his stilletos, who spends most of the record bitchin', dissin' and coing over the likes of Linda and Cindy.

"[12] Sam Wood from Philadelphia Inquirer felt it succeed at "being more than celebrations of surface - the glitz and gloss of haute couture, the perfect coiffure.

[14] Mark Frith from Smash Hits gave the song four out of five, adding, "It's a great hi-NRG dance romp which celebrates the world of the supermodel from the most super of all models.

It tells the story of a little black girl (played by RuPaul) in the Brewster projects of Detroit, Michigan, who is spotted by an "Ebony Fashion Fair" talent scout who grows up to become a successful model and is given the title Supermodel of the World.

[16] The music video for "Supermodel (You Better Work)" was later made available on Tommy Boy Records' official YouTube channel in 2018, and had generated more than 6.6 million views as of May 2024.

[3] The song has been covered several times, notably by Taylor Dayne for The soundtrack of 2003's Hilary Duff's The Lizzie McGuire Movie and as a 2021 single by musician Jimmy Harry under his synthpop outfit Bonsai Mammal with vocals provided by singer Liz.