Shackles (Praise You)

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"Shackles (Praise You)" is the debut single by American gospel singer-songwriter duo Mary Mary, released in 1999. It is considered the group's signature song. Stan North of GospelFlava.com deemed it one of the pioneer songs of urban gospel music. The song was originally recorded and released in December 1999 upon Mary Mary's signing with Columbia Records and was re-released one month later as a promotional single for their upcoming debut album, Thankful. They both feature the same track listing but different album covers, the second using a picture of the duo. It was a top 10 hit around the world, including in Australia, Denmark, Iceland, New Zealand, Norway and the United Kingdom, and charted well in other major music markets. Mary Mary later shot a music video for the song. The song contains a sample of the Dennis Edwards' 1984 hit song "Don't Look Any Further" featuring Siedah Garrett.

Video Shackles (Praise You)

Crossover success

"Shackles (Praise You)" became a crossover hit, being popular with gospel, R&B, and pop audiences. It was a top 10 R&B and top 40 pop hit, and peaked at number 28 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It became the first gospel song in five years to crack the R&B top ten and gained wide exposure on the MTV video cable channel. In addition, "Shackles" was one of the few gospel songs to receive significant airplay on many CCM stations and appeared on many compilation CDs (including WOW Hits).

It was also a worldwide hit and reached number 5 in the United Kingdom and number 17 in Ireland. Across mainland Europe, the song was a top 10 hit Belgium, the Netherlands, and Norway. It also charted strongly in France, Poland, Sweden, and Switzerland, pekaing within the top 20. In Australia, the song reached number 2 in September 2000, only behind Madonna's "Music", and was the highest-selling song of the year that didn't reach the number-one spot, coming in at number 10 on Australia's year-end chart for 2000.

Maps Shackles (Praise You)

Criticism

Like many contemporary gospel songs, "Shackles" was not without its criticism; many cited the song as being too modern and not staying true to its gospel roots. Mary Mary responded by saying:

However, the hip hop lines on many subsequent Mary Mary songs only added to the criticism. With the advent of more urban gospel songs, a new fan base was introduced.