text: say yes ( michelle williams song ) " say yes " is a song recorded by american recording artist michelle williams , taken from her fourth studio album journey to freedom ( 2014 ) . it features williams ' former destiny 's child beyoncé and kelly rowland . the song was written by williams , carmen reece , al sherrod lambert and harmony samuels who also produced it . e1 music released " say yes " as the album 's third single on june 2 , 2014 . " say yes " marks the third time the trio collaborated as solo artists following the disbandment of their group in 2006 . musically , " say yes " is an uptempo gospel and pop song , which takes influence from dance music . it samples a popular nigerian gospel tune originally titled " when jesus says yes " . upon release , " say yes " received generally favorable reviews from contemporary music critics who called the song infectious and praised its catchiness . commercially the song performed well on the gospel charts in the us , peaking at number one for seven non - consecutive weeks on the billboard hot gospel songs . it also appeared on charts in the uk , france and belgium across europe . billboard ranked " say yes " seventh on the 2014 year - end hot gospel songs chart . an accompanying music video for " say yes " was directed by matthew a. cherry . it was released on june 18 , 2014 when williams appeared on good morning america . the clip depicts the three singers at a street party , dancing and singing with a crowd ; along with solo appearances of each singer in a forest , wearing white clothes during their respective verses . it received generally positive reviews from critics who accredited it as a reunion of destiny 's child and praised its feel - good nature . background " say yes " was written by williams , carmen reece , al sherrod lambert and harmony samuels who also served as its producer . the song marked the third collaboration of the trio consisting of williams , beyoncé and kelly rowland , after their group destiny 's child disbanded in 2006 . williams sent an advanced demo of the album journey to freedom to her former bandmates beyoncé and rowland which contained the song as a solo track titled " when jesus says yes " . later , williams received a call from rowland who said , " we love ' when jesus says yes ' ... there has to be a destiny 's child mix of the song . " both rowland and beyoncé recorded their respective verses in a studio afterwards . williams stated she wanted to keep the project in secrecy " until it was time " to reveal it . during an interview with rap - up , beyoncé spoke about her decision to be a featured artist on the song , stating , " this song is so inspiring and ... not enough music out there like this and i 'm proud to be a part of it . " williams talked about " say yes " with fuse , saying , " it 's an inspirational song , so i wasn 't sure how people would take to it . but it kind of reminds me of praying [ in ] that it continues to have the impact , and does have the impact , of when kanye west did ' jesus walks . ' i think i got one here . " " say yes " was leaked onto the internet on may 21 , 2014 . williams revealed on her twitter account the same day that the leaked track was an unmixed and unmastered version of " say yes " . in an interview with the hollywood reporter , she said that she " hated " the fact that an unfinished version was released although noted that she was not angry and felt " overwhelmed " by the positive support . prior to the song 's debut , several publications reported that beyoncé 's sister , solange knowles , also appeared as a featured artist in " say yes " ; however , the claims were later proved to be wrong . a final official version of the song premiered on june 2 , 2014 and was released to radio and made available for digital download the same day . on the german web show , williams performed a german version of the song with host and journalist malcolm . composition " say yes " is an uptempo gospel song with elements of pop music . the song was also noted for exploring elements of contemporary christian as well as electronic dance music . jeff benjamin of fuse felt that the song contained a " zippy " , reggae - dance beat . its instrumentation includes percussion instruments , synths and horn stabs along with african beats . according to sheet music published on the website musicnotes.com by kobalt music publishing america , inc . , " say yes " is written in the key of d ♭ major using common time . it contains a moderately fast tempo with a metronome of 120 beats per minute and the singers ' vocal elements range from the low note of a ♭ 3 to the high note of f5 . the song samples a popular nigerian gospel tune originally titled " when jesus says yes " . chris payne and colin stutz of billboard magazine described it as a modern dance and contemporary electronic dance reworking of that song . stutz also found elements of an " upbeat swing " of west african gospel . regarding the composition of the song , williams stated , " it is a song that came from africa more than a hundred years ago . i don 't think anyone knows who wrote it or who started singing that chorus . when the song leaked last week , so many people from africa and nigeria were trying to let me know where it came from . " williams sings the lead vocals while beyoncé and rowland sing their respective solo verses and serve as background vocalists throughout the song . eric corpus from the christian post interpreted the song 's lyrics as a praise of god 's sovereignty and " magnetism " of jesus ' love . " say yes " opens with a message of faith as williams sings the first lines , " i 'm not worried about a thing / ' cause i know you are guiding me / where you lead me / lord i will go / i have not fear / ' cause i know who 's in control . " the chorus is constructed as a call and response with the trio repeatedly praising jesus through the lines " when jesus say yes , nobody can say no ! " while being backed by a choir which repeats the verses . critical reception " say yes " received generally favorable reviews . colin stutz of billboard described " say yes " as a " peppy " number . john walker of mtv news described the song 's refrain as " infectious " . mike wass from idolator praised the song 's catchiness , describing it as an " infectious gospel club - banger " and an invitation to the dance floor for listeners . further , he called it " possibly the first twerk - inducing song of praise " . he concluded his review , writing , " those harmonies remain unrivaled and the chorus is a monster . trust me , [ its chorus ] will be stuck in your head after the first listen . " in another review he felt that the song managed to bridge the gap between gospel and popular music . describing the song as " kinetic " , marc hogan of spin magazine called it " not only star - studded , but damn near impossible to get out of your head , too " . rolling stone writer jon blistein described the horn stabs as " heavenly " and praised the trio 's " always potent harmonies " . yahoo ! music writer billy johnson , jr. found a " vibrant dance energy " in the song 's music and further hailed its message as " uplifting " . similarly , complex writer zach frydenlund echoed his statements , describing the song as " uplifting " . in a review for fuse , jeff benjamin described " say yes " as a " gospel - island hybrid " . he felt that it was interesting to hear williams as the lead vocalist instead of beyoncé , who had previously served as the lead vocalist of destiny 's child . finished his review , concluding , " it all sort of makes us want to twerk and throw our hands to heavens at the same time . " brownie marie of christian today praised williams ' vocal performance during the song 's hook , along with the " well - controlled riffs " . she also wrote that beyoncé is " vocally subdued on the track , and truly lets williams ' voice receive the attention " . manders from refinery29 felt that the song was williams ' " turn to shine " . in a more mixed review , vulture columnist lindsey weber wrote that the song is not " a total mess " and that listeners might sing the praises in the song along with it . at the 2014 soul train music awards , " say yes " is currently nominated in the category for best gospel / inspirational song . chart performance in the united states , " say yes " entered the top ten of the billboard hot gospel songs chart at number five in its second week of charting on the issue dated june 21 , 2014 while also charting at numbers one and four on the gospel digital songs and gospel streaming songs charts respectively , the latter also being its debut position . on the issue dated july 5 , the song jumped from the position of nine to the top of the hot gospel songs chart , while also reaching the number one spot on the gospel streaming songs and gospel digital songs . with that feat , it became williams ' first number - one single on the hot gospel songs , spending 2 consecutive weeks at the top of the chart and 4 weeks at number - one on the gospel digital songs chart . in its twenty - fourth week of charting on hot gospel songs , " say yes " returned to number one , on the issue dated november 22 , 2014 , remaining there for five consecutive weeks , giving it a total of seven non - consecutive weeks at number one . on the bubbling under hot 100 singles chart , which acts as a 25 - song extension of the main billboard hot 100 , " say yes " peaked at number nine . it also peaked at number 14 on the billboard component heatseekers songs chart . luis gomez in an article for the chicago tribune opined that the song 's religious message was the reason for its mild reception and performance on the mainstream charts . in the united kingdom , " say yes " debuted and peaked on the uk singles chart and the component uk r & b chart at numbers 106 and 15 respectively on june 14 , 2014 . the song performed better on the country 's uk indie chart where it peaked at the eighth position in its first week . in france , williams achieved her first solo single on the french singles chart when the track debuted at number 161 in the first week of charting on june 14 , 2014 . the following week , it fell off the chart , but re - entered at its peak position of 90 on june 28 . it fell down to the position of 155 the next week and completely dropped out afterwards . elsewhere , it charted for five weeks on the flanders version of the belgian urban singles chart where it peaked at number 28 on june 14 , 2014 . music video background and synopsis the music video for " say yes " was filmed on may 20 , 2014 and directed by matthew a. cherry . the clip was filmed in a house in maplewood , new jersey , where a crowd gathered the watch the trio on set . following that , filming was cordoned by local police . several pictures of beyoncé arriving on set were shared on social networks by fans . williams debuted the clip for " say yes " on her appearance at good morning america on june 18 , 2014 . regarding the filming of the video , she stated , " sometimes the director or production assistants had to say like , ' ok , girls , bring it back home . bring it back together because when we were together , we go back to how we were when we were younger , just always laughing and talking about things . it 's been a great moment . " the video was released on williams ' vevo account the same day . a behind - the - scenes footage was also released featuring the trio on set and talking about the song and their reunion . in the clip , williams said she felt excited that she had her " sisters " with her spreading a positive message for the world . the video opens with williams singing the opening verses and dancing on a street . beyoncé , wearing an apostolic - like gown to fit the theme of the track , appears at 90 seconds into the song to deliver her verse in a forest in front of a tree hung with paper lanterns . rowland appears soon after in the same forest wearing a white crop top , smiling . the singers appear together in the video 's last section when williams , beyoncé and rowland sing and dance together at a street - party scene along with dancers who are shown waving their flags and playing drums . the choreography present in the video was noted to be traditional african . reception the video received generally favorable reviews . daniel kreps from rolling stone said that it managed to highlight the " ' feel - good ' vibes " without using " heavy - handed " religious iconography . he further praised the reunion of destiny 's child . tom breihan of stereogum said that each singer looked " seriously happy " , further praising beyoncé 's style as reminiscent of the destiny 's child - era . writing for people , yamal opined that the traditional choreography and drums were inspired by africa . yamal further praised the singers ' synchronized " formidable moves , reminding everyone they 've still got it " . chiderah monde from the new york daily news felt that the dance sequence during the end of the video was similar to older videos by destiny 's child . alex rees from stated that a reunion of the group was " always good fun " . he also noted that the clip featured williams dancing in the center spot between beyoncé and rowland for the first time . mike wass from idolator described the video as " heavenly " and concluded that it was " heart - warming " to see williams have her moment . wass went on to describe the clip as a " visual extravaganza " and praised beyoncé 's look . mike ayers of fuse , described the visual as " uplifting " , adding that it included numerous " sun - soaked " shots of the singers . john walker of mtv news described the " glorious " , fun clip as " the destiny 's child reunion of your dreams " . similarly , zach frydenlund from complex wrote that he had a " great time " watching and remembering his " favorite destiny 's child moments " . samantha grossman of time magazine praised the fact that the group reunited for a music video , linking it to the times when they were part of destiny 's child . billboard 's chris payne described the clip as " jubilant " and felt that when the singers are seen on the set together , " [ it ] is absolutely heartwarming " . writing for essence , dominique felt that the trio was " all smiles as they sing about who 's really in charge " . chris coplan from consequence of sound praised the clip 's positive energy as " [ b ] right and shimmery " comparing it with " forget the world and just dance " clips from the early ' 90s . brett malec from e ! online described it as " [ i ] " . hayden manders from refinery29 praised williams ' look and stated that " the three women look like they 're having a blast " . mikael wood from los angeles times found the choreography performed by the trio to be " light " and the clip as " pretty festive " . live performances williams performed an acoustic version of " say yes " at yahoo ! music , which was released in 2014 . williams also performed the single during her set at the 2014 essence music festival . williams later performed the song together with kelly rowland and beyoncé at the 2015 stellar awards . charts