Naomi Raine is not here to put on a presentation. She is here to give glory to God authentically.

The Maverick City Music collective member has won numerous Grammys and Dove Awards and has been co-signed by Gospel great Kirk Franklin. However, what stands above all those accolades is her desire to honor Jesus and the calling bestowed upon her.

After releasing her solo projects, Journey and Journey: Acoustic Sessions in 2022, the Queens-Native returned to her home state of New York to record her debut solo live worship album Cover The Earth. The 14-track album is a song of surrender, ranging from mid-tempo tracks like “Sing Hallelujah” and “We Agree With Heaven,” to beautiful stripped-down numbers that showcase Raine’s songwriting expertise like “Uncovering” and “VIP.” Putting all sonic aspects aside, at the heart of this project is the celebration of the freedom to authentically worship Jesus as a part of the body of Christ.

BET spoke with Naomi Raine about how the project was birthed, her different songwriting approaches, the mental prisons her worship has delivered her from, and more. Read below.

BET: Your new album Cover the Earth is a project about the “goodness of God, his kindness and faithfulness. It is a call to action for those that love God to seek Him and spread the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ everywhere we go.” How was this title birthed and what inspired you to give this name to your first live solo worship album?

It was birthed because I was at a church and as I was singing, I kept hearing the chorus to the song that’s now “Cover The Earth.” It was saying, “Let Your glory cover the earth.” I felt like the Lord stamped it in my heart saying, “This is what I want to say. This is what I want to do. I want my people to shine.” And as we shine, it allows His glory to be revealed. There’s nothing we have outside of the good gift that God gives. I felt like the Lord wanted us to be our best so that it could show who He is. You know how people sing that song, “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine?” I think the light is bigger than we think it is. You can feel like your light is really little, but when you let it shine, you’re actually showing the goodness of God. You’re showing that He’s loving and gives good gifts and that He’s put us here for joy.

BET: This album was recorded in NYC, and I know you’re originally from Queens, NY. What was the significance of recording this album in your home state and what was the experience like?

I think a lot of music that’s recorded in the Gospel and Christian music space is recorded in Nashville or Atlanta and I felt like it was important to release a sound from New York. New York is the capital of the world. Every nation is represented there. Every tribe, every tongue, every language is represented there. For me, it’s always been important to connect with the heart of the region and sing from there. Nothing against Nashville, Atlanta, or LA but there’s something that happens when you do something from a place where everybody is represented. It’s significant.

BET: Cover The Earth is your first solo project after the release of Journey & Journey: Acoustic Sessions, beautifully vulnerable projects discussing some of your struggles with mental health. I read that Journey began when you were working on your solo album Back to Eden and had a vision that you were coming in God’s presence with loin cloth. God said He wanted you to come into His presence without covering yourself. How did the process of creating and releasing Journey help you remove your coverings so you could come into God’s presence and freely worship him on this album?

That is a really good question. I think that Cover The Earth was released without pretense. There’s no need to pretend. I’m not just known by the Lord, I’m known by people and that is freeing. It actually pushes me to worship the Lord even harder because I think some people think that if you’re broken, or wounded, or struggling, or in process, that you somehow need to retreat from God because He can’t handle that. Or you can’t lead worship or talk about who He is because He must not be that good or you wouldn’t be going through something. It’s kind of ridiculous. Cover The Earth is such a free project full of free worship where I’m not caught up in presentation. I’m just worshiping the Lord. Not saying I don’t do that any other time, but to me, that was the point. We’re going to worship God. I’m not trying to present something. It was never for y’all, it was just for Him.

BET: And speaking of Journey, that album showed more of your singer-songwriter side, helping us get to know a side other than the worshiper Naomi. Sonically, it ranged from R&B to folk to pop and more. As an artist that writes both singer-songwriter/story-based and worship songs, how does your approach differ when creating the two from a lyrical as well as sonic perspective?

Lyrically, I think Journey is more “I, me, and you.” It’s just my perspective. Lyrically, on Cover The Earth, it’s more “we” and “us.” I don’t see myself as just me, I’m a part of something that’s bigger than me. I’m a part of the body. I’m a part of the Church. Cover The Earth is simpler sonically because it is for more people. The sound is more general. Sonically, it can reach a bunch of different audiences and people that have different desires. There’s Gospel in there. There’s rock in there. There are some hidden pop elements in there and then there’s that worship genre feel in there. With Journey, I was able to experiment more and go based on how I felt. Each song could sound how I felt. I feel like Cover The Earth is way more general and the point of the lyrics is to help people see things from God’s point of view and from a Biblical perspective. In the song “We Agree With Heaven,” I say “We love not our lives, even unto death, Oh Lord.” Nobody wants to sing that. Nobody wants to say, “I’m willing to die for Jesus.” We might want to think we are, but nobody wants to sing that. But we need to because that’s the way the apostles went. That’s what happens when people believe in Jesus. It’s counter-cultural. Even if it’s not an actual physical death, sometimes things die in relationships, or you have to let go of some things. But it’s worth it because He’s already died for us.

BET: You’re currently co-headlining the all women It’s Time Tour w/ Tasha Cobbs Leonard, TAYA, and Natalie Grant. You’re also a part of the Maverick City Music collective. In both of those scenarios, you’re coming together with people from different backgrounds that have different fan bases, different worship styles, different sonic preferences, but all have the same common goal. When coming together as worship leaders, what do you think is the most important element needed to unite a body of worshippers for Christ successfully?

You have some amazing questions. I think the most important thing, well it’s like two things happening simultaneously. I think you have to be able to honor differences and that includes your own. It’s honoring other people, who they are, how they think, how they process, how they move. It’s also realizing that you’re different and honoring that. Making sure that you step up and show up as who you are in a space. Sometimes when we notice other people’s differences, we decide to shrink. We need to recognize that we’re all necessary. When we do that, we can actually serve the people that we’re called to better. I can meet the needs of the people in the audience because I’m being who God has called me to be. When everyone’s being who God has called them to be, we actually get to reach a larger group of people and teach them to be open-minded beyond their preference. I remember when I was younger, I used to watch VH1 Movies That Rock. I was always watching “The Jackson Five: American Dream,” “The Temptations,” “The Five Heartbeats,” “Ray.” I remember in one of the movies, when they first started, the rooms were segregated. White people on one side and black people on another. But as time went on, the ropes were taken down. That’s a picture of what we want to see. They all liked the same artist, they all wanted to go to the same show. We get people in the room and overtime, we start to take down the things that divide us. We start to mingle and sing and enjoy the experience together. We realize we actually enjoy the same thing. That’s a visual of what happens when worship leaders of different styles come together to collab and reach more people. It helps us to see that we’re better together.

BET: Your focus track on this album is “Sing Hallelujah” with Natalie Grant. I was watching a bit of your testimony and you mentioned that there was a time in your life when you thought if you were good, then God would be good to you. That makes me think of a powerful line from that track where you say, “Your goodness has been. Your goodness will be. Your goodness has never depended on me.” I think a lot of people, including Christians, still don’t fully understand that God’s goodness does not depend on them. At what point in your journey did you have this realization for yourself and how did it affect the way you approached your relationship with God?

If I’m honest, I think I realized it when I was 18 or so. But I don’t think it really hit. Sometimes you can know something is true, but not believe it yet because your mind isn’t there yet.  You believe the other thing because it feels better or that’s just what you always thought. But learning the truth of who God is, I think He has proven it over time. When I mess up or take Ls, I’m reminded that He’s really good to me and it’s not dependent on my behavior. As a Christian or young believer, I was always trying to do good, so there weren’t so many opportunities for me to see His faithfulness. But I think as you get older, you’re tempted in different areas and I think the Lord allows you to take Ls so you can really realize that you’re not who you thought you were, but He’s still the same. Jesus knew hanging on the cross what I was going to do today, and He already paid for it. That to me is very kind. Now I’m indebted forever and now, I owe Him my life.

BET: Throughout this project, you sing about how faith and worship can free us from different strongholds ranging from mental health issues, to sickness, to fear, to greed. In the song “Paul & Silas” you reference the Biblical story where they praised God until an earthquake literally shook the jail walls down. In a time where we all need freedom from something, what would you say is the greatest personal prison your worship has freed you from?

My greatest personal prison has been self-consciousness and fear which I think equals shame. I think it’s shame. Not wanting to be seen, other people’s understanding, people pleasing. You asked for one prison and I’m like these are bars on the same prison. When you worship God, it allows you not to just see Him rightly, but you start to see yourself. When you get into the light, you can see more, and you start to realize you have no reason to stay in that place. You realize that the things you were believing that kept you in that prison are not even true. We say, “who the Son sets free, is free indeed,” but that word is not really “sets,” it’s who the Son “makes” free. When we think “set,” we think He pushes us out. But it’s not that. He opens the door and we’ve got to walk through and realize our freedom. We’ve heard this from actual people in prison. They’re in there, but their mind is free. The prison is in your mind. They’ve found a freedom that’s beyond physical walls.

BET: There are so many beautiful songs on this project, but the standout song to me is “VIP” where you say, “I don’t need a front row seat. Might not be VIP. I have the nearness of the Father and He’s right here with me.” And then eventually make your way to talking about Jesus saying, “You gave up Your front row seat, so I could be VIP. So I could be nearer to the Father and here sitting at Your feet.” All I can say is wow. What is the story behind the inception of that song and metaphor to describe the sacrifice of Jesus Christ?

It actually started as a chorus that I heard my friend sing. He was at a worship service, and they recorded him singing that. I saw it on Instagram and played it about fifty times and just wept. I ended up changing it up some but told him I needed to write to it. It meant something to me, I related to it. It was at a point where Maverick City was selling out arenas and people knew my name. People say stuff like The Naomi Raine. I’m like, “I’m just here for Jesus. I just really came to worship, y’all. They let me sing, so I came to sing.” I just had to sing something, write something, and be a part of something that made it clear that it wasn’t about me. It wasn’t about who I am or my status. I was able to get into places now, we won Grammys, and I was just like, “I don’t need to sit in the front, I just need to be with Jesus.” I know He’s in the back of the room, on the side, in the front, on the stage, in the basement. I just wanted to make music that said that, because I was so aware that people were starting to know who I was and none of that is important to me. And then when you think about it, the actual most important person in existence decided to give up His place in glory to come down and be with us? You know what I mean? We have a good time, but when you also look at some stuff, it’s like humans! We poop! We sweat! It’s nasty! He wants to be with us, and I just think that’s beautiful. I just want to be like Him.

BET: Lastly, you said in an interview, “Some people go through life without language, but language gives definition and helps us to cope and grapple with what’s actually happening. I believe art is supposed to give language, encourage, and inspire.” As a songwriter, for this project overall, what was your process of giving language to the indescribable greatness of God?

I think I tried to use images and everyday language that helps to simplify but also magnify the beauty of God. I wanted to insight wonder. I wanted to say things that make people think and go, “What does she mean by that?” I want it to be something that can be expounded upon and thought about. Sometimes, I’ll use vague and simple words because they can mean so much. No matter how you take it on a particular day, then you get to worship God in another way. It’s like the Bible. You can read the same story that you read a month ago and get something totally different. It’s like God’s breathing and revealing it all at the same time.

You can listen to “Sing Hallelujah” by Naomi Raine and more of the newest Gospel, Christian R&B, Christian Hip-Hop, and Afrobeat on BET’s “Pulse of the Kingdom” Playlist, now streaming on Spotify.