Rhian Daly of NME called the album "a gorgeous, intriguing, artful record" and "nothing short of electric" with "discordant layers viscerally reflect[ing] the album's emotions of feeling out of place and its eventual message" that "rewards repeat and close listens, each track full of little details that elevate each go round".[2] Maura Johnston of Rolling Stone described it as "psychedelia-tinged and soulful, its lyrics' intense self-interrogation balanced by music that feels like an invite to further explorations".[3] Azrin Tan of Vogue Singapore wrote, "This album is utter proof of RM's evolution as a musician and artist... This is RM in his endless search for the sonic world that could have been, at least once upon a time. It's RM and Kim Namjoon both, just more curious about the many facets of himself that lie deep within."[4]
David Crone of AllMusic praised the creative experimentation of the album, saying "This nonconformist backbone is not just the album's sound, but its entire ethos" and noted how "RM's lyrics gravitate between ideas of perception and discovery." Crone also wrote, "Right Place, Wrong Person is fundamentally a record of self-acceptance, but it's a kind of self-acceptance that's seen much less often -- punchy and upbeat and even broken, it's a reflection of a messy self-hood that never risks relying on vague, affirmative clichés. Of all the lessons he draws, Namjoon leaves us with one critical truth: much like the album itself, life is beautiful because of, not in spite of, its wonkiness."[5] For Teen Vogue Jiye Kim wrote, "RM at the cusp of 30 has filled up both the visuals and music with a discordant energy in an ever-changing flow of genres and rhythms across a tight 35 minute, 11 track album... (this album) emphatically taps into the collective human fear of one's innate wrongness and the cyclic journey of rage, disappointment, exhaustion, and renewal" and declared, "Right Place, Wrong Person is absolutely Kim Namjoon in essence."[6]
The album was recognized as one of the best albums of the first half of the year by Rolling Stone, Billboard, The Associated Press, and NME.[7][8][9][10]Billboard wrote "RM simply refuses to acknowledge the existence of any such boundaries over these 34 minutes, with 11 songs that careen from hip-hop to jazz to punk to R&B to Fela Kuti-styled Afrobeats — while all still sounding like a coherent and natural artistic extension of one man's creative vision" and compared him to genreless artists like Tyler the Creator.[8]
The album debuted at number two on the South Korean Circle Album Chart with over 585,000 copies sold of its two versions.[11] It also debuted at number two on the Japanese Oricon Albums Chart with over 23,000 sales.[12] In the United States, the album debuted at number one on the Billboard Top Rap Albums chart, as well as number five on the Billboard 200.[13]
