"I Apologize" entered Billboard'sHot R&B Airplay chart on November 5, 1994, and rose up to number 5 at the end of February 1995. The song hit number 1 on Billboard'sAdult R&B Airplay chart on February 4, 1995, spending 38 weeks on the chart. At the same time, the song peaked at number 8 on the R&B chart.[1] In the UK, "I Apologize" broke into the pop singles chart at number 80 on July 2, 1995, and dropped out the next week.[2]
British magazine Music Week gave the song three out of five, writing, "Baker goes jungle? But her strong vocals retain the original feel of these tracks, creating a soulful jungle splice-up."[3] Chuck Campbell from Knoxville News Sentinel felt that here, the singer "glides into the subtlety of a more refined arrangement".[4] Jonathan Bernstein from Spin declared it as "a request-line perennial-in-the-making".[5]
