 " What You Waiting For ? " received positive reviews from critics . Nick Sylvester of Pitchfork Media gave the song a strong review , rating it four and a half stars , and labeled it " fucking great " . The website went on to rank the song 16th on its list of the Top 50 Singles of 2004 . RJ Smith of Blender noted the song 's new wave influence by stating that it could start a revival of Missing Persons , and Amy Linden of The Village Voice compared the " giddy , yodeling vocals " to those of Lene <unk> 's 1981 song " New Toy " . Jason Damas from PopMatters was mixed on the song , calling the opening " awkward " and the refrain " ridiculously dumb " , but arguing that the song " is so frivolous and stupid that it winds up being brilliant ; it pretends to be nothing more than party bubblegum and achieves its artistic criteria beautifully . " Slant Magazine 's Sal Cinquemani agreed , stating that " it 's this impishness that helps make ' What You Waiting For ' one of the hottest ' arrival ' songs of all time " . Richard Smirke of Playlouder found the track 's production " crisp " and " edgy " , and Jennifer Nine of Yahoo ! Music called the song " <unk> irresistible " . Jemma <unk> @-@ Fletcher , writing for Contactmusic.com , rated the song nine out of 10 , commenting that it has " irresistible commercial pull and a melody to die for " and that the track " makes the most of her unmistakable vocal and reflects that off @-@ the @-@ wall Stefani personality perfectly . " Natasha <unk> from musicOMH gave the song a negative review , stating that " it 'll become one of those tracks that 's irritatingly catchy — but on this initial listening , Ms Stefani 's debut solo effort is just plain irritating . " 
