“That Shouldn’t Be No Human Job But God:” GloRilla on Church Judgment, Kirk Franklin, and Her Gospel Album
Before the plaques and the Grammy nods, GloRilla was a four-year-old in the choir stand at Promised Land church in Memphis, singing “Welcome Into This Place” for her very first solo and earning a standing ovation. And yes, church folks, her middle name really is Hallelujah.
So when Glo sat down with Dr. Jamal Bryant on Season 6 of Let’s Be Clear, it wasn’t a rapper visiting church. It was a church girl coming home to talk about why she left the building, how she never left God, and what she’s building now. Grab your fan, because this one preached.
The Sermon That Was About Her
Every Black woman who has walked into a sanctuary with the “wrong” hair, the “wrong” outfit, or a few too many visible tattoos already knows where this is going. Glo shared that around age 20, before she got big, she visited a church where the pastor started preaching about tattoos and piercings while looking right at her.
“Oh, you looking at me talking, right? I feel seen,” she recalled, laughing, as the congregation turned around to stare. The laugh was light, but the damage was real. She said that moment drove her away from going to church.
Dr. Bryant named the hypocrisy plainly. Church folks love quoting that God looks at the heart, until somebody walks in who doesn’t dress, talk, or walk like them. Then the whole scripture goes out the window.
Faith Without the Fashion Police
Here’s what the side-eyes in the pews missed: Glo’s relationship with God never went anywhere. She talks to Him every day, reads scripture on her Bible app before the gym, studies the commentary, and even owns an Action Bible. Her prayer since fame? That God orders her steps and lets His will be done.
On judgment, she was crystal clear: “That shouldn’t be no human job but God.” She also reached for a classic: “He who is without sin cast the first stone.”
These days she catches sermons online, though Dr. Bryant made her promise to come back through the doors. But the bigger message is for the church itself. If a generation is hungry for God but avoiding the building, maybe the building needs to check its welcome.
Kirk Franklin, the Backlash, and a Gospel Album on the Way
Glo’s collaborations with Kirk Franklin, the first on her album Glorious, drew criticism from some church folks, and it caught her off guard. “My mama taught like to welcome everybody cuz we all children of God,” she explained. By the second song, she knew the backlash was coming.
Dr. Bryant, who was in college during the “Stomp” controversy, called it history repeating. Gospel has always lived on the edge. And this music isn’t dragging anybody into darkness. It’s telling people the hard times won’t last.
Meeting Kirk at the 2023 Grammys was full circle for a girl whose mama played him during Sunday morning cleanups. She described him as generous and welcoming both times they worked together.
The best news? A gospel album is coming. “It’s not a maybe. It’s going to happen,” she said. She plans to get a vocal coach, shouted out favorites like Yolanda Adams, Kierra Sheard, Maverick City, Dottie Peoples, and Mary Mary, and even sang a few bars of an old church solo. The studio stayed so quiet that Dr. Bryant called it “the deadest church ever.” We would’ve been on our feet.
From Missing Glam to Building GloVerse
Glo is also stepping into tech with GloVerse, an on-demand glam app for booking hair, lashes, makeup, braids, locs, barbers, henna, massages, and more. The idea came from her own frustration: after blowing up in 2022, she struggled to book glam through unanswered Instagram DMs and sometimes hit the stage with none at all.
Pros have to upload a government ID and verify with facial recognition, and they get a Glow ID they can pin to their socials and save to Apple Wallet. For clients, it’s a lifeline when an appointment gets canceled last minute. Glo even wants to penalize glam pros who run late, since clients get charged when they do. Consumer protection? We love to see it.
For the many talented independent stylists who don’t have big followings, that visibility is more than convenience. It’s opportunity. (For the record, Glo says Atlanta has the best glam. Houston, Chicago, Brooklyn: the comments are yours.)
Still Human, Still Memphis
Fame’s scariest part, she said, is how people change. Everybody has a hand out, hardly anyone checks on her mentally, and too many folks just say yes. “I’m still a regular human being,” she reminded us.
That groundedness comes from Memphis, a city she summed up as “just that grit,” and from influences like Left Eye, Eve, and the city’s rap legends. She even owned her lowest moments, including a BET Awards performance she never felt comfortable with. “You need failures though. They make you better.”
The Takeaway
GloRilla wants her legacy to be simple: that her words helped people become better. That’s ministry, whether it happens in a choir stand, on a stage, or through an app that helps a Black stylist get paid. Glo is living proof that a church girl can grow up, glow up, and still keep God at the center, tattoos and all.
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