"Kathryn Farr from "Rolling Stone" gave praise to Rob's skills as a rapper coming across "like a cocky veteran, spitting grim confessions ("Life Story") and baller mantras ("PD World Tour") without breaking a sweat" and Bad Boy's crew of producers supplying the record with "hook-heavy cuts" despite Puff's "threadbare formulas" from previous efforts threatening to pull it down, concluding that "P. Diddy's meddling aside, though, most of "Life Story" is, well, like whoa!