In an extensive interview with Mike Rimmer gospel star KIRK FRANKLIN talks about his battle with pornography, his lawsuits, the faith of Stevie Wonder and much more.

It's often easy to play a guessing game with famous people to try and work out whether they are Christians. Wonder has always had a spirituality in his music and back in the '90s the group Take 6 talked about leading him to the Lord. What are Franklin's observations? "I believe that he does have a relationship with Christ. I'm going to tell you something else. A lot of times in the music industry there are a lot of Christians that because they work with so many artists, they also learn different trains of thought, which can be very dangerous. So my desire is that in my friendships with people, that I can just lovingly share with them how the Gospel cannot be contaminated, or even tainted, or even have another view connected to it. You'd be surprised how many celebrities and guys have people in their lives - whether that's pastors or teachers - that even allow for that. So you'd be surprised. A lot of these people, they're getting the stuff because they live in LA and they live in an industry that is very all-inclusive, which is dangerous. The only thing hard about it is that you don't want to upset people but there are times when the Gospel is offensive. There's nothing hard except for the fact that you know that when it's the Gospel it's got to be the Gospel. The lines have to be drawn."

In Birmingham, I have a friend called Roger Moore who encourages grassroots gospel talent. A while back he suggested that if I interviewed Kirk Franklin, I should get him to say a few choice phrases into a tape machine that he could insert into tracks so that it would appear that Kirk was contributing to the show. An "all my people" here and a "praise the Lord" there and you'd have a sprinkling of Franklin magic to give the track more cred. Franklin does have a reputation for talking on his albums. But 'Hero' finds him making only the second recorded vocal performance of his career. On 'Watcha Look' 4' he sang "Mama's Song" and now he does a plaintive vocal on the beautiful "Without You". He admits he doesn't sing often because "That's not my strength. I'm not a singer, you know? I've always had people around me that really, really, really sing. So what I do is I sing through them. This time, the people that I was working with - at first I taught them the song. They were like, 'No Kirk, you need to do this one because that's your story. You're the only one that can really say that.' It was the very first song that God gave me for the album; the very first song. It's just a song that talks about all these incredible things that we think we can do within ourselves but at the end of the day, it's meaningless. Surprisingly there are a lot of people that come up to me and say that they love the song. So it's like, wow!"

But isn't he just a fraud? An artist who barely appears on his own albums but instead lets those more talented than him do all the work? "Oh! You know it's funny," he responds, "I think people have just come to accept it now. This is the first interview that I've done that that question has really come up in detail. I think people have just come to know that I don't really sing. It's weird that I don't sing but I do albums, you know? I guess it is what it is and I'm just trying to do what I do."

Historically the situation has arisen because Franklin has always really been a choir director. He agrees, "In black gospel music you can be a choir director and not sing and do an album. Because in black gospel music it's all about the choir. Whether it's like Ricky Dillard and Nu Generation, or Hezekiah Walker and Love Fellowship. These are not guys that are solo artists. These are guys that are known for their choirs, like the Mississippi Mass Choir.just so many guys that had groups. Like Orlando Draper and the Associates. Do you remember Orlando Draper? Well he never really sang. So all I was doing was do what everybody else did in gospel music. God had given me some songs and people seemed to be really blessed by what God gave me - his gift as a songwriter. I would teach songs. It was never my attempt to try and talk on songs. What I was doing was, I was just kind of like a worship leader. I was just talking through the songs like a preacher would on Sunday mornings. But for some reason it came out different for me!"

'Hero' features a couple of songs that are linked thematically and are designed to truly encourage the listener. "Looking For You" and "keep Your Head" seem to really sum up the heart of gospel music. Kirk explains, "Because it's Gospel music you have to have the Good News; the message of God's purpose, his hope and the end result for everybody who trusts in him and who trusts in his Son. So you can't do a gospel album without encouraging people. That's just a very natural thing to be able to point people into his direction and into his light. The gospel music is not the end-all for people with problems but it is pointer into his presence. I love the second line of "Looking For You" which is - 'It was hard for me to see your plan for me/And so I had to believe the troubles won't last always.' When it's dark and you don't understand what God is doing it's hard to remember that God has a plan connected to it. That purpose is always connected with pain. And it's hard! When it's hurting it's very hard to remember that. So if it's hard for me, then I can imagine it's hard for people through their day to day lives and don't get a chance to be around a community of other Christians all the time, working on gospel music. So it's just trying to encourage them and to remind them of that truth."

I observe it's been a while since Kirk toured the UK. He confesses, "Man I miss the UK! You don't understand, London is me and my wife's favourite place! If we could, we would buy a house in London. Man, we LOVE London! So if anyone is reading this, please call and invite me to London!! Because I want to do the 'Hero' album in London. I just want to do the music and sing all day and just perform the new album for everybody. So PLEASE, PLEASE INVITE ME TO LONDON! PLEASE SOMEBODY CALL ME!!"

I think we get the idea! I would do it but he's just out of my league. He's too expensive now! He laughs, "Well just feed me! Feed me some good food!" If only it was that simple! Kirk Franklin will sing gospel music for food. Now that I could probably manage. He laughs again "Will Work For Food. I'll make a sign and put it on my chest!" Hmmm. Now that would work!