Franklin DESPITE MULTI-PLATINUM record sales, Grammy Award nominations and international acclaim, the man behind the music which turned heads in the Christian community and shattered the boundaries of traditional gospel takes no credit for his work.
You may see him as the revolutionary Stomp of gospel music but Kirk Franklin wants to keep it simple. He's a vessel for God's will, nothing more.
"I don't see myself as doing anything special, ... the Bible says in Him we live, in Him we move, in Him we have our being ... I see myself as a vessel that God uses for His purposes, I'm just very glad to be used for his purpose," said Franklin.
His honesty is transparent. His humility, profound. The charismatic 31-year-old who has blessed the world with more than a decade of soulful inspiration and an unbridled spirit of 'Jesus praise' makes no claim on perfection but is clear on the reason why he sings.
"I don't try to see myself any different from what God wants me to be. I cannot tell you that I am always perfect and that I haven't struggled with vanity or pride, no, of course I would be lying to you! ... This is my desire, to try to be more like Him in every way that I can be and what I'm striving for is not anything special than what every believer should be striving for. It's not a Kirk Franklin thing," he said.
For some traditionalists it may be difficult to accept Franklin's style of delivering the message. They may even discredit his sincerity but according to the gospel artiste; "they don't know me and because they don't know me, all they can do is to pray for me and not try to judge or assume," said Franklin of his critics.
Franklin who was abandoned by his 15-year-old single mom and adopted at age 3 by a great aunt, gave his life to Christ at age 15. At age 17 he became serious about his music as a ministry. Before that he was charmed by rap and hip-hop and dabbled in break-dancing. "The older I got the more serious I got about my relationship with the Lord and I've been on that journey ever since," he said.
He brought his rich musical experience to the ministry and created a powerful contemporary fusion to produce a heavenly narcotic.
"I think the music reflects a person's personality and I think that my personality is not an old school personality. At the same time I enjoy the old school, I enjoy quartet and traditional music and love it, I actually love it all. That's the truth," said Franklin.
Although he has certainly made waves with his trail of musical achievements, success for him comes differently. "My interpretation of success is being a good father, a good husband, a good steward, being pleasing in God's eyes. I don't try to determine success by album sales, videos, airplay and all that kind of stuff, because if you try to live your life by that system you'll live a very deceited life. Those things are just temporary," he said.
Franklin, who recently released a new album, will be in Jamaica for the third time with two performances at Cinema 11 on May 23 and at Port Kaiser in St. Elizabeth on May 25.
