"Praise You" is a song by British big beat musician

Fatboy Slim Norman Quentin Cook (born Quentin Leo Cook, 31 July 1963), also known by his stage name Fatboy Slim, is an English musician, DJ, and record producer who helped to popularise the big beat genre in the 1990s. In the 1980s, Cook was the bassist ...

. It was released as the third single from his second studio album, ''

You've Come a Long Way, Baby ''You've Come a Long Way, Baby'' is the second studio album by Fatboy Slim, a project of English electronic music producer Norman Cook. It was first released on 19 October 1998 in the United Kingdom by Skint Records and a day later in the Unit ...

'' (1998), on 4 January 1999. It reached number one on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

and in Iceland, number four in Canada, number six in Ireland, and number 36 in the United States. As of 1999, it had sold over 150,000 units in the US.

Samples

A total of six samples are used in the song. The song features a prominent vocal sample from the opening of "Take Yo' Praise" by Camille Yarbrough, as well as a prominent piano sample from the track "Balance and Rehearsal" from a test album entitled ''Sessions'' released by audio electronics company JBL. The song also features a guitar sample from the opening of "It's a Small World" from the Disneyland Records-released album ''

Mickey Mouse Disco ''Mickey Mouse Disco'' is an album released by Disneyland Records in 1979. A late entry in the genre of disco, ''Mickey Mouse Disco'' included disco versions of Disney songs and Disney-fied versions of disco hits. The album was re-released on CD ...

'', the theme from the cartoon series '' Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids'', the electric piano riff from "Lucky Man" by Steve Miller Band, and the drum beat from "Running Back To Me" by Tom Fogerty. In a 2021 interview with the website WhoSampled, Yarbrough said that she liked "Praise You" and its use of her vocals, feeling that Cook kept the essence of "Take Yo' Praise".

Music video

The accompanying video for "Praise You" was directed by

Spike Jonze Adam H. Spiegel (born October 22, 1969), known professionally as Spike Jonze, is an American filmmaker, actor, musician, and photographer. His work includes commercials, film, music videos, skateboard videos and television. Jonze began his ca ...

with Roman Coppola. Jonze starred in the film, under the pseudonym Richard Koufey, along with a fictional dance group: The Torrance Community Dance Group. The video intro described it as "A Torrance Public Film Production". The video was shot guerrilla-style – that is, on location without obtaining permission from the owners of the property – in front of puzzled onlookers outside the Fox Bruin Theater in

Westwood, Los Angeles Westwood is a commercial and residential neighborhood in the northern central portion of the Westside region of Los Angeles, California. It is the home of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Bordering the campus on the south ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. In the video, a heavily disguised Jonze and the dance group, acting as a flash mob, dance to "Praise You", much to the chagrin of a theatre employee who turns off their portable stereo. One of the actor-dancers in the fictional dance group, Michael Gier, documented the making of the "Praise You" video on his website. The "Praise You" video was made only because Jonze, unable to work with Fatboy Slim on the video for " The Rockafeller Skank", recorded and sent his own solo dance video of "Skank" as a gift; Jonze's 'alternative' music video was so well received by Cook that Jonze's fictional Torrance Community Dance Group was green-lighted for the official video for "Praise You". Cook has said he liked this music video more so than The Rockafeller Skank's, which he hated. Cook himself is briefly seen in the video as one of the many onlookers, with the clearest view shown at the conclusion of the video, while Jonze claims his "b-boy moves" came from living in New York. Cook curiously peers over Jonze to catch a glimpse of the camera before walking off to the right. The video reportedly cost only US$800 to produce. The video won three major awards at the 1999

MTV Video Music Awards The MTV Video Music Awards (commonly abbreviated as the VMAs) is an award show presented by the cable channel MTV to honour the best in the music video medium. Originally conceived as an alternative to the Grammy Awards (in the video category) ...

: Breakthrough Video, Best Direction (awarded to "Torrance Community Dance Group"), and Best Choreography (awarded to "Richard Koufey & Michael Rooney"). It was also nominated for, but did not win, Best Dance Video. The group also put on a dance performance to the song at the awards. In 2001, it was voted number one of the 100 best videos of all time, in a poll to mark the 20th anniversary of

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

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Breakthrough Video Breakthrough or break through may refer to: Arts Books * ''Break Through'' (book), a 2007 book about environmentalism by Ted Nordhaus and Michael Shellenberger * ''Break Through'' (play), a 2011 episodic play portraying scenes from LGBT life * ...

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Best Direction The MTV Video Music Award for Best Direction is an award given to the artist, the artist's manager, and the director of the music video. From 1984 to 2006, the full name of the award was Best Direction in a Video, and in 2007, it was briefly rename ...

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Best Choreography The MTV Video Music Award for Best Choreography is a craft award given to the artist, the artist's manager, and choreographer of the music video. From 1984 to 2007, the full name of the award was Best Choreography in a Video. The biggest winner ...

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Track listings

UK and Australian CD single # "Praise You" (radio edit) # "Praise You" # "Sho Nuff" # "The Rockafeller Skank" (Mulder's Urban Takeover Remix) UK 12-inch single :A. "Praise You" :AA. "Sho Nuff" UK cassette single # "Praise You" (radio edit) # "The Rockafeller Skank" (Mulder's Urban Takeover Remix) European CD single # "Praise You" (radio edit) # "Praise You" (full version) US CD, 12-inch, and cassette single # "Praise You" # "Sho Nuff" # "The Rockafeller Skank" (Mulder's Urban Takeover Remix) Japanese CD single # "Praise You" (full version) # "Sho Nuff" # "The Rockafeller Skank" (Mulder's Urban Takeover Remix) # "Praise You" (radio edit) # "How Can You Hear Us?"

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

Other versions

*A 2017 version, arranged and produced by Jennifer Ann Keller, was recorded by

Hannah Grace Hannah Vivian-Byrne, known professionally as Hannah Grace (born 4 June 1993) is a Welsh singer-songwriter from Bridgend in South Wales. Her debut studio album, ''Remedy'', was released on 20 November 2020. History Grace studied Jazz Vocals at ...

and the London Contemporary Voices Choir for a Lloyds Bank advertising campaign. Grace's version of "Praise You" has been used in numerous TV programmes, including '' The X Factor'', and has sold in excess of 60,000 copies in the UK. Grace’s version includes an extra refrain which includes lyrics from Camille Yarborough's original song. *In 2018 a remix by Purple Disco Machine was released, which made it to number one on the US ''Billboard'' Dance Club Songs chart. In 2013, a version of Praise You appeared on Robert Randolph Presents: The Slide Brothers, a group that embodies sacred steel to encompass blues, rock and soul. The Slide Brothers featuring Shemekia Copeland appeared on the Conan O'Brien Show (Live)

Usage in media and pop culture

* In the 1999 film Cruel Intentions, the song is playing in the scene when Sebastian and Annette drive back from doing charity work at the nursing home. * The season 3 finale of the NBC sitcom '' Suddenly Susan'' uses the song during a montage that pays tribute to cast member David Strickland, who had committed suicide earlier in the season. * In November 2017, an American TV advertisement for Forevermark Diamonds featured a cover of the

version, sung by Jon Kenzie. * Meal delivery service Grubhub used an instrumental version of the song in a 2020 animated TV commercial. * In 2020, a TV commercial for

Advil Ibuprofen is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) that is used for treating pain, fever, and inflammation. This includes painful menstrual periods, migraines, and rheumatoid arthritis. It may also be used to close a patent ductu ...

features Grace's version. * In season 3, episode 20 of '' Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' at minute 29:50, the song plays during the Sunnydale High School prom. * In the '' Derry Girls'' Season 3 finale ''Halloween'' (which revolves around a Fatboy Slim concert), the song plays in the end, with a female vocal-led rendition after Claire's father dies in the hospital, and the subsequent funeral procession.

References

{{Authority control 1998 songs 1999 singles 2018 singles Astralwerks singles Fatboy Slim songs MTV Video Music Award for Best Direction Music videos directed by Spike Jonze Number-one singles in Iceland Number-one singles in Scotland Songs written by Norman Cook Skint Records singles UK Independent Singles Chart number-one singles UK Singles Chart number-one singles