Why a pastor once insisted that Glorilla’s ‘Tomorrow’ is a gospel song
GloRilla’s come-up in 2022 was extremely impressive and took hip-hop by storm. The Memphis native released a series of viral tracks, and before long, people were in love with her as an artist. From ‘F.N.F’ to ‘Yeah Glo!’ she was all over the internet and soon entered the charts.
That said, GloRilla didn’t start life thinking she was going to be a rapper. In fact, she was brought up in a heavily religious household. During an appearance on Shannon Sharpe’s podcast, Club Shay Shay, the emcee explained, “My momma is super sanctified. She didn’t want to expose us to the outside world, so the only places we went were home and church. Nowhere else!”
GloRilla is proud of her church roots but acknowledges that they consumed her mother a lot. While speaking to GQ she unveiled that her mother was such a militant Christian she wasn’t allowed to listen to “secular music” and, therefore couldn’t get hip-hop.
However, she found a way around that. Speaking about her pre-fame shenanigans, GloRilla admitted, “We used to steal Lil Wayne and Drake CDs from Walmart! We’d steal the CDs and download all the songs onto the PlayStation. That was the only way we could listen to other music. We probably wouldn’t have known nothing other than gospel music if it wasn’t for us being bad.”
The Memphis artist’s religious background is relevant because a pastor in Baltimore recently took to the pulpit to declare one of GloRilla’s songs a pure gospel track. The Maryland reverend Melech E.M. Thomas was filmed in Payne Memorial A.M.E. Church delivering a sermon that referenced GloRilla’s chart-topping track, ‘Tomorrow.’
Speaking to his congregation, Reverend Thomas announced, “This is why I love, I love, I love good gospel music. I love good gospel music, and there’s this new gospel artist. Some of you might know her, some of you don’t, but her name is Gloria Hallelujah Woods.” GloRilla’s real name.
Thomas then read the song’s chorus while preaching about the promise and hope of tomorrow. “Some of you might know her as GloRilla,” he continued. “GloRilla has a song called ‘Tomorrow’, and she makes this statement that blesses me; she says, ‘Every day the sun don’t shine, but that’s why I love tomorrow.’
He added, “And I’m talking to some people that life ain’t been the kindest to you, but you understand that what big mama said all the time: that weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning. That every day is not good, but as long as I can make it to tomorrow, something can turn around.”
Although ‘Tomorrow’ has that one line, it’s far from holy. Many of his congregation may have been shocked when they heard it, as the track is full of profanity and most definitely doesn’t scream holy.