Kirk Franklin: Undergoing The Fight Of His Life to deliver a powerful new album

Thursday 17th January 2008

Tony Cummings reports on how KIRK FRANKLIN overcame a biopic disappointment and writer's block to create an album with a highly relevant message

Kirk Franklin
Kirk Franklin

From the outside looking in the life of Kirk Franklin could appear a continuous success ride with no crisis or disappointments to upset his journey to gospel superstardom. He was after all the first gospel artist to sell over a million copies with his debut album (1993's 'Kirk Franklin & The Family) while his shoal of Grammys, Doves and Stellar Awards would fill an average size room. Now his latest album 'The Fight Of My Life' featuring Kirk's masterly blend of R&B, old school gospel and hip-hop is another run away hit while its crop of guest artists - Toby Mac, Da'T.R.U.T.H., the Williams Brothers and crossover gospel legend Rance Allen - shows that Kirk can call on the finest talents in Christendom to fill out his powerful musical synthesis. But the events leading up to the album were far from ideal for the Fort Worth, Texas born gospel star. 'The Fight Of My Life' was originally supposed to be the soundtrack for the motion picture Church Boy, a story based loosely on Franklin's life story and best selling autobiography. But when shooting for the film was abruptly cancelled, the decision had a devastating effect on Kirk, his family and his ministry. Kirk told GospelFlava website, "I titled this album 'The Fight Of My Life' because that's precisely what I was in. I had scheduled two months to devote to that movie. Now that schedule had a giant hole in it leaving me without a Plan B - no vision, no direction - which immediately meant financial challenges for me and my people."

Uncharacteristically, Kirk also had a bad bout of writer's block. "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! The second time they came, I only had two songs completed: 'How It Used To Be' (a song about coming back to Jesus after having been absent awhile) and 'Hide Me' (a song of restored faith on which he states, 'Your delay is not a denial/Your plan is perfect when I'm not'). I was discouraged and depressed. I began to question whether I should do another album, whether I had another one in me. . .whether I should call McDonald's to see if they were hiring!"

It was while walking the streets of his neighbourhood and crying out to God that Kirk's alarming bout of creative emptiness finally came to an end. He remembered, "I cried out to the Lord, 'Help!' And some way out of my darkness, God started giving me the idea for the song 'Help Me Believe'. And from there, the songs slowly started flowing down the tunnel to me again."

Those songs which now make up 'The Fight Of My Life' (the second album from Kirk Franklin's own Fo Yo Soul Entertainment company - a joint venture with the Zomba label group) are some of the most stylistically varied of Kirk's career, ranging from spirited choral passages to hip-hop praise grooves and a full on rocker cut with Toby Mac. The latter, "I Am God", was recorded in Nashville with Toby and his band. Kirk told Deborah Evans Price, "When black people play rock music, it sounds like black rock. What I wanted to do is have it sound very authentic. That's why I used Toby's band and we had it all in a day."

One of the most unexpected contributors to Kirk's new album is 11 year old newcomer Donovan Evans, who contributes a moving vocal on the song "A Whole Nation", about young men growing up without fathers. Kirk recalled his first encounter with Donovan: "He just rolled up on me backstage at an Easter concert in Milwaukee, singing one of my songs! People come up to me all the time, but not like Donovan. This kid could sing! I had to have him on my album. Sometimes God gives me snapshots of a song and this snapshot was of Donovan being the voice of a little Kirk. But I had to test him first, so I called and asked him about his relationship with his father. I needed him to sing this song from a place of honesty. When I saw that he could do that, I said, 'Here we go!'"

In an interview with Brett Hickman, Kirk explained the relevance of 'The Fight Of My Life' title. "What I would say is that life is going to always be a battle and there's always going to be a struggle. What we have to do is always remember that we don't have to fight this battle by ourselves. That the battle is not ours. Christ is going to give us the victory and we don't have to live in fear. The whole thing about 'The Fight Of My Life' is that I was just kind of watching a lot of people around me, just kind of looking at the climate of the culture and it seems like everybody is in the fight of their lives right now, whether it's people fighting from losing their homes, so many people are unemployed right now and people fighting for their marriages. There was a report this year that the highest prescribed medication in America is anti-depressants. You got a lot of people who are losing faith in their church and the leaders of the church. Me personally, I'm fighting in a lot of private areas with my family. Family members on drugs and other family members that are just kind of out on the streets. With my own faith and just different things going on in my own life it made me feel like I was fighting for air, just one blow after another. And so, just to be able to let people know that the battles they're in are the battles that I'm in with them.

"It wasn't the intent for (the Kenny Loggins cover) 'This Is It' to be the theme song for 'The Fight Of My Life', everybody just felt that it would be the first single. But it does have that type of energy to it. It's a war just to be able to make a declaration of, 'I'm not going to continue going through this same junk over and over again and that I'm really going to be committed to making a difference', and just to be different and to not allow myself to have to continue to go through this same mess, in 2008. Because of my relationship with Christ and who I am in Christ and who he is in me, that is something that's been overcome and I don't have to settle for the same stuff over and over again."

Another powerful track on the album is "Little Boy" where the great Rance Allen adds soul power to the telling lyrics. Commented Kirk, "Christians become a 'subculture' when we are no longer informed on current issues. It's imperative that God's people be effective and knowledgeable. If we're in a bubble, we come across as antiquated." Regarding those lyrical bombs the gospel star still drops on each album, Kirk remarked, "I say what I feel and let it fall where it may. 'Cause when something falls that is God-ordained, it falls right!" CR

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.
About Tony Cummings
Tony CummingsTony Cummings is the music editor for Cross Rhythms website and attends Grace Church in Stoke-on-Trent.


 

Reader Comments

Posted by kevin edwards in birmingham @ 20:28 on Apr 16 2008

a big hi ya to tony cummings please let me know how thing are with you



Posted by Kimberly Brown in New York @ 02:10 on Feb 28 2008

I really get the message in this song, and from the biography. This song would imply to my life, because at 13, I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. I am originally from Jamaica, West Indies, and it was hard because you only get this illness between the ages of early twenties, late thirties. After my denial period, I decided that if it's God's will, He promised never to leave or forsake us, so I just had to deal with it. Now at 22 years old, I focus on teaching sign language. Therefore, if you know anyone who's interested in learning this language, please refer me, muchas gracias.



Posted by Mark Weber in Buffalo, NY USA @ 23:06 on Feb 18 2008

Tony Cummings is one of my favorite article writers when it comes to Christian music-- he not only gets to the heart of an artist, but he also has a great way with words and phrases and his work is among the very best in Christian music journalism.



The opinions expressed in the Reader Comments are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms.

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