Praise You: A forgotten love letter to black men

The Documentary Podcast

BBC

Society & Culture, Documentary, Personal Journals

4.3 • 2.6K Ratings

🗓️ 27 June 2025

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

DJ Fatboy Slim’s ‘Praise You’ is a song you might have heard in a Hollywood movie or danced to in a club - to this day, it is still his biggest hit. But there is something you won’t know: the singer behind the lyrics or the true meaning of the words. Civil rights activist Camille Yarbrough first released ‘Take Yo’ Praise’ 50 years ago. It was written as a love letter to African-American men, inspired by a moment of spiritual awakening and family secret. After its release, radio stations refused to play it and she felt she was labelled a “troublemaker”. When Fatboy Slim picked up an old copy of Camille’s song, he turned it into a hit. But there is an irony - it is now played by radio stations around the world, but the true meaning of the music has been lost. Reporter Emily Webb goes to meet Camille in her New York apartment.

Transcript

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0:00.0	We've come a long, long way together, through the hard times and the good.
0:07.1	I have to celebrate you, baby.
0:09.5	I have to praise you like I should.
0:12.8	Do you recognize these?
0:14.9	They're the opening lyrics to praise you, a 90s dance anthem and signature song of the English DJ Fat Boy Slim.
0:21.4	The tracks popped up in major Hollywood films, TV shows, commercials.
0:25.6	If I'm at a wedding and it comes on,
0:27.2	it's normally the song that gets everyone on the dance floor.
0:30.5	But here's something you won't know.
0:32.7	The singer behind it and the true meaning of the lyrics.
0:36.2	A lot of people have gone through things together,
0:38.9	but I'm very specifically talking about African people
0:43.1	being brought here and having lived here all these years.
0:48.0	Even today, racism has mellowed a little.
0:53.1	But it's still here.
0:56.4	Camille Yarbrough first released the song 50 years ago.
1:00.4	It was actually a product of the civil rights movement,
1:03.1	inspired by a family secret and a moment of spiritual awakening.
1:07.6	And God said, that's good.
1:11.8	I'm sitting there and I'm getting these feelings.
1:13.9	I'm saying, I was kind of rocking and I wanted to cry.
1:18.5	I'm Emily Webb and this is the documentary from the BBC World Service.
	...

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