The song features a prominent vocal sample from the opening of "Take Yo' Praise" by Camille Yarbrough, as well as a prominent piano sample from the track "Balance and Rehearsal" from a test album entitled Sessions released by audio electronics company JBL. The song also features a guitar sample from the opening of "It's a Small World" from the Disneyland Records-released album Mickey Mouse Disco and the theme from the cartoon seriesFat Albert and the Cosby Kids.
Music video
The accompanying video for "Praise You" was directed by Matt Schoolgirls with Brian Teyssier. Spike Jonze starred in the film under the pseudonym Richard Koufey, along with a fictional dance group: The Torrance Community Dance Group. The video intro described it as "A Torrance Public Film Production". The video was shot guerrilla-style - that is, on location without obtaining permission from the owners of the property - in front of puzzled onlookers outside the Fox Bruin Theater in Westwood, Los Angeles, California. In the video, Jonze and the dance group, acting as a flash mob, dance to "Praise You", much to the chagrin of a theatre employee who turns off their portable stereo. One of the actor-dancers in the fictional dance group, Michael Gier, documented the making of the "Praise You" video on his website. The "Praise You" video was made only because Jonze, unable to work with Fatboy Slim on the video for "The Rockafeller Skank", recorded and sent 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 was green-lighted for the official video for "Praise You". 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 claims his "b-boy moves" came from living in New York. 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. The video won three major awards at the 1999 MTVVideo Music Awards: Breakthrough Video, Best Direction, and Best Choreography. It was also nominated for, but did not win, Best Dance Video. The group also put on a dance performance to the song at the awards. In 2001, it was voted number one of the 100 best videos of all time, in a poll to mark the 20th anniversary of MTV.
A 2017 version, arranged and produced by Jennifer Ann Keller, was recorded by Hannah Grace and the London Contemporary Voices Choir for a Lloyds Bankadvertising campaign. The Hannah Grace version of Praise You has been used in numerous TV programmes, including The X Factor, and has sold in excess of 60,000 copies in the UK.
A 2018 remix by Purple Disco Machine was released,which made it to number one on the US Billboard, Dance Club Songs chart.
Usage in media and pop culture
In November 2017, an American TV advertisement for Forevermark Diamonds featured a cover of the Hannah Grace version, sung by Jon Kenzie.
