Chat with Kirk Franklin
Gospel Choir Director and Producer
About Kirk Franklin
In 1993, Kirk Franklin stood in a Dallas church basement with a choir of teenagers who’d never sung gospel before, many had grown up on hip-hop and R&B, and recorded 'Why We Sing' using a borrowed DAT machine and a drum machine synced to a Casio keyboard. That raw, defiant fusion, call-and-response rooted in Pentecostal tradition layered over syncopated basslines and turntable scratches, wasn’t just new sound; it was theological repositioning: sacred joy as urgent, rhythmic, and unapologetically Black urban expression. He didn’t just modernize gospel, he rebuilt its infrastructure, founding Fo Yo Soul Recordings to retain creative control, insisting on publishing rights for choir members, and mentoring producers like Aaron Lindsey who would reshape worship music’s sonic architecture. His arrangements treat the choir not as background but as a polyrhythmic instrument, with vocal lines that mimic horn stabs, ad-libs that function like DJ drops, and silences calibrated for collective breath. This wasn’t crossover, it was canon expansion.
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Chat with Kirk Franklin NowConversation Starters
Not sure where to begin? Try asking Kirk Franklin:
- “How did you convince traditional church leaders to accept turntables in worship?”
- “What’s the story behind the 20-second silence before 'Stomp' drops?”
- “Which choir member from God's Property went on to produce for Tasha Cobbs?”
- “Why did you insist on writing all lyrics in African American Vernacular English?”