But the project fundamentally misses the mark in several areas, be it the hit-or-miss beats and lack of consistency in overall production quality or U-God’s habit of falling into lackadaisical emceeing.

"[6] Jaroslav Lavick of RapReviews gave the album a 6.5 out of 10, saying "There is little doubt that U-God will never attain the popularity of Ghostface or Method Man, but it seems he's proud of what he's achieved, where he is now, and where he's headed, and he's not shy to let us know about it on "The Keynote Speaker".

Rather than just talking about himself for the majority of the album I wouldn't have minded touches of social commentary also (similar to what Cappadonna showed on "Eyrth, Wynd and Fyre"), as he's getting older and wiser, but then maybe U-God is simply never going to be that kind of rapper.

After all, if his music maintains this level of high quality he can be telling us he walks on water and I'd play along with it, I just hope this album convinces a few more people to pay some deserved attention to his solo work.

"[7] David Jeffries of AllMusic gave the album three and a half stars out of five, saying "U-God has long been one of the lesser-known MCs in the massive Wu-Tang Clan, and while the urgent, alive, and altogether awesome moments of Keynote Speaker suggest he's certifiably "slept on," there are enough redundant numbers on this 50-minute release to put him back in the category of "acquired taste."

Acquire the taste for hard-hitting beats, a nostalgic stance, and cold punch lines and the album is one of his best, with the space disco and surprising "Stars" plus the stern-and-sure title track offering great examples of the artist's strengths.