Franklin, Kirk

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KIRK FRANKLIN

Born: Fort Worth, Texas, 23 January 1970

Genre: Gospel, R&B

Best-selling album since 1990: Nu Nation Project (1998)

Hit songs since 1990: "Why We Sing," "Lean on Me"

During the 1990s religious gospel music found increased acceptance within mainstream popular culture, a change spurred largely by the rise of Kirk Franklin. With the possible exception of singer Yolanda Adams, no young gospel artist in the 1990s could match Franklin's degree of commercial success. Franklin updated gospel music by incorporating flashy secular styles such as hip-hop and modern R&B. At the same time, he honored the gospel of the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s—years known as "the Golden Age of Gospel"—through collaborations with renowned older artists such as Shirley Caesar. Although his attempts at modernization sometimes drew fire from those within the gospel community, Franklin proved that spiritual music could appeal to younger listeners while retaining its resonance and zest.

Abandoned by teenaged parents as a young child, Franklin was raised by his Aunt Gertrude. A devoutly religious woman, she encouraged Franklin's musical abilities within and outside of the Baptist church, at one point collecting aluminum cans so that he could take piano lessons. Franklin's prodigious musical skills were apparent when he began directing the choir at Mt. Rose Baptist Church near Dallas, Texas, at the age of eleven. In his teens he went through a rebellious period, getting expelled from school due to fighting and other behavioral problems. After a friend was shot and killed Franklin decided to reform by returning to the church. By age twenty-two he had assembled his own group, a seventeen-member choir he called "the Family."

Kirk's debut album, Kirk Franklin & the Family (1993), was a huge success, spending 100 weeks on the gospel charts and crossing over to become an R&B hit as well. Building on gospel's choir tradition, which achieved prominence in the 1960s with the work of visionary performers such as the late James Cleveland, Franklin arranges the songs using multiple voices singing in unison. The album's biggest hit, "Why We Sing," is structured upon this approach, with voices soaring together in an ode to the emotional release of vocalizing. The downside of the 1960s and 1970s choir movement in gospel, which largely supplanted the popularity of smaller vocal quartets, was that individual voices often got lost in the wash of sound. Franklin anticipates this problem by pulling voices out of the choir for extended solos. "Silver and Gold" and "Call on the Lord," in particular, boast strong female leads that capture the fire and passion of the finest gospel music. Critics note Franklin himself is merely an average singer, but, like Cleveland, he uses his voice to good advantage, exhorting his soloists with the frequently interjected, "Hallelujah" and "C'mon." Several of the tracks spotlight the tough, heavy beats of 1990s hip-hop. Franklin's passion and commitment—qualities inherent within the divine purpose of gospel—give the album a vitality often lacking in the work of his secular hip-hop contemporaries.

Continuing to broaden the appeal of his music, Franklin contracted stars such as hip-hop queen Mary J. Blige and rock singer Bono for his 1998 album, The Nu Nation Project. On the album's rousing hit single, which features cameos from Blige and Bono, Franklin opens with a spoken passage that addresses issues such as AIDS and homelessness. The sermon, delivered without heavy-handedness or judgment, underscores gospel's historic commitment to social causes such as civil rights. "Revolution" is a tough hip-hop collaboration with hot R&B producer Rodney Jerkins, while "Riverside" sports a heavy beat that recalls 1970s funk music. Addressing his critics within the gospel community, Franklin allows himself a rare moment of bitterness on "The Verdict." Conceived as a mock courtroom drama, the track besets Franklin with a list of spoken "charges." "Charge number two: making gospel music too secular." Franklin makes a more compelling case when he rebuffs critics through the power of his music, such as on the joyous "My Desire." Here, he proves that gospel can be universal in appeal without losing its message of salvation and redemption. As Franklin noted in a 2000 interview with television network CNN, "I preach Christ . . . in the spirit of love, not in a spirit of hate, for whoever wants to listen—black, white, Jew, or Gentile."

After three years away from the recording spotlight, Franklin returned with The Rebirth of Kirk Franklin in 2002. A rewarding blend of traditional and contemporary elements, the album contains a church-wrecking lead vocal by gospel legend Shirley Caesar on "Caught Up." A fiery belter possessing the showmanship of the flamboyant gospel tradition, Caesar breaks the song down and repeats the title in an improvised, exhortatory style known as "testifying." Franklin wisely keeps his own vocal on the track to a minimum, stepping back to let this great performer take control. The album, acknowledging the new while honoring the potency of what has come before, sums up Franklin's invigorating, respectful approach to gospel.

The first performer to successfully merge hip-hop with traditional religious music, Kirk Franklin deserves credit for making gospel accessible to a young audience. While his music often bears the slick surface of modern R&B, the emotion and feeling he imparts have more in common with the passionate gospel of the past. In his work Franklin honors the richness of his heritage while carving a path for gospel in the twenty-first century.

SELECTIVE DISCOGRAPHY:

Kirk Franklin & the Family (Sparrow, 1993); Kirk Franklin & the Family Christmas (Interscope, 1995); Whatcha Lookin' 4 (GospoCentric, 1995); God's Property (BRite/Interscope, 1997); The Nu Nation Project (Interscope, 1998); The Rebirth of Kirk Franklin (GospoCentric, 2002).