Carl Thomas turned Apple Music Studios in Los Angeles into a church, and a Thursday night into a Sunday morning, early in his VERZUZ with Case.
In only the second round, Thomas began by giving a little bit of biography.
“I just want to let you guys know a little bit about myself and what I’m about, where I’m from,” he began.
“I grew up a COGIC kid, in church, like a lot of you — like a lot of us,” he continued, referring to the Church of God in Christ, a Pentecostal denomination.
He explained that the song he was about to perform, which turned out to be the 2000 track “Come to Me,” was inspired by a hymnbook.
“When I wrote the song, I was channeling melodies from Thomas A. Dorsey,” he explained, shouting out the musician and composer who wrote thousands of songs, including many of the most famous gospel hymns of the 20th century, like “Peace in the Valley” and “Take My Hand, Precious Lord.”
Thomas then launched into a chorus of Dorsey’s “I Need Thee Every Hour,” backed only by a piano, in an emotional performance that had the audience hollering as if they were at a Sunday service.
As soon as he finished, Thomas explained, “This is what became of that,” and went right into “Come to Me.”
You can check out the rest of the VERZUZ, which is ongoing as of this writing, by watching below. If you want to see “I Need Thee Every Hour,” it begins at the top of the second round.
