Brandon Lake’s King of Hearts: 5 Songs Worth Revisiting
Brandon Lake’s King of Hearts: 5 Songs Worth Revisiting. Brandon Lake’s King of Hearts is the kind of Christian album that rewards a second listen. Released on June 13, 2025, the 16-track project finds the South Carolina-born worship leader stretching beyond conventional contemporary worship, moving through gospel, rock, country, pop and hip-hop influences while keeping its central focus on faith, testimony and the person of Jesus.
The album also marked a significant moment in Lake’s career. King of Hearts became his first Top 10 entry on the Billboard 200, debuting at No. 7, while its songs helped push his music further into mainstream spaces.
With 16 songs spanning more than an hour, there is plenty to explore. But five tracks in particular stand out as worthwhile revisits, whether you are returning to the album months after its release or discovering it for the first time.
1. “King Of Hearts”
The title track feels like the heart of the entire project.
“King Of Hearts” takes the album’s name and turns it into a declaration about Jesus’ place at the centre of the believer’s life. Rather than relying solely on the massive, arena-ready sound associated with some of Lake’s biggest worship songs, the track carries a more personal and reflective quality.
That intimacy is important because it gives the album a clear emotional centre. King of Hearts is not simply a collection of praise songs designed for a large crowd. It repeatedly moves toward personal testimony, surrender and the transforming power of the gospel.
The song was written by Lake alongside Jacob Sooter and Hank Bentley, with Sooter and Bentley handling production. It sits early in the album, following the opening track “Plans”, and establishes much of the project’s spiritual and musical direction.
It is worth revisiting because the title track helps explain what Lake is ultimately trying to communicate across the record: beneath the genre experimentation and big production is an album centred on Christ.
2. “Hard Fought Hallelujah” with Jelly Roll
Few songs on King of Hearts demonstrate Lake’s ability to cross musical boundaries as clearly as “Hard Fought Hallelujah.”
Originally released as a single in November 2024, the song became one of Lake’s defining recent releases before appearing on King of Hearts. The collaborative version with Jelly Roll arrived in February 2025, bringing together Brandon Lake’s worship background and Jelly Roll’s country and hip-hop-influenced approach.
The song is built around the idea that praise can come from difficult seasons. Lake has described it as being about the battles people face, the perseverance required during those struggles and the praise that follows. That gives the song a different emotional weight from a straightforward celebration anthem.
Jelly Roll’s presence makes the message even more striking. His rougher vocal character contrasts with Lake’s worship style, creating a performance that feels less polished in the traditional sense and more grounded in lived experience.
The collaboration eventually became a major crossover moment. “Hard Fought Hallelujah” reached the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 and earned recognition beyond Christian music, illustrating how Lake’s genre-blending approach could connect with audiences outside the usual worship space.
That is precisely why the song deserves another listen. It does not pretend that faith eliminates hardship. Instead, it presents praise as something that can emerge in the middle of it.
3. “Daddy’s DNA”
“Daddy’s DNA” is one of the more personal songs on the album and provides a different kind of listening experience.
Where “Hard Fought Hallelujah” turns struggle into a communal declaration, “Daddy’s DNA” leans into identity, inheritance and restoration. The song explores the idea of carrying something from a father while also confronting the deeper question of spiritual identity.
Its message of hope and restored identity gives the song a particularly personal quality.
Musically, it also demonstrates one of the strengths of King of Hearts: Lake does not feel compelled to make every song sound like a Sunday morning worship set. The album allows room for songs that sound more like personal reflections and testimony.
“Daddy’s DNA” therefore works best when approached as part of the album’s broader story. It is not simply another worship track. It adds a family and identity dimension to a project already concerned with what happens when faith moves from the stage into everyday life.
For listeners who may have initially gravitated toward the bigger singles, this is one of the songs worth returning to with a little more attention.
4. “I Know A Name” with CeCe Winans
Bringing Brandon Lake and CeCe Winans together on “I Know A Name” was one of the album’s most natural collaborations.
Winans brings decades of gospel and worship experience to the track, while Lake’s contemporary approach gives the song a modern setting. The result connects two generations of Christian music without making the collaboration feel forced.
The song appears as the fifth track on King of Hearts and runs for more than five minutes, giving both vocalists space to build the song rather than rushing toward a quick radio-friendly payoff.
Its focus on the name of Jesus fits neatly into Lake’s larger emphasis on testimony and the gospel. The song also illustrates why King of Hearts works as more than a collection of singles. Lake repeatedly places personal declarations alongside songs designed for congregational participation.
“I Know A Name” is particularly worth revisiting for the vocal chemistry. Winans’ gospel authority adds depth to Lake’s energetic worship style, making this one of the album’s most compelling vocal pairings.
It is also a reminder that Lake’s musical ambition on King of Hearts is not simply about experimenting with genres. He is interested in bringing different voices and traditions into the same worship conversation.
5. “That’s Who I Praise”
It would be difficult to discuss the most memorable songs from King of Hearts without returning to “That’s Who I Praise.”
Released in July 2024, the song served as the lead single for the album and became one of Lake’s biggest successes. It reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Christian Songs chart and helped establish the momentum that eventually carried into the full King of Hearts release.
The song captures Lake at his most direct. Its central idea is simple but powerful: praise is directed toward God because of who He is and what He has done.
That simplicity is part of its strength.
While other songs on the album explore struggle, identity and personal testimony in more detailed ways, “That’s Who I Praise” feels immediately accessible. It is built for participation, whether that happens in a church service, at a concert or through a personal listening session.
Its success also helped demonstrate the broad reach of Lake’s worship music. By the time King of Hearts arrived, listeners already knew the song, giving the album an established anchor alongside newer material.
For anyone revisiting the album, “That’s Who I Praise” remains an essential stop because it represents the straightforward praise-and-worship side of Lake’s musical identity.
Why King of Hearts still deserves another listen
One of the most interesting things about King of Hearts is its willingness to resist being placed neatly inside one musical category.
The album moves from intimate worship to gospel, country-inspired sounds, rock energy and hip-hop collaborations. The variety is intentional. Lake has spoken about wanting the project to reach people through different musical spaces while keeping its Christian message intact.
That approach helped the album make an impact well beyond the traditional Christian music audience. It also showed why Lake has become one of contemporary Christian music’s more prominent crossover artists.
Still, the strongest reason to revisit King of Hearts is not its chart performance or genre experimentation. It is the way the album brings together different expressions of faith.
“King Of Hearts” offers intimacy. “Hard Fought Hallelujah” turns struggle into praise. “Daddy’s DNA” explores identity and restoration. “I Know A Name” brings together two distinctive worship voices. “That’s Who I Praise” delivers the straightforward declaration at the centre of it all.
Together, the five songs provide a useful snapshot of what makes King of Hearts compelling. It is an album interested in both the personal and the communal, the polished and the raw, the celebration and the struggle.
And that is why, more than a year after its release, these songs remain worth pressing play on again.
About The Author
