NPR’s Ayesha Rascoe talks with Yahoo News entertainment reporter, Kelsey Weekman, about a spate of new pop songs that draw on worship traditions in megachurches.
AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
A new generation of musicians is nodding toward the church and pop music.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “ORDINARY”)
ALEX WARREN: (Singing) They say the holy water’s watered down, and this town lost its faith. Our colors will fade eventually.
RASCOE: The singer Alex Warren is one of the artists behind this trend, which Yahoo News reporter Kelsey Weekman calls secular praise music.
KELSEY WEEKMAN: I noticed these songs – they really praised someone. They use very dramatic language to really build someone up into this anthemic chorus that’s usually really easy to memorize. It’s really fun to belt. But it sounded a lot to me like what you might hear if you go to church and you stand with the congregation and listen to music. It just has the same kind of flow and emphasis on lyrics.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “ORDINARY”)
WARREN: (Singing) Something so out of the ordinary. You got me kissing the ground of your sanctuary. Shatter me with your touch.
RASCOE: As you’re saying, these songs are really popular. Is this also, like, just what pop music sounds like now?
WEEKMAN: Honestly, I think a big part of the reason why this particular music is doing so well is not only because it’s easy to listen to on the radio, but because people are using it a lot on social media, when they’re posting about big life moments, very emotional things that are going on. So people associate the songs with really positive things, and that makes the genre as a whole really popular right now.
RASCOE: Talk us through a couple of the big artists who you’ve seen in this kind of secular praise music genre.
WEEKMAN: Yeah. Alex Warren was the one who I noticed and realized I really couldn’t deny this trend anymore. He sings these gorgeous love songs about his wife that use terms like angels, hallelujah. heaven. Another artist is Teddy Swims. He has a song called “Lose Control” that has been on the Billboard Hot 100 for two full years. It really declares a lot of love and passion for someone. It just sounds just like a worship song. You could play it on a loudspeaker in mixed company and not have to answer too many questions.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “LOSE CONTROL”)
TEDDY SWIMS: (Singing) I lose control when you’re not next to me. Yeah, you’re breaking my heart, baby. You make a mess of me. Problematic.
RASCOE: Just like music, a lot of times, the churches also can be very segregated by race in the U.S. You got the Black church, and then you got the white churches. And the music’s different and things like that. How diverse is the secular praise music genre?
WEEKMAN: It’s quite honestly very white. It does take a lot from megachurches, which are frequently white. And I would say that if you were going to talk about secular gospel music, you would be able to include more diverse artists.
RASCOE: This isn’t new, the mixing of, like, church elements and popular music, you know, ’cause you have people like Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin and Sam Cooke, who also sang gospel music and obviously brought a lot of that into the music that they made that was secular.
WEEKMAN: Totally. And I talked to a source who cited Earth, Wind & Fire and Boyz II Men as these gospel-inspired but still secular artists who brought in more of, like, a gospel element than just a classic megachurch guitar song, like what I’m referring to as worship music that’s been secularized.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “BEAUTIFUL THINGS”)
BENSON BOONE: (Singing) For a while there, it was rough. But lately, I’ve been doing better than the last four cold Decembers I recall.
RASCOE: Do you have a song in this genre of this kind of secular praise music that you can’t stop listening to?
WEEKMAN: I will be so honest with you. I love Benson Boone. I know he has a background of being raised as a Mormon. He is a great lyricist, and he really has that showmanship that is also kind of popular at megachurches these days but sets him apart in kind of the pop side of things.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “BEAUTIFUL THINGS”)
BOONE: (Singing) I found my mind. I’m feeling sane. It’s been a while, but I’m finding my faith. If everything’s good…
RASCOE: That’s Kelsey Weekman. She’s a culture reporter for Yahoo News. Thank you so much for joining us.
WEEKMAN: Thank you so much for having me.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “BEAUTIFUL THINGS”)
BOONE: (Singing) Got enough. I’ve got peace and I’ve got…
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