Author William Eric Perkins described "Planet Rock" as "lyrically simple", with lyrics that encouraged the listener to have a "fun life and a funky good time".
The use of Kraftwerk's music on the song was done without permission.
To create the raps, the lyricist of the group, MC Globe, had to develop a style he called "mc popping", which involved rapping off time, an unusual style at the time.
Depeche Mode, Diana Ross and The Cure declared that "Planet Rock" was the song he most associated with New York in the early 1980s, adding that "there was nothing else that could touch that record. There was nothing that year that could top what "Planet Rock" did."
The track was described by Robert Palmer of The New York Times as "perhaps the most influential black pop record of 1982", noting its influence on "both the black pop mainstream and several leading white new-wave rockers".