Deliverance was met with widespread critical acclaim. At
Metacritic, which assigns a
normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an
average score of 82, based on 17 reviews.[7]
Johnny Loftus of
AllMusic said, "Sure, his collaborators have some of the best beats in the business. But they can't always take up the slack when Bubba's raps start to wither in the heat".[8]Nathan Rabin of The A.V. Club said, "Mixes hip-hop and country with ease and grace".[18] Michael Endelman of Entertainment Weekly said, "A sober rumination about life in the poor, white, rural South".[10] Dorian Lynskey of The Guardian said, "An intense, brooding piece of work".[11] Matt Cibula of PopMatters said, "He and his producers have constructed a monument to this New New New South. And you don't really have to believe in it in order to appreciate what a great record this is".[19]
Josh Timmermann of Stylus Magazine said, "In a year that's produced first-rate albums by
OutKast and
Lucinda Williams, Bubba, a self-proclaimed redneck from rural
Georgia who most people pegged as a probable one-hit wonder three years ago, has beaten the odds and made both the hip-hop and country album of the year".[20]Vibe said, "Sparxxx has now crafted a gem, thanks to improved songwriting and nimble production".[21] Kandia Crazy Horse of The Village Voice said, "If
Eminem is hip-hop's
Elvis, then Bubba is its
Gregg Allman, the white boy embraced by lowdown Little Africa, especially fellow musicians".[22] Steve Jones of USA Today said, "Sparxxx's real strength lies in his intensely personal lyrics, which resonate whether he's talking about overcoming white-trash stereotypes or recovering from last night's bender".[17] Nathan Brackett of Rolling Stone said, "A few of the honky-tonk touches -- such as the corny country crooning on "My Baby's Gone"—feel like gimmicks. But Sparxxx's lyrics are no shtick".[14]
Accolades
In 2010,
Rhapsody included it in its list of "The 10 Best Albums By White Rappers".[23]
Commercial performance
Deliverance debuted at number 10 on the US
Billboard 200, with first-week sales of 64,000 copies in the United States.[24]
Track listing
Credits were adapted from the album's liner notes.[25]