Q&A: How 'Praise This' turned Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion hits into gospel songs
When "Praise This" plays the opening chords of "Money," Koryn Hawthorne lifts her microphone and debuts a special version of the hit song:
When things so bad, my God's so real
I praise His name like no one will
Big love flows through all my fears
Say His name 'cause He always hears
Don't just wish, give Him your will
Ten different reasons to rely on Him
Seek and you shall find, it be giving me chills
Blessings from above rolling in like wheels
This ecclesiastic Cardi B cover, or any of the other gospel flips in "Praise This," might just become pop culture canon, rivaling iconic competition sequences like the "Drumline" tiebreaker, the "You Got Served" dance-off and, of course, the "Sister Act 2" finale. And its performers — wearing bejeweled hoodies and lug boots, and singing amid concert-level lighting and an LED wall — are proof that being a baddie and a believer are not mutually exclusive.
"'Money' should feel like a bank robbery, but we're just talking about blessings," says Tina Gordon, writer-director of the movie. Now streaming on Peacock, the Universal release zooms in on the competitive world of contemporary church praise
