[2] The album was reissued as The Best of the Black President in 2009 by Knitting Factory Records and received universal acclaim from music critics.

He applauded the decision to edit or "unceremoniously" reduce the exhaustive lengths of the original songs in half, adding that they feature "top-notch tirades, explosive horn blasts", and riffs Kuti could "never improve no matter how often he [tried]".

[14] In 2005, Spin magazine ranked The Best Best of Fela Kuti the fourth best world music album of all time.

[3] Allmusic's Thom Jurek recommended the album even for listeners who own all of Kuti's previous music: "this is a killer mix and needs to be in the collection anyway.

Club credited it for doing "the impossible by summing up a singular performer who liked his songs to jam on out to a half-hour or more.