“Anytime I record a cover, I always do my best to try to make sure I put a little bit of myself into it,” Koryn Hawthorne says. “I feel like we’ve done a good job of that on this record. It has slight R&B vibes, but it still has the true heart of worship in it.” Hawthorne, a gospel vocalist who can also boast having once earned a spot as a finalist on The Voice, chose Smokie Norful’s “I Need You Now” for her contribution to Apple Music’s Freedom Songs 2022, an exclusive collection of covers and originals celebrating Juneteenth. The song, she says, will only ever bring her good memories: “I am a huge Smokie Norful fan. This song, in particular, has been a staple throughout my entire life. I feel like, at any given moment, I could play this song and be taken back to a special place.”