Camille Yarbrough (born January 8, 1934) is an American singer, dancer, actress, poet, activist, television producer, and author. She is best known for the song "Take Yo' Praise", which was later sampled by

Fatboy Slim Norman Quentin Cook (born Quentin Leo Cook, 31 July 1963), also known as Fatboy Slim, is an English musician and DJ who helped popularise the big beat genre in the 1990s. His music makes extensive use of Sampling (music), samples from eclectic ...

in his song "

Praise You "Praise You" is a song by the English big beat musician Fatboy Slim. It was released as the third single from his second studio album, ''You've Come a Long Way, Baby'' (1998), on 4 January 1999. It reached number one in the United Kingdom and I ...

". "Take Yo' Praise" was originally recorded in 1975 for Yarbrough's debut album, ''The Iron Pot Cooker'', released on

Vanguard Records Vanguard Recording Society is an American record label set up in 1950 by brothers Maynard and Seymour Solomon in New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the so ...

. Yarbrough stated that the song was written for "all the people who had come through the black civil rights movement, who had stood up for truth and righteousness and justice, because human beings need to praise and respect one another more than they do". ''The Iron Pot Cooker'' was based on the 1971 stage dramatization of Yarbrough's one-woman,

spoken word Spoken word is an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a 20th-century continuation of an oral tradition, ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetic ...

show, ''Tales and Tunes of an African American

Griot A griot (; ; Manding languages, Manding: or (in N'Ko script, N'Ko: , or in French spelling); also spelt Djali; or / ; ) is a West African historian, storyteller, praise singer, poet, and/or musician. Griots are masters of communicatin ...

.'' She toured nationally with this show during the 1970s and 1980s. Yarbrough's second album, ''Ancestor House'', is a spoken word/

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

album that she released on her own

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

Maat Music
in 2003. ''Ancestor House'' was recorded live at

Joe's Pub Joe's Pub, one of the six performance spaces within The Public Theater, is a music venue and restaurant that hosts live performances across genres and arts, ranging from cabaret to modern dance to world music. It is located at 425 Lafayette Str ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Biography

Yarbrough was born in 1938 and raised in the South Side of

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. She was the seventh and youngest child in her family. In her teens she was a dancer with the

Katherine Dunham Company The Katherine Dunham Company, a troupe of dancers, singers, actors and musicians, was the first African-American modern dance company. History Founded in Chicago, it grew out of Ballet Nègre, a student troupe founded in 1930 by Katherine Dunha ...

. ''Tales and Tunes of an African American

'' was produced at

La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club (sometimes abbreviated as La MaMa E.T.C.) is an Off-Off-Broadway theater founded in 1961 by African-American theatre director, producer, and fashion designer Ellen Stewart. Located in the East Village neighborho ...

in the East Village of Manhattan in 1973. A vocal sample from the opening of Yarbrough's "Take Yo' Praise" features prominently in the 1999 song "

" by

. In a 2021 interview with the website

WhoSampled WhoSampled is a website and app database of information about sampled music or sample-based music, interpolations, cover songs and remixes. As of April 2025, the website features 1,155,375 songs and 355,929 artists in its catalog. History ...

, Yarbrough said that she liked "Praise You" and its use of her vocals, feeling that Norman Cook (Fatboy Slim's real name) kept the essence of "Take Yo' Praise". Journalist

Kevin Powell Kevin Powell (born April 24, 1966) is an American writer, activist, and television personality. He is the author of 14 books, including ''The Education of Kevin Powell: A Boy's Journey into Manhood'' and ''When We Free the World'' published in ...

wrote, regarding her first album: "Without question, ''The Iron Pot Cooker'' is a precursor to

Lauryn Hill Lauryn Noelle Hill (born May 26, 1975) is an American musician. She is celebrated as one of the most influential musical artists of her generation. Hill is credited with breaking barriers for female rappers, contributing to the popular music, m ...

's best-seller ''The Mis-Education'' 'sic''''of Lauryn Hill''." Other reviews of this album include ''Billboard'': "Yarbrough has stylish traces of

Nina Simone Nina Simone ( ; born Eunice Kathleen Waymon; February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003) was an American singer, pianist, songwriter, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned styles including classical, folk, gospel, blues, jazz, R&B, and po ...

and

Gil Scott-Heron Gilbert Scott-Heron (April 1, 1949 – May 27, 2011) was an American Jazz poetry, jazz poet, singer, musician, and author known for his work as a spoken-word performer in the 1970s and 1980s. His collaborative efforts with musician Brian Jackso ...

but her own style of singing and recitation ... are outstanding. Her songs are all thought provoking",

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...

: "Nana Camille is a '

hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...

foremother, and

CDNow CDnow, Inc. was a dot-com company that operated an online shopping website selling compact discs and music-related products. In April 1998, during the dot-com bubble, the company was valued at over $1billion (~$ in ). In July 2000, it was acqui ...

: "The most important rediscovery of the year …" In 1979 she authored (with illustrator Carole Byard) the children's book ''Cornrows'', which won the

Coretta Scott King Award The Coretta Scott King Award is an annual award presented by the Coretta Scott King Book Award Round Table, part of the American Library Association (ALA). Named for Coretta Scott King, wife of Martin Luther King Jr., this award recognizes o ...

. She resides in

References

External links

*
AALBC.com author profileYarbrough's page on La MaMa Archives Digital Collections
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yarbrough, Camille 1938 births Living people African-American activists African-American actresses African-American children's writers African-American film producers African-American musicians African-American poets African-American women writers American actresses American women film producers American women poets Film producers from Illinois Film producers from New York (state) Musicians from Chicago Vanguard Records artists Writers from Chicago Writers from New York City African-American women musicians 21st-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women