Won't He Do It

Album: Unstoppable (2017)
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Songfacts®:

  • Koryn Hawthorne first came to the public attention when at the age of 17, she was a finalist in Season 8 of NBC's singing competition The Voice as a member on Pharrell Williams' team. After placing fourth on the show, Hawthorne signed to RCA Inspiration, a division of Sony Music based in Nashville and dedicated to gospel music recordings. "Won't He Do It" is the lead single from her debut studio album Unstoppable, released on July 13, 2018.
  • The song was written by Makeba Riddick, who has credits on songs by such A-list artists as Jennifer Lopez ("All I Have," Rihanna ("Rude Boy") and Beyoncé ("Deja Vu"). It was one of a number of songs she'd submitted to RCA Inspiration. However, even though the label's head, Phil Thornton was a good friend of Riddick's, he turned everything down.

    The breakthrough came when Greenleaf, a drama show on the OWN Network were looking for a song to be sung by Koryn Hawthorne. Thornton, who had just signed the gospel singer, suggested "Won't He Do It."

    They agreed and after it featured successfully in Greenleaf, the label decided to use "Won't He Do It" as a single. Riddick was over the moon, as she'd been wanting to break into gospel music for a long time. She told Billboard: "It's a fresh sound for gospel, and I told Phil that was a big thing for me. I wanted to help usher in a new sound to involve a different demographic. We could pull in some of the young people and let them know that God is cool, if you're a believer. And Koryn was the perfect conduit to do that with, because she is young and has swag."

    Riddick added: "Songs like 'Won't He Do It' are what I would listen to if I were buying a gospel album. I want to be in the car turning it up and my bopping my head the same way I would to a Drake song."
  • "Won't He Do It" was a huge success, topping the Hot Gospel Songs, Gospel Airplay and Gospel Digital Song Sales charts. Unstoppable also reached #1 on Billboard's Top Gospel Albums chart at the same time, meaning that for the first time since 2013, a woman topped four gospel charts during the same week (Tamela Mann previously pulled off the feat in May 2013 with "Take Me To The King" and Best Days).

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