Cx1DJs We Do Things Different Podcast "Untold Stories of Kirk Franklin" hosted by DJButterrock
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Cx1DJs We Do Things Different Podcast "Untold Stories of Kirk Franklin" hosted by DJButterrock
Kirk Dewayne Franklin (born January 26, 1970)[2] is an American gospel songwriter, composer, rapper, singer, and record producer. Franklin's accolades include 20 Grammy Awards. Variety has called Franklin a "Reigning King of Urban Gospel",[3] and Franklin is one of the inaugural inductees into the Black Music & Entertainment Walk of Fame. Franklin in the beginning of his career, included The Family, God's Property, and One Nation Crew (1NC) on his record releases.
Early life
A native of Fort Worth, Texas, Franklin was raised by his aunt, Gertrude, having been abandoned as a baby by his mother.[4] Gertrude recycled aluminum cans to raise money for Kirk to take piano lessons from the age of 4. Kirk excelled and was able to read and write music while also playing by ear.[citation needed]
At the age of 7, Franklin received his first contract which his aunt turned down.[5] He did join the church choir and became music director of the Mt. Rose Baptist Church adult choir at 11 years of age.[6]
In his teenage years, Franklin rebelled against his strict religious upbringing, and in an attempt to keep him out of trouble, his grandmother arranged an audition for him at a professional youth conservatory associated with a local university. He was accepted, but later he had to deal with a girlfriend's pregnancy and his eventual expulsion from school for bad behavior.[7]
Franklin studied music with Jewell Kelly and the Singing Chaparrals at Oscar Dean Wyatt High School. He continued under her tutelage and ultimately became the pianist for the choir.[7]
When he was aged 15 he witnessed the death of a friend by shooting,[8][9] after which Franklin returned to the church, where he again directed the choir.
Career
Franklin in 1998
After Kirk Franklin co-founded a gospel group, The Humble Hearts; it was in 1990, when one of the compositions done under Kirk Franklin, had received attention of gospel music figure Milton Biggham, who was choir director of the Georgia Mass Choir. Biggham expressed his impressment, which led to Kirk Franklin leading the DFW Mass Choir in a recording of Franklin's song "Every Day with Jesus". This also led to Biggham hiring Franklin, just 20 years old at the time, to lead the choir at the 1990 Gospel Music Workshop of America Convention, an industry gathering.[5]
Signing to record label
In 1992, after the period of working with established choirs, Franklin sought to establish "The Family," which featured 15 to 17 in the choir, formed from neighborhood friends and associates.[8] The same year, Vicki Mack-Lataillade, the co-founder of GospoCentric Records label, heard one of their demo tapes and was so impressed she immediately signed the choir onto the label.[10]
In 1993, the group, billed as "Kirk Franklin & The Family", had their debut album, Kirk Franklin & The Family, to be released[11] It spent almost two years on the gospel music charts and charted on the R&B charts, eventually earning platinum sales status. It remained at No. 1 on the Billboard Top Gospel Albums chart for 42 weeks. It was only the third gospel music album to sell over a million units after Aretha Franklin's Amazing Grace and BeBe & CeCe Winans' Addictive Love.[citation needed]
In May 1994, new material was recorded "live." Nearly two full years later, after the release of a 1995 Christmas album entitled Kirk Franklin & the Family Christmas in late 1995, the delayed Whatcha Lookin' 4 was released in April 1996, with notable studio edits and few-added studio tracks. The album was certified platinum and earned Franklin his first Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album.
In 1996, Franklin's song "Joy" was recorded by Whitney Houston and the Georgia Mass Choir. With production by Houston and Mervyn Warren, the composition was included on one of the best-selling gospel album of all time, soundtrack to The Preacher's Wife.
Also in 1996, GospoCentric had established its sublabel B'Rite, in partnership with Interscope Records. It was in 1997, when the collaboration with the choir God's Property, aptly named God's Property from Kirk Franklin's Nu Nation, was released. The lead single, "Stomp," appeared in its "Original Mix," alongside its widespread "remix," in which the latter of the two featured Cheryl "Salt" James (of Salt-N-Pepa). The remix was considered a crossover hit, enjoying heavy rotation on MTV and other music channels and charting at No. 1 on the R&B Singles Airplay chart for two weeks, even making it into the Top 40. God's Property from Kirk Franklin's Nu Nation was No. 1 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart for five weeks, No. 3 on the Billboard 200, and would go on to be certified 3× platinum by the RIAA. It also brought Franklin another Grammy for Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album, as well as three Grammy nominations.
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