"Shackles" is the debut single

Single (music)

In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

 by singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...

 duo Mary Mary

Mary Mary

Mary Mary is an American gospel music duo, consisting of sisters Erica Atkins-Campbell and Tina Atkins-Campbell . The duo are often credited along with Kirk Franklin for broadening the fan base of urban contemporary gospel in the 2000s by introducing elements of soul music, hip hop, funk and jazz...

. It was first released in 2000 and has since been dubbed the signature Mary Mary

Mary Mary

Mary Mary is an American gospel music duo, consisting of sisters Erica Atkins-Campbell and Tina Atkins-Campbell . The duo are often credited along with Kirk Franklin for broadening the fan base of urban contemporary gospel in the 2000s by introducing elements of soul music, hip hop, funk and jazz...

 song as it ultimately raised the profile of the duo in the gospel music

Gospel music

Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....

 industry. Stan North of GospelFlava.com deemed it as 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

Columbia Records

Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...

 and was re-released one month later as a promotional single for their upcoming album, Thankful

Thankful (Mary Mary album)

Thankful is Mary Mary's first album. This project contains the smash crossover hit "Shackles " , as well as the single "I Sings", which was also a significant hit - although it did not match the success of its predecessor...

. They both feature the same track listing but different album covers, the second using a picture of the duo. Mary Mary later shot a music video

Music video

A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...

 for the song.

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 #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

Contemporary Christian music

Contemporary Christian music is a genre of modern popular music which is lyrically focused on matters concerned with the Christian faith...

 stations and appeared on many compilation CDs (include WOW Hits).

It was also a worldwide hit and reached Number 5 in the United Kingdom and Number 17 in Ireland.

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 only added to the criticism. With the advent of more urban gospel songs, a new fan base was introduced.

Naming

Shackles has been referred to by myriad names. On the official album cover it lists it as "Shackles (Praise You)", On many compilation CDs, the song is listed as "Shackles (Wanna Praise You)". On American Idol

American Idol

American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...

, Mandisa

Mandisa

Mandisa Hundley is an American gospel singer, who was the ninth-place finalist in the fifth season of American Idol.-Early life:...

 referred to the song as "Wanna Praise You" but later said it is also called "Shackles". In interviews, Mary Mary refer to the song as simply "Shackles".

Peak positions

Chart (2000)	Peak position
US Hot Gospel Songs (Billboard Billboard (magazine) Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis... )	1

End of year charts

End of year chart (2000)	Position
US Billboard Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...	100

Production

• Vocals: Mary Mary
• All instruments: Warryn "Baby Dubb" Campbell
• Producer: Warryn Campbell
• Vocal Producer: Mary Mary
• Writer(s): Warryn Campbell, Erica Atkins, Tina Atkins

Track Listings

1. Shackles (Praise You) (Album Version)
2. Shackles (Praise You) (Maurice's Carnival 2000 Mix)
3. Shackles (Praise You) (Maurice's Carnival 2000 Mix Instrumental)
4. Shackles (Praise You) (Maurice's New Year's Eve Dub)
5. Shackles (Praise You) (Mo-A-Pella)