Say Yes (Michelle Williams song)
"Say Yes" | ||||
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Single by Michelle Williams featuring Beyoncé and Kelly Rowland | ||||
from the album Journey to Freedom | ||||
Released | June 2, 2014 | |||
Recorded | 2014 | |||
Studio | London Bridge Studios, L.A. | |||
Genre | ||||
E1 Music | ||||
Songwriter(s) |
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Producer(s) | Harmony Samuels | |||
Michelle Williams singles chronology | ||||
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Beyoncé singles chronology | ||||
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Kelly Rowland singles chronology | ||||
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"Say Yes" is a song by American singer
Musically, "Say Yes" is an uptempo gospel and pop song, which takes influence from dance music. It copies a popular Nigerian gospel tune originally titled "When Jesus Says Yes", believed to be originally sung by artist Agatha Moses.[1] Upon release, "Say Yes" received universal acclaim from contemporary music critics who called the song infectious and praised its catchiness. Commercially the song performed well on the gospel charts in the US, peaking at number one for seven non-consecutive weeks on the Billboard Hot Gospel Songs. It also appeared on charts in the UK, France and Belgium across Europe. "Say Yes" appeared seventh on the 2014 year-end Hot Gospel Songs chart and twenty-three on the 2015 year-end chart.[2] In 2019, Billboard ranked "Say Yes" number fifty on the decade-end (2010-2019) Hot Gospel Songs chart.[3]
An accompanying
Background and release
"Say Yes" was written by Williams, Carmen Reece, Al Sherrod Lambert and Harmony Samuels who also served as its producer.[5] The song marked the third collaboration of the trio consisting of Williams, Beyoncé and Kelly Rowland, after their group Destiny's Child disbanded in 2006.[6] Kelly Rowland and Beyoncé had initially been planned to be featured on "Believe In Me", but they decided to feature on "Say Yes" instead. Williams' executive producer Phil Thornton spoke about the feature in a 2016 Centric documentary: "We were in the final stages of recording 'Journey To Freedom' and Michelle and I talked about having Kelly and Beyoncé join her on a track. And we narrowed it down to two songs on the album. One of the songs was 'Believe In Me' and the other one was 'Say Yes'.". Michelle added: "And I actually wanted Beyoncé and Kelly to be on another song on my album, but when they heard 'When Jesus Say Yes' they were like 'Michelle this sounds something like we could rock.'".[7]
Williams sent an advanced demo of the album Journey to Freedom to her former bandmates Beyoncé and Rowland which contained the song as a solo track titled "When Jesus Says Yes". Later, Williams received a call from Rowland who said, "We love 'When Jesus Says Yes'... there has to be a Destiny's Child mix of the song." Both Rowland and Beyoncé recorded their respective verses in a studio afterwards. Williams stated she wanted to keep the project in secrecy "until it was time" to reveal it.[8] During an interview with Rap-Up, Beyoncé spoke about her decision to be a featured artist on the song, stating, "This song is so inspiring and... not enough music out there like this and I'm proud to be a part of it."[9] Williams talked about "Say Yes" with Fuse, saying,
"It's an inspirational song, so I wasn't sure how people would take to it. But it kind of reminds me of praying [in] that it continues to have the impact, and does have the impact, of when Kanye West did 'Jesus Walks.' I think I got one here."[10]
"Say Yes" was leaked onto the Internet on May 21, 2014.[11] Williams revealed on her Twitter account the same day that the leaked track was an unmixed and unmastered version of "Say Yes".[12] In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, she said that she "hated" the fact that an unfinished version was released although noted that she was not angry and felt "overwhelmed" by the positive support.[8] Prior to the song's debut, several publications reported that Beyoncé's sister, Solange Knowles, also appeared as a featured artist in "Say Yes"; however, the claims were later proved to be wrong.[6][13] A final official version of the song premiered on June 2, 2014 and was released to radio and made available for digital download the same day.[14][15] On the German web show MalcolmMusic, Williams performed a German version of the song with host and journalist Malcolm Ohanwe.[16]
Composition
"Say Yes" is an uptempo
Williams sings the lead vocals while Beyoncé and Rowland sing their respective solo verses and serve as background vocalists throughout the song.[12] Eric Corpus from The Christian Post interpreted the song's lyrics as a praise of God's sovereignty and "magnetism" of Jesus' love.[26] "Say Yes" opens with a message of faith as Williams sings the first lines, "I'm not worried about a thing/'Cause I know you are guiding me / Where you lead me / Lord I will go / I have not fear / 'Cause I know who's in control."[12] The chorus is constructed as a call and response with the trio repeatedly praising Jesus through the lines "When Jesus say yes, nobody can say no!" while being backed by a choir which repeats the verses.[9][21]
Critical reception
"Say Yes" received critical acclaim. Colin Stutz of Billboard described "Say Yes" as a "peppy" number.
At the 2014 Soul Train Music Awards, "Say Yes" was nominated in the category for Best Gospel/Inspirational Song.[31] "Say Yes" also received 3 nominations at the 2015 Stellar Awards for Song of the Year, Urban/Inspirational/Instrumental Single/Performance of the Year and Music Video of the Year; where Williams was further nominated for Female Vocalist of the Year.[32]
Chart performance
In the United States, following its premiere "Say Yes" peaked at number nineteen on the US Billboard Twitter Top Tracks chart.[33] Following its release, "Say Yes" entered the top ten of the Billboard Hot Gospel Songs chart at number five in its second week of charting on the issue dated June 21, 2014 while also charting at numbers one and four on the Gospel Digital Songs and Gospel Streaming Songs charts respectively, the latter also being its debut position.[34][35][36] On the issue dated July 5, the song jumped from the position of nine to the top of the Hot Gospel Songs chart, while also reaching the number one spot on the Gospel Streaming Songs and Gospel Digital Songs,[37][38][39] with 1.2 million streams for the week (placing just outside the 100 most-streamed songs among all formats).[40] With that feat, it became Williams' first number-one single on the Hot Gospel Songs, spending 2 consecutive weeks at the top of the chart and 4 weeks at number-one on the Gospel Digital Songs chart.[37][41][42][43] In its twenty-fourth week of charting on Hot Gospel Songs, "Say Yes" returned to number one, on the issue dated November 22, 2014, remaining there for five consecutive weeks, giving it a total of seven non-consecutive weeks at number one.[44][45][46][47][48] In the Billboard issue dated April 18, 2015, "Say Yes" rose from number ten to number two on Gospel Digital Songs, with 3,000 sold in the week, a 233 percent sales gain, following the April 5th airing of the Stellar Awards.[49]
On the
In the United Kingdom, "Say Yes" debuted and peaked on the
Music video
Background and synopsis
The
The video opens with Williams singing the opening verses and dancing on a street. Beyoncé, wearing an apostolic-like gown to fit the theme of the track,[9] appears at 90 seconds into the song to deliver her verse in a forest in front of a tree hung with paper lanterns.[24] Rowland appears soon after in the same forest wearing a white crop top, smiling.[18] The singers appear together in the video's last section when Williams, Beyoncé and Rowland sing and dance together at a street-party scene along with dancers who are shown waving their flags and playing drums.[18][64] The choreography present in the video was noted to be traditional African.[63]
Reception
The video received generally favorable reviews. Daniel Kreps from Rolling Stone said that it managed to highlight the "'feel-good' vibes" without using "heavy-handed"
Mike Ayers of Fuse, described the visual as "uplifting", adding that it included numerous "sun-soaked" shots of the singers.
The video was awarded Music Video of the Year at the 2015 Stellar Awards.[4]
Live performances
Williams performed an acoustic version of "Say Yes" at Yahoo! Music, which was released in 2014.
Charts
Weekly charts
Monthly charts
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Year-end charts
Decade-end charts
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References
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- ^ a b Caslin, Yvette (April 5, 2015). "Destiny's Child, Tamela Mann, Deitrick Haddon and more on the 30th annual Stellar Awards". Rolling Out. Retrieved April 15, 2015.
- ^ Journey to Freedom (Media notes). Michelle Williams. Light Records. 2014.
{{cite AV media notes}}
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Further reading
- Drake, David (August 1, 2014). "Say Yes: How a Michelle, Beyoncé and Kelly Gospel Record Points to Pop Music's Nigerian Future". The Fader. Andy Cohn. Retrieved August 12, 2014.
External links
- "Say Yes" (Lyric Video) on YouTube
- "Say Yes" Official Video on YouTube