Andy Kellman of AllMusic took note of "Like she took her father and Roberta Flack's "Be Real Black for Me" to heart and then some, Lalah Hathaway titled her eighth solo album after the darkest known pigment and poured the same warm and loving sentiments into the music. Purists who didn't appreciate the bold left turn the singer took with Honestly might be hesitant as they approach this follow-up with four guest MCs and another explicit tag. To the contrary, VANTABLACK, produced by Hathaway with Phil Beaudreau, Ariza, Warryn Campbell and Eric Dawkins rotating at the controls, is closer in sound to Where It All Begins, given that the stylistic descriptors for all of the songs would have to include soul with preceding modifiers such as modern, throwback, hip-hop, folk, and pop.[4]
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