Praise You

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"Praise You"
Single by Fatboy Slim
from the album You've Come a Long Way, Baby
Released	4 January 1999 (1999-01-04) (UK) 16 February 1999 (1999-02-16) (US)
Recorded	1998
Genre	Alternative rock, Big beat, House
Length	5:17
Label	Skint (UK) Astralwerks (US)
Writer(s)	Fatboy Slim, Camille Yarbrough
Producer	Fatboy Slim
Fatboy Slim singles chronology
"Gangster Trippin" (1998) "Praise You" (1999) "Right Here, Right Now" (1999)

"Praise You" is a song by dance/electronic act Fatboy Slim^[1] from his second studio album You've Come a Long Way, Baby. The track was released as the third single from the album in 1999. It made #1 on the UK singles chart in January 1999 and made #36 on the Billboard Hot 100 on 11 May 1999 (#2 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart, kept off the #1 spot by Lit's "My Own Worst Enemy"). In 2006, "Praise You" was included on the Fatboy Slim compilation album The Greatest Hits - Why Try Harder.

The song features the prominent vocal sample "Praise You" from the opening of "Take Yo' Praise" by Camille Yarbrough.^[2] The song's bridge also subtly samples the theme from the cartoon series Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids^[3]

The song also provided accompaniment to scenes in several movies and TV series, such as Cruel Intentions (and is also included on the soundtrack), Sex and the City (episode 29 "Twenty-Something Girls vs. Thirty-Something Women") and Buffy the Vampire Slayer (series 3, episode 20 "The Prom").

Track listing

UK 12" (SKINT 42) and CD (SKINT 42CD)

1. "Praise You"
2. "Sho Nuff"
3. "The Rockafeller Skank (Mulder's Urban Takeover remix)"

Music video

The accompanying video for "Praise You" was directed by music video director Spike Jonze.^[4] Jonze starred in the film under the pseudonym Richard Koufey, along with a fictional dance group, the Torrance Community Dance Group.^[4] Moreover, the video is called "a Torrance Public Film Productions" in its intro.^[5]

The video was shot guerilla-style (that is, on location without obtaining permission from the owners of the property) in front of puzzled onlookers outside a movie theatre in Westwood, California.^[6] In the video, Jonze and the dance group dance to "Praise You", much to the chagrin of the theatre owner who attempts to turn off their portable stereo. One of the actor/dancers in the fictional Torrance Community Dance Group, Michael Gier, documents the making of the "Praise You" video on his website.^[6]

The "Praise You" video came into being because Spike Jonze, unable to work with Fatboy Slim on the video for "The Rockafeller Skank", recorded and set his own solo dance video to "Skank" as a gift; Jonze's 'alternate' music video was so well-received by Slim that Jonze's fictional Torrance Community Dance Group were green-lighted for "Praise You's" official video.^{[citation needed]}

Norman Cook 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 is talking about the dance. 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, with most of that money going towards a replacement boombox and food for the cast and crew.^{[citation needed]}

The video won three major awards at the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards: 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.^[7]

Charts

References