Album of the day. Masterful albums like this often makes one wonder why anyone would ever opt for a best-of or greatest hits compilation as a end-all to capture an artist's greatness. Former Temptations tenor Eddie Kendricks let the sound and fury of the world lead him to his second solo release, People ... Hold On. Although unjustly overshadowed by other politically-charged soul classics, like Marvin Gaye's What's Going On, Curtis Mayfield's Curtis, and Stevie Wonder's Innervisions, People ... Hold On was Kendricks' tribute to Black America, reflecting on the expanding political and social consciousness of the time. From the first cut to the last, Washington, D.C. crack band, the Young Senators back Kendricks' creamy falsetto with esoteric funk, fueled by congas, wild wah-wah guitars, and greasy bass lines crackling from the grooves. The centerpiece title track, "My People Hold On" is Motown at its most avant-garde, boasting a Detroit-fried funk groove replete with West African drums, vocal overdubs, and some heavy call and response elements with a choir chanting back at Kendricks in unison “Hold on...my people!" Erykah Badu famously sampled the track for her politically-charged 2008 opus, New Amerykah Part One (4th World War). The album also includes the gloriously uplifting and hugely influential “Girl You Need A Change Of Mind,” arguably one of the first-ever disco records, as well as seductive soul burners, "If You Let Me," "Date With the Rain," and "Day By Day." The whole album is as righteous as the album's provocative cover, an inspired recreation of the iconic Dr. Huey P. Newton portrait, that's enough proof that this was for the people.