Trouser Press called the album an "acidic, jazz-centric" project, writing that it "is filled with riffs on jazz legends and autobiographical notes on the successes and failures of black nationalism."[9] The Washington Post concluded that "its most moving pieces offer mature reflections on life, love and the deadly seductions of the street."[8] The Washington City Paper panned the Last Poets remakes, but admired "'Personal Things' and 'Bum Rush', [which] recall the more traditional sound sculptures of early Last Poets, with a lone voice riding over a predominant mix of African-based instrumentation—dousongonni, kora, chatan, congas, and berimbau."[13] The Chicago Tribune opined that, "if Hassan has an overriding message, it is for African-Americans to learn to love themselves, while his poems confront the obstacles, both social and psychological, that prevent that from happening."[17] The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette declared: "The attitude is punk, but the voice is black and impatient."[20]
Vibe determined that, "outside of the remake of 'Niggers Are Scared of Revolution', the album just doesn't work ... [Hassan] has been in a cultural time warp for the past two decades."[21] Billboard deemed the album "an incomparable treatise by a true pioneer of our modern oral tradition."[22] Newsday stated that the songs "concern the energy of bebop jazz, Malcolm X, pop music, love, honor and 42nd Street ... 'Bum Rush', a didactic yet sympathetic look at the urban dilemma, observes, 'There's always the streets. From shoeshine boys to big time to trick or treat'."[23] The Calgary Herald called Hassan "as powerful as ever," writing that "his anger, his call for revolution, has not diminished over the years."[16] USA Today missed "rap's catchy rhymes and syncopation," noting that Hassan "speaks over driving backbeats or jazzy rhythms."[19]
AllMusic wrote that Laswell "virtually recreated the Last Poets tapestry, except that this time there's an electronic overlay as well as a percussive one ... [Hassan's] voice hasn't been dulled by the years."[15] The Spin Alternative Record Guide labeled Be Bop or Be Dead "a triumphant return to the inspiration and intensity of the Poets' first two albums."[18]
