Kirk Franklin…a biography
Kirk Franklin has, without a doubt changed modern music more than any other artist in the last decade. He has been called the architect for a new American musical genre. The thirty-year-old minister has incorporated contemporary hip-hop music with traditional gospel choir arrangements to reach our youth with a positive and uplifting message. The viability of his music ministry has prompted every major label to institute a Gospel Music division.
Franklin was born and raised in Fort Worth, Texas. Abandoned by his teenage mother and father at the age of three, the orphaned Franklin was adopted by a distant sixty-four year old aunt, Gertrude Franklin. He began playing the piano at the age of four. On Saturday mornings his aunt would collect cans to pay for his music lessons. On Sunday mornings the same woman, the only mother he ever knew, made sure he was in church.
By the time he was out of kindergarten, he was singing and playing on the church gospel circuit. At the age of seven he was offered a recording contract. Thinking that he was too young, his aunt declined the offer. At eleven he was appointed minister of music at Mount Rose Baptist Church. It was then he began to write, arrange and re-arrange Christian music. "My first triumph", recalls Franklin, "was turning Elton John’s "Benny and the Jets" into a gospel tune." At nineteen he did his first home recording. Franklin gave the tape to Milton Biggham (President of Savoy Music Group) who was so impressed that the wonderkid was invited to work with the DFW Mass Choir on their debut album. Not only did he direct some of the tunes on the album but his composition "Every Day with Jesus" was recorded for the project. In 1992 he began to realize his vision of a new gospel sound. In choosing the talented artists that comprise The Family, Franklin handpicked seventeen of the richest voices in the area.
As word of Franklin’s impending solo project spread to the major labels a bidding war ensued to sign him to a lucrative contract. In 1993, after much prayer and reflection, he signed with a brand new fledgling label, Gospo Centric. Gospel Music veteran Vicki Mack-Lataillade (CEO, Gospo Centric) started the company with $6,000 she borrowed from her father’s postal pension, and Franklin was among the first artists signed to the label. A month after the release of Kirk Franklin and the Family, the CD sat atop Billboard’s gospel chart. He signed a new contract with Gospo Centric in 1996 and in January 1997 Gospo Centric was named the #1 Gospel label in the country, fielding five artists and eight albums in the top 20. In seven short years Kirk Franklin has become a musical superstar. He has broken barriers, crossed musical boundary lines, and achieved success previously unknown to any other gospel artist. For the first time in gospel music a debut album sold over 1,000,000 copies. His first album, Kirk Franklin and the Family is certified double platinum. To this day, Kirk Franklin and the Family has remained atop the Gospel, Contemporary Christina, Urban, R&B and video charts. His debut album established Franklin as the leader of a new gospel music renaissance by expanding the genre to encompass contemporary R&B and Hip-Hop. The fan base for this new genre has grown exponentially. His second album, Kirk Franklin and the Family Christmas sold over 500,000 in fourteen weeks.
In 1996, Whatcha Lookin’ 4 entered the charts at #23 on Billboard’s Top 200; #3 on the R&B charts; #1 Contemporary Christina, and #1 on the Gospel charts. The album was certified platinum in June 1997, selling over 1,000,000 copies. The album won many accolades, including a Grammy Award (contemporary Soul Gospel album), a Soul Train Music Award, 5 Stellar Awards, the Dove Impact Award for most influential artist, and a NAACP Image Award for the best duo or group (beating out BlackStreet and The Fugees). Billboard Magazine named him the #1 Gospel artist and the #1 Contemporary Christian Artist of 1997. Also in 1996 he made his first foray into motion picture soundtracks with his songs "Joy" from The Preacher’s Wife, and "My Life Is In Your Hands" in Spike Lee’s Get on the Bus.
Franklin signed a multi year producing deal on the B-Rite label, which is distributed through (the infamous) Interscope Records. His first effort on this label, God’s Property Featuring Kirk Franklin shipped gold and debuted at #3 on Billboard’s Top 200, #1 Contemporary Christian and #1 Gospel.
In 1997, Franklin went on tour with Yolanda Adams and Fred Hammond. "Tour of Life" sold out venues in every city.
Kirk has released his latest CD, NuNation Project, as well as his autobiography, Church Boy, published by Word Publishing in 1998. The NuNation Project set the pace for gospel music with five Grammy Award nominations including the prestigious Song of the Year Category for "Lean on Me". Lean on Me, written by Franklin, was also nominated for Best R&B Song and Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. The NuNation Project was also nominated and awarded the category for Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album. With sales in excess of 1.5 million, the CD continues to be a favorite all over the world.
The NuNation Project was the primary focus of the national NuNation Tour in 1999 which featured Kirk Franklin, The Family, 1 Nation Crew, CeCe Winans, Trin-Ni-Tee 5:7 and the Steps of Praise dancers. The tour, which received rave reviews, was also available through Pay-per-view on HBO. The subsequent video is still available in music outlets everywhere.
Franklin’s latest project, scheduled for a late spring or early summer release, features his youth group 1 Nation Crew. The CD is just as diverse as the members of the group, which is multicultural and is expected to cross cultural barriers around the world. The group recently performed a single from the CD on Good Morning America.
Franklin and his wife Tammy live in Arlington, Texas, and have three children; Kerrion, Carrington and Kennedy.
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Nu Nation Project
01. You Are
02. My Desire
03. Riverside
04. Praise Joint
05. Smile Again
06. Something About The Name Jesus
07. Lean On Me
08. He Loves Me
09. I Can
10. Gonna Be A Lovely Day
11. Revolution
12. If You've Been Delivered
13. Love Re-Mix
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Lean On Me
-KirkFranklin with R.kelly, Mary J.Blige...
There's a man Standing on the coner with no home
He has no food and his blue skies are gone
can't you hear him crying out
And there's a girl searching for a father and a friend
Praying that the storm someday will end
But instead of walking away
Open up your heart and say
* I am here You don't have to worry I can see your tears
I'll be there in a hurry when you call
friend are there to catch you when you fall
Here's my shoulder you can lean on me
There's a child who sick and begging to be free
But there is no cure for his disease
He looks up to his mother as she holds his hand
praying that someday the sun shine again and
the pain will end
How can I love Jesus when I've never seen His face
Yet I see you dying And I turn and walk away
So hold my hand let me take you to a friend of mine
He's waiting just to ease your troubled mind
Yet instead of walking away
Open up your heart and say
구석에 한 남자가 서있습니다. 그는 집이 없습니다.
그는 먹을 음식도 없고 그의 푸른 하늘은 사라졌습니다.
그의 울부짖는 소리가 들리지 않습니까?
한 여자아이가 있습니다. 아버지와 친구를 찾고 있습니다.
절망의 소용돌이가 언젠가 끝나기를 기도하고 있습니다.
그들을 못 본 척 그대로 지나치지 마세요. 마음을 열고 말해보세요.
* 내가 여기에 있어. 걱정할 필요 없어
난 너의 눈물의 의미를 알아. 네 곁으로 서둘러 달려 갈게.
네가 부르면 말이야.
네가 힘에 겨워 쓰러질 때 네 곁에는 친구가 있잖아.
여기 내 어깨에 기대. 내게 마음껏 의지해.
어린아이가 있습니다.
병든 아이죠. 병의 고통으로 부터 해방되기를 간구하고 있습니다.
하지만 그의 병을 고칠 수가 없습니다.
아이는 자기의 손을 잡은 어머니를 올려다 보고 있습니다.
언젠가 태양이 다시 비추이길 기도하면서 고통이 끝나기를 기도하면서
어떻게 예수님을 사랑할 수 있나요. 그의 얼굴을 본 적도 없는데.
하지만 내 죄를 대신하여 죽은 당신을 봅니다.
그러면서도 난 발길을 돌려 당신 곁에서 멀어집니다.
내 손을 잡아봐. 내 친구에게 데려다 줄게.
너의 혼란스러운 마음을 녹여주기 위해 그가 기다리고 있어.
그들로부터 발길을 돌리지 맙시다.
마음을 열고 말해 봅시다.
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