Kirk Franklin: The fight of his Life

Glory takes a closer look at the Grammy-winning, crossover gospel artist Kirk Franklin and considers how his latest album, entitled ‘The Fight of My Life’, sheds light on the personal battles that God has been instrumental in helping him win.

The life story of Kirk Franklin has an interesting and compelling narrative that puts into perspective his message through music. As a child, Franklin was raised in Texas by his great aunt Gertrude, a devout Christian, having been abandoned as a baby by his mother. During his teenage years, Franklin rebelled against his strong Christian upbringing. He became a young dad and was expelled from school for behavioural problems. Franklin's wake-up call, which prompted his dedication to God and Gospel music was when a friend of his was shot dead.



The music he produced was unlike the Gospel sound of old. It was a new, productions that embraced collaborations with R&B artists and borrowed traits from various genres. It began to turn secular music on it's head with gospel tracks produced by Franklin making it's way into the R&B and Pop charts. Ultimately, this caused the success of his contribution to Gospel Music to be overshadowed with accusations of endorsing secular, ungodly influences.



The debate on whether Franklin made the right decision to join forces with the likes of Salt-N-Pepa, R.Kelly, Mary J. Blige and U2's Bono throughout the history of his discography still continues. Yet Franklin remains firm in his mission:



"My message is simple and plain," Kirk Franklin insisted in the Los Angeles Times. "I'm trying to change the way people look at gospel music." "When I try to reach people, it's by any means necessary," he told the Tri-State Defender. "The purpose is to win them. I spread the word of God through my music, and that's how souls are won, regardless of where it's heard."



The albums of the past decade remain unrivalled in the pioneering reach of the gospel message through music. Since forming the seventeen-voice choir "Kirk Franklin and The Family" back in the early 90s, Franklin has release over ten albums, all of which achieved the no.1 spot on the Gospel Album chart and coveted positions in the Billboard 200.



Then came a personal controversy in 2006, when Franklin appeared together with his wife on The Oprah Winfrey Show on the subject of pornography. During the show, entitled Famous Gospel Singer Admits His Addiction to Porn, he admitted to struggling with a porn-addiction for many years. Kirk stated in the interview that he sought help through Christian counselling and finally considers himself to be free from his addiction. Prior the interview, he had been clean for over seven years.



This open honesty about his personal struggles, caused many who saw him only as a performer, to develop a greater respect for him as a person. Others consider it further fuel to the fire of judgment he was already in the thick of. That same year he released the record Songs for the Storm Vol.1. The aptly titled album was very much a personal penning of his difficult life experiences; particularly in light of the recent revelations he had bravely shared with the world. 



His latest record The Fight of My Life follows suit, this time detailing the victory of overcoming his personal tribulations. But it didn't come easy as Franklin explains; “When I do albums, I usually feel ‘pregnant’ with ideas. God would give me pieces of a concept - the theme of an album - then songs would be born from that. This time I felt empty. God was very silent at the genesis of this record... I had singers and musicians flying in ready to work and I wasn't, which was very costly…and it happened twice! I was discouraged and began to question whether I should do another album; whether I had another one in me."



Musically it was a humbling time for Franklin, the artist had previously had an easy creative process, songs came to him quickly and the drought of inspiration was uncharacteristic. Thankfully, Franklin did not let the delay prevent the birth of the masterpiece. 'The Fight of My Life'; was by far his most inspirational offering. 



The songs which make up ‘The Fight of My Life’ are some of the most dynamic and stylistically varied of his storied career, moving from spirited choral passages and jazz-infused pieces to his signature R&B praise grooves. As with all of his past milestones, the thread that holds together ‘The Fight of My Life’ (written, produced and arranged by Kirk Franklin) is that God remains the centre of its meaningful, spiritual message.



Speaking candidly about his work and his personal challenges he states: “These are things that I feel every day. People need honest transparent leadership – leaders who are not afraid to admit, 'I made a mistake, only follow me as I follow Christ.' 
I'm still hungry for The Lord and still hungry for God to knock down the stuff I see in me that still ain't right... I've been working on me - and there's a lot more work to be done."



‘The Fight of My Life’ is best described as a stirring soundtrack for winning the fights of our lives and the story of Kirk Franklin thus far, remains aptly powerful - putting his music into perspective and brings to mind the scripture 2 Timothy 4:7 (NIV) where it reads "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith."

kirkfranklin.com