200 and R&B Albums chart with sales of 240,000 copies, marking Blige's first official number-one album on the Billboard 200 chart. The album had ended the four-week stint of Life After Death by The Notorious B.I.G., which was released posthumously five weeks earlier. In addition to debuting number one in the US, the album also debuted in the top ten in countries such as Canada, Sweden and the UK. The album also reached the top forty in France, Germany and New Zealand. Share My World was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), for shipments of one million copies in the US on July 1, 1997. On November 17, 1997, Share My World was later certified double platinum by the RIAA and during an episode of MTV Live, Blige was presented with the plaque by host Ananda Lewis. The album has since sold three million copies domestically by May 1999, garnering Blige's third consecutive album to reach multi-platinum status by the RIAA. Critical reception Alex Henderson of AllMusic wrote in his review, "Her strongest and most confident effort up to that point, Share had much more character, personality, and honesty than most of the assembly line fare dominating urban radio in 1997. For all their slickness, emotive cuts like "Get to Know You Better," "Love Is All We Need," and "Keep Your Head" left no doubt that Blige was indeed a singer of depth and substance. Although high tech, the production of everyone from R. Kelly (with whom she duets on the inviting "It's On") and Babyface to Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis doesn't come across as forced or robotic, but, in fact, is impressively organic." Ernest Hardy of Rolling Stone commended Blige's transition from sound to singing, writing that "On Share My World even Blige's harshest critics will have to concede that she's moved beyond sound to real singing. Listen to "Seven Days," "Missing You" and the already-classic "Not Gon' Cry" (also on the Waiting to Exhale soundtrack), and you hear Blige's signature ache married to newfound technique. There's shading, depth and control in her vocals now." Steve Jones of USA Today said the songs "run the usual gamut of love themes, but it's Blige's powerful, emotional deliveries and street sensibility that separate her from the competition." Village Voice critic Robert Christgau said "Blige is a diva for her own time. As befits her hip hop