Critical Reception
"You Rock My World" received generally mixed reviews from music critics. Praise was mainly directed at the song's composition, while dissatisfaction towards the song was expressed by critics because they felt that the track was not Jackson's best material. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic listed "You Rock My World" as being a highlight for the Invincible album. Reviewer Andrew Hamilton of Allmusic stated that, "If anybody other than Michael Jackson had released 'You Rock My World' with the tons of publicity and promotion it was accorded, it would have slam dunked the charts and been a multiple award winner. It sold well and got play everywhere, but too many critics panned the song and the album it came from as not being good enough for an artist on Jackson's level." Hamilton commented that people should "give Michael credit" because he was able to maintain a respectable career as a recording artist over the years of his later career.
James Hunter of Rolling Stone praised the song's vocal rhythms as being "finely sculpted" and "exquisite". He noted that the song shows similarities to Jackson's previous material with Quincy Jones. Mark Beaumont, a writer for NME, described the song as being a "disco classic" and commented that he felt that the song's brief intro was "funnier than Chris Evans on fire". Catherine Halaby of Yale Daily News stated that the song "showcases the best of 'classic Michael'", and described the song as being "funky, catchy, upbeat, not too creepy". "You Rock My World" was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance - Male at the 44th Grammy Awards, but it lost the award to James Taylor's "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight". It was Jackson's first Grammy nomination since 1997, for his single "Earth Song", and his first nomination in that category since 1995.
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