was "clearly groomed to offer a '90s slant to The Supremes' classy crossover image, En Vogue lifts ideas from James Brown and Aretha Franklin to create a sharper, more streetwise package." People magazine wrote that "En Vogue succeeds best at light danceable funk embroidered with soaring, swooping vocals. Maybe the album title promises a bit more than what’s delivered. But 'Spunky Hip-Hop Gals Who Can Sing Their Fannies Off' would have been just too long, we guess." Arion Berger, writing for Entertainment Weekly, felt that Funky Divas "delivers flirtatious R&B set to a mechanized beat [...] The four sweet-voiced members of En Vogue are versatile enough to handle reggae-, gospel- and doo-wop-tinted dance music with game if not very deep enthusiasm. Still, Funky Divas has an awkward charm." In her uneven review for Rolling Stone journalist Danyel Smith wrote that "En Vogue come off, on Funky Divas, as voluptuously voiced and impeccably rehearsed as they did on their 1990 debut, Born to Sing. But the audacious production that outfitted Dawn, Terry, Cindy and Maxine has not found its way to 1992." She felt that "on the debut, the Sixties girl-group allusions were perfect enough to seem accidental, but this time they clunk around obviously and loudly, like there's a fifth woman in an ugly dress singing along with Maxine, Cindy, Dawn and Terry – and she's sadly off-key." In his retrospective review, AllMusic editor Jose F. Promis wrote that "combining sass, elegance, and class with amazing vocals and perfect production, this delightful set stands as one of the 1990s definitive pop albums." He found that the album "is basically free of filler" and called it the "era's most diverse, dazzling, and exciting pieces of work." In 2011, Rolling Stone magazine ranked the album 60th on its list of the 100 Best Albums of the '90s and second best albums of the 90's by a female group, while Complex magazine listed it 45th on its The 50 Best R&B Albums of the '90s listing in 2017. Complex editor Craig Jenkins stated that while "En Vogue's 1990 debut Born to Sing introduced Cindy, Dawn, Maxine, and Terry's throwback quartet-style harmonies to the world, the 1992 follow-up Funky Divas fashioned it into a weapon." He found that the album paved the way for other female bands such as TLC and Destiny's Child. In 2020, Enio Chiola of PopMatters named it the most "overlooked