"the roof" was acclaimed by contemporary music critics for its choice of vocal work, instrumentation and lyrics. david browne from "entertainment weekly" praised the song as well as carey's choice of vocals, writing "carey is still a vocal grandstander capable of turning all into a six-syllable word. yet for most of the album she keeps her notorious octave-climbing chops at bay. showing some admirable restraint, she nestles herself into the downy-soft beats of 'the roof'." rich juzwiak from slant wrote "little more than yearning, kissing, and remembering happens during the course of 'the roof,' a rough-enough r&b revision of mobb deep's 'the shook ones.' but lyrically mariah the writer is vivid, sometimes shockingly clever (rhyming 'liberated' with 'moet' is a stroke of genius)."