Praise the Lord (Da Shine)
by A$AP Rocky (featuring Skepta)

Album: Testing (2018)
Charted: 18 45
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • A$AP Rocky has been a avid drug user since his teenage years when he sold weed and crack in the Bronx. The rapper's open attitude towards his usage of pharmaceuticals feeds into his music as well, once even recording a track titled "LSD." Rocky laid down this cut with UK grime artist Skepta in London while the pair were high on mushrooms and LSD.

    Diamonds glowing, chart-climbing on 'em
    You'd think I'm jumping out the window how I got 'em open
    Line around the corner, line 'em up to block and over
    Times I even stop the smoking when it's time to focus


    Rocky recalled at a listening party the night he and Skepta recorded the song. "I never saw colors like that before. Music never sounded that good before."
  • Skepta makes reference to the pair's religious beliefs on the chorus before stating how something bad always seems to happen to Rocky every time he visits London.

    I came, I saw, I came, I saw
    I praise, the Lord, then break, the law
    I take, what's mine, then take, some more
    It rains, it pours, it rains, it pours


    Rocky explained in a Genius attribution: "It rains every day in London. It's almost like a double entendre. Every time I put out an album or every time I'm about to release an album, for some f---ing strange reason, I always lose somebody close to me. It was my pops, it was Yams, it was my sister. Like, I always lose somebody close to me. S--t feel like some crazy s--t, like jinx or some s--t or something. Without being superstitious or paranoid, it takes a toll. very time. Every time. Not one time."
  • The song's music video was directed by A$AP associate Dexter Navy, who also filmed the Grammy-nominated clip for Rocky's "LSD". The grainy split-screen visual follows simultaneous scenes of Rocky's life in Harlem and Skepta's in London, as they go about similar day-to-day activities like partying with their friends and riding bikes.

Comments: 2

  • Joni from PnwHe ain't Rihanna, that's for sure. He's got a family now. He needs to get and stay clean!
  • Benyro from VienaSo, it is not a christian song. The chorus says it all...
see more comments

Editor's Picks

U2

U2Fact or Fiction

How did The Edge get his name? Did they name a song after a Tolkien book? And who is "Angel of Harlem" about?

Part of Their World: The Stories and Songs of 13 Disney Princesses

Part of Their World: The Stories and Songs of 13 Disney PrincessesSong Writing

From "Some Day My Prince Will Come" to "Let It Go" - how Disney princess songs (and the women who sing them) have evolved.

Tommy James

Tommy JamesSongwriter Interviews

"Mony Mony," "Crimson and Clover," "Draggin' The Line"... the hits kept coming for Tommy James, and in a plot line fit for a movie, his record company was controlled by the mafia.

Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull

Ian Anderson of Jethro TullSongwriter Interviews

The flautist frontman talks about touring with Led Zeppelin, his contribution to "Hotel California", and how he may have done the first MTV Unplugged.

U2 Lyrics

U2 LyricsMusic Quiz

How well do you know the lyrics of U2?

Curt Kirkwood of Meat Puppets

Curt Kirkwood of Meat PuppetsSongwriter Interviews

The (Meat)puppetmaster takes us through songs like "Lake Of Fire" and "Backwater," and talks about performing with Kurt Cobain on MTV Unplugged.