The album produced three singles, with "Girl You Need a Change of Mind" standing out as a prototype of disco records and becoming popular in New York City dance clubs.

The album's tracks have been sampled by artists including Erykah Badu, J Dilla, Lil Wayne, and Drake, and covered by Amber Mark, Billy Valentine, and D'Angelo.

[3] That same year, he discovered the band the Young Senators, who had formed in 1965 and had just released their debut single, "Jungle," which rose to number one on local and regional R&B music charts.

According to Dougans, Kendricks, along with the engineers, producers, and session musicians, stayed up until three o'clock in the morning to record the track "Girl You Need a Change of Mind.

The tracks "If You Let Me" and "Eddie's Love," both released as singles, featured two-step rhythms and horn charts that were "steeped in an urban sound," created to resonate with a specific demographic rather than appealing to all of the United States.

[2] Lindsay Planer of AllMusic described People...Hold On as "dabbling with communally conscious soul and making initial forays into dance music that would predate disco," giving the album 4.5 out of 5 stars.

[22] Jared Boyd of Al.com described it as an "expansive journey of sound," highlighting Kendricks' decision to create a "risky soul manifesto" instead of relying on his previous success with The Temptations.

[24][25] "Date with the Rain" was sampled in Lil Wayne's "Let the Beat Build" from his 2008 album Tha Carter III, produced by Deezle and Kanye West.

In June 2020, the American singer Amber Mark covered "My People...Hold On" as a response to the George Floyd protests, stating that it was "time to bring more positive force into this world.