Upon release, Under Construction received universal acclaim from music critics, based on an aggregate score of 81/100 from Metacritic. The album debuted at number 3 on the U.S. Billboard 200 albums chart with 259,000 copies sold in the first week released and has sold more than 2,125,000 million copies domestically as of April 2012, eventually becoming Elliott's highest selling album to date. Under Construction received Grammy Award nominations for Best Rap Album and Album of the Year.
Review
“The fact that Missy Elliott still considers her work to be "under
construction” should, justifiably, send everyone else in the rap world
scurrying back to the drawing board. No other commercial rapper sounded more in
command of her production and flow than Elliott during 2002, and it's no
surprise that Under Construction ranks as one of the best rap LPs of the
year…" – J Bush