Beyoncé’s new album Renaissance is finally here, and fans are already curious to know some of the samples featured in Queen Bey’s new tracks.
Last month the Crazy In Love Singer topped the charts with Break My Soul, which sampled the 90s club classic Show Me Love by Robin S. Following the release of her seventh studio album, the project appears to reference some other familiar songs across its tracklist.
In particular, the Beyhive have shared their appreciation for Church Girl’s sample, which references a 1980s gospel classic. We explore the sample’s feature and some of the other credited references in Beyoncé’s Church Girl.
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Beyoncé’s track Church Girl samples The Clark Sisters
The seventh track on Beyoncé’s new album includes a sample of The Clark Sisters’ 1981 song Center Of Thy Will.
The song featured on The Clark Sisters’ eighth album, You Brought the Sunshine, which as per Cheat Sheet, became one of the vocal group’s biggest hits.
While the 80s track in a gospel classic, Beyoncé’s feature is seen to give a whole new meaning what a church girl is.
As described by The Guardian, the track takes listeners from “gilded gospel to thot rap”. Glamour also adds the track is not what fans may expect as it references Beyoncé’s meaning behind the track: “you can be a church girl and still get down.”
Twinkie Clark shares appreciation for Beyoncé sample
Taking to Instagram on Thursday (28 July) ahead of Renaissance’s release, Elbernita “Twinkie” Clark of The Clark Sisters extended her thanks to Beyoncé.
In the video, Twinkie shared her appreciation for Beyoncé as she expressed her gratitude for the track featuring the line ‘center of thy will’ as she reflected on what the lyrics meant to her: “That means I want to be in the will of god.”
The Clark Sister member continued to gush: “Thanks, Beyoncé, for listening to my music, and I hope it blesses your soul.”
Fans have also shared their love for the Clark Sisters sample across social media. However, some have admitted the feature was not what they expected.
One Twitter user wrote: “Church Girl did not use the Clark Sisters sample how I thought.” Another added: “Church Girl a whole twerking song, with a Clark Sisters sample. Beyoncé is that girl.” A third echoed: “Not Church Girl being a twerk anthem with the clark sister sample”
Other Church Girl samples explored
While RollingStone described Beyoncé’s Church Girl track to centre around its Clark Sisters sample, the track is also said to include other musical references.
According to Genius, the song also features an 80s sound through its sample of the hip hop group The Showboys’ track Drag Rap. Genius also attributes Church Girl to include more of a 90s vibe through its interpolation of DJ Jimi’s Where They At.
In the credits of the track listed by Pitchfork, the song is also said to feature elements and interpolations of James Brown’s Think About It, as well as a sample of the 1975 track Mister Magic performed by Grover Washington Jr.