in a 2007 guest column for "pitchfork", panda bear of animal collective stated that "donuts" was "by far the album i've listened to most over the past year, and i feel like almost any of the songs off there i could say is my favorite." online music service rhapsody ranked the album at number three on its "hip-hop's best albums of the decade" list. it ranked number nine on "clash"s essential 50 countdown in april 2009, and the magazine later wrote that its "legacy is undeniable". in a 2012 review of the "donuts" 45 box set, "pitchfork" accorded the album a revised 10/10 rating, with critic nate patrin writing: "it's a widely praised favorite for so many people, and yet there's something about "donuts" that feels like such an intensely personal statement". "q", in 2017, called it a "tour de force in postmodern beatmaking".