Generationwhy

Critical reception

Reviews have been mixed. The Guardian found Generationwhy an "at times, beguiling blend of mid-tempo electronic pop." Noting that ZHU successfully assimilated a lot of current Balearic dance music "influences into something distinctly his own", the review also argued that not all the songs transcended "the tropes of the genre that inspired them." Drowned in Sound was somewhat less impressed: "The album is essentially a series of enjoyable yet unremarkable house-pop songs." That being said the reviewer found some redeeming qualities, "Unlike many of these artists, Zhu includes what might be a surprising amount of 'live' instrumentation which generally add to the noir feeling." Soundfiction stated: "The music that makes up the entirety of Generationwhy lives in a dark, neo-noir aesthetic inspired world, giving listeners a blend of music that lies somewhere between the synth inspired sounds of the [']80s built on top of a deep house bassline with the vocal stylings of The Weeknd's House of Balloons mixtape." The review also judged that "Few, if any were expecting pop or bass driven sounds or a radio-type of style from Zhu, but many were probably hoping for something in the sounds of 'Faded' or 'Working for It', which unfortunately is sparsely found."

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number 109 on the Billboard 200, selling 3,000 copies in its first week. It also debuted at number one on the Dance/Electronic Albums chart in the United States.

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