Beccy Lindon of The Guardian praised the album with four out of possible five stars, saying "from his granular vocal in "Keep on Pushin'" to the lover's promise of "Cross My Heart", he sounds like a soul legend in the making".[2]AllMusic's Alex Henderson rated the album three stars out of five, found that 2:35 PM "isn't in a class with
Patterson or
D'Angelo's best releases; actually, it's mildly uneven and inconsistent. However, the CD's best tracks demonstrate that Richardson is capable of excellence when he puts his mind to it [...] Unfortunately, 2:35 PM also has its share of material that is competent without being terribly memorable, but when Richardson does hit the mark, it is obvious that the R&B world should continue to keep an eye on the
North Carolina native".[1]
Beccy Lindon of The Guardian praised the album with four out of possible five stars, saying "from his granular vocal in "Keep on Pushin'" to the lover's promise of "Cross My Heart", he sounds like a soul legend in the making".[2]AllMusic's Alex Henderson rated the album three stars out of five, found that 2:35 PM "isn't in a class with
Patterson or
D'Angelo's best releases; actually, it's mildly uneven and inconsistent. However, the CD's best tracks demonstrate that Richardson is capable of excellence when he puts his mind to it [...] Unfortunately, 2:35 PM also has its share of material that is competent without being terribly memorable, but when Richardson does hit the mark, it is obvious that the R&B world should continue to keep an eye on the
North Carolina native".[1]