Friday, January 26, 2024

It is the 26th of January 2024. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis.

Consider the question, “What is Gospel music?” It is explicitly Christian in its content and developed out of the traditional spirituals in largely African American communities. We might make a distinction with “contemporary Gospel” that infuses R&B and Hip Hop elements. I bring this up to ask you another question, “who is the best-selling Gospel recording artist of all time?”

The answer: the man born on this day in 1970, Kirk Franklin. His story, which continues today, is a look at the Christian music scene at the turn of the century and a man beset with troubles but still finding solace in the gospel.

He was born to a teenage mother who gave him up at birth to his aunt, and he did not know his father. From the age of 4, he was taking piano lessons and could both sight-read sheet music and play by ear. At the age of 7, he was offered a record contract, but his aunt refused to sign. Instead, he became active at her church and, by the age of 11, was leading the adult choir at the Mount Rose Baptist Church in Dallas. In his early teens, he drifted from his reputation as the “church boy” and began experimenting with drugs. His aunt enrolled him at a Dallas Youth Conservatory, but he was kicked out for bad behavior and for fathering a child out of wedlock.

At 17, a close friend of his accidentally shot himself, and Kirk went back to church and vowed to get his life right. He assembled the group “Humble Hearts,” and a recording paid for by a deacon at his church attracted Milton Bingham. Kirk would be the choir director at the Gospel Music Workshop of America.

Serving as a musical director for choirs would become his M.O., and in 1992, he started “The Family.” Their debut in 1993 took the Gospel world by storm- it spent 100 weeks on the Billboard Gospel Chart, reaching #1, and it reached #6 on the R&B charts- the first Gospel album to do so since Aretha Franklin’s 1972 album “Amazing Grace.” It was the first Gospel album to be certified Platinum (that is, having 1,000,000 records sold). His follow-up, 1996’s “Watcha Lookin’ 4,” saw the debut of the Nu Nation choir, and it topped both the Gospel and CCM charts and won him his first Grammy (he currently has 14 Grammys).

His third album, and the first with the group God’s Property, saw the massive hit “Stomp” with Salt from Salt n Peppa fame. It spent 42 weeks at #1 on the Gospel Charts, # 3 on Billboard 200 (the highest ever for a Gospel track), and hit #1 on the R&B charts- the first Gospel track to do so.

He would initially be charged with blurring the lines between sacred and secular music because… well, in the modern world of Contemporary Christian Music, it is a rite of passage for any successful artist.

In 2015, he made headlines when his oldest son released a taped recording of a profanity-laced fight between the two. Franklin made the rounds on talk shows to apologize and share the story of the enmity between the two and his desire to reconcile.

He was asked on the popular Breakfast Club morning show about the provocative title of his 2015 album “Losing My Religion” and was asked if he was “religious.” Franklin gave an analogy of a man drowning and said, “Religion stands on the side of the lake and yells what to do,” he said. “What my hero Jesus did, He jumped in the water and saved you.”

In 2023, he released a short film, “Father’s Day,” as he sought to find his biological father. He learned from his mother that he had passed away and attended his funeral. At the funeral, he met a man who claimed to be his actual father, and a DNA test proved it so. In the film, Kirk reconciles with his oldest son and brings him to meet his grandfather.  

He continues to record and produce, with his last album being “Kingdom Book One” in 2022, a collaboration with Maverick City and a collaboration with Lil Baby for a track on the very unnecessary remake of Space Jam.

A very happy 54th birthday to Kirk Franklin.

The last word for today is from the daily lectionary- a Benediction to the churches of the book of Revelation.

17 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it.

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 26th of January 2024, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man wondering when “Salt N Peppa” and “Lil Baby” would finally make it on the Almanac- he is Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man who lists the remake of Space Jam on the list of worst remakes, along with Red Dawn and Point Break- I’m Dan van Voorhis.

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.